- Stalag VIII-E
Stalag VIII-E was a
World War II GermanPOW camp located 12 km south of the famousStalag Luft III near Sagan, Germany, (nowZagan , Poland). It was built on the largeGerman Army training grounds next to the village Neuhammer, today calledŚwiętoszów , that are still in use today by thePolish Armed Forces Timeline
* The camp was built in September [1939] to house several thousand Polish prisoners from the German September 1939 offensive.
* After May 1940 they were joined by French prisoners taken prisoner during theBattle of France .
* In 1941 they were transferred to other camps and replaced withSoviet prisoners.
* The first Soviets arrived July 12, 1941.
* In June 1942 the camp became a subsidiary ofStalag VIII-C and its administrative office was closed.
* By June 1942 more than 100,000 prisoners were crowded into this camp. As a result of starvation and disease, mainlytyphoid fever andtuberculosis , close to half of them died before the end of the war.
* The Soviet Army entered the camp February 15 1945. The suffering of the surviving prisoners did not end quickly.Aftermath
In 1961 a monument was erected at the cemetery next to the site of Stalag VIII-C in remembrance of the thousands who died and are buried here. In 1971 the "Martyrdom Museum of Allied prisoners of War" was established on the site of the camp to house mementos and records of both Stalag VIII-C and Stalag Luft as well as Stalag VIII-E.
Sources
* [http://free.polbox.pl/l/luftstal/ukVIIIC.htm History of the Sagan region]
See also
*
List of German WWII POW camps
*Stalag Other reading
* [http://ldb1.narod.ru/index2.html Account of a Russian P.O.W. in Germany] translated from Russian
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