Stalag VII-A

Stalag VII A was a World War II German POW camp located just north of the town of Moosburg in southern Bavaria, Germany. The camp covered an area of 35 ha. (85 acres). It served also as a transit camp through which prisoners, including officers, were processed on their way to another camp. At some time during the war prisoners from every nation fighting against Germany passed through it. At the time of its liberation on 29 April 1945, there were 130,000 prisoners from at least 26 nations on the camp roster. It was the largest prisoner of war camp in Germany. However at any time up to 60,000 were located in "Arbeitskommando" working in factories, repairing railroads or on farms. In the Stammlager (main camp) itself over 40,000 were crowded into a space designed for 10,000.

Operation

The camp was started in September 1939 to house Polish prisoners from the German September 1939 offensive. They arrived while the wooden barracks were under construction and for several weeks lived in tents [ [http://www.pegasus-one.org/pow/cSt_7A_History1.htm report of German officer] ] .

British, French, Belgian and Dutch soldiers taken prisoner during the Battle of France started arriving in May 1940. Many were transferred on to other camps, but close to 40,000 French remained at Stalag VII-A throughout the war.
British, Greek and Yugoslavia prisoners arrived from the Balkans Campaign in May and June 1941. A few months later Soviet prisoners started arriving, mostly officers. At the end of the war there were still 27 Soviet generals in Moosburg who had survived the mistreatment that they, like all Soviet prisoners, had been subjected to.

More British Commonwealth and Polish prisoners came from the North African campaign and the offensive against the Italian held islands in the Mediterranean. They were brought here from Italian PoW camps after the Armistice with Italy in September 1943. Italian soldiers were also imprisoned.

The first American arrivals came after the Tunisia Campaign in December 1942, and the Italian Campaign in 1943. Large numbers of Americans were captured in the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944.

Among the last arrivals were officers from Stalag Luft III who had been force marched from Sagan in Silesia (now Żagań), Poland) [ [http://www.seniornet.org/ww2/gallery/memories/quentin/march.shtml American recalls the march] ] . They arrived 2 February 1945. They were followed by more prisoners marched from other camps threatened by the advancing Soviets, including part of the American officers that had been marched from Oflag 64 in Szubin, via Oflag XIII-B, under their senior officer Lt.Col. Paul Goode.

During the 5½ years about 1000 prisoners died at the camp, over 800 of them Soviets. They were buried in a cemetery in Oberreit, south of Moosburg. Most died from illness, some from injuries during work. It has been said that there were some casualties from Allied bombs at work sites.

Escapes

There were many individual escape attempts, it is not known if any were successful. Among them:
* PFC Leroy Saunders Foster (9th Inf. Div. US Army) escaped with a friend on Christmas Eve 1944. Captured at Swiss border and sentenced to 20 days solitary [ [http://www.wartimememories.co.uk/pow/stalag7a.html The Wartime Memories Project - STALAG 7a POW Camp ] ] .

Liberation

Stalag VII A was liberated on 29 April 1945 by Combat Command A of the 14th Armored Division after a pitched battle with a large defending force of 5,000-7,000 German troops. Foremost among the defending units was the 17th SS Panzer Grenadier Division supported by a few remaining self-propelled guns and 88mm antitank guns. Combat Command A had a total strength of 1,750 officers and men, including only a single company of armored infantrymen. The American force learned of the existence of the camp, and its approximate location only a few hours before the attack. Because so many Allied POWs were in the area, the U.S. artillery, a major factor in any attack, was ordered not to fire, and remained silent during the attack. POWs inside the wire heard the Germans open fire on the American liberators as they crossed a bridge leading into Moosburg. The American response was instantaneous. Outnumbered, but not outgunned, the men of the combat command waded into the SS troops with a ferocity and volume of weapons fire that stunned even the most veteran SS officers. Resistance was eliminated, and the camp liberated. Among the 130,000 Allied POWs liberated were 30,000 American soldiers, sailors, airmen, and even a few Marines. It was the largest single liberation of American POWs in the history of the US military. Following the war, the U.S. Army officially designated the 14th Armored Division as the "LIBERATORS" for liberating so many American and Allied POWs from German camps. See the link below for the complete story of the liberation. [Jim Lankford, "The 14th Armored Division and the Liberation of Stalag VIIA." [http://www.14tharmoreddivision.org/liberationofstalagVIIA.htm] ]

Aftermath

After the liberation Stalag VII A was turned into Civilian Internment Camp #6 for 12,000 German men and women suspected of criminal activity for the Nazi regime. Later the camp was turned into a new district of the town called "Moosburg-Neustadt". One of the old huts has been restored.

A memorial to inmates of Stalag VII A was built. It is a fountain located in the center of Neustadt. It consists of four Bas-reliefs created out of local stone by the French sculptor Antoniucci Volti while he was a prisoner in the camp.

In 1958 the Oberreit cemetery was closed. 866 bodies were exhumed and reburied at the military cemetery in Schwabstadl near Landsberg. The bodies of 33 Italians were reburied at the Italian Memorial Cemetery near Munich. In 1982 the Moosburg City Council purchased a plot at the site of the old Oberreit cemetery and erected a wooden cross with a simple stone remembering the dead of Stalag VII A [ [http://www.thonstetten.de/gede.htm in German] ] .

Sources

* [http://www.moosburg.org/info/stalag/indeng.html Detailed history of Stalag VII A] with maps and photos.
* Jim Lankford, "The 14th Armored Division and the Liberation of Stalag VIIA." [http://www.14tharmoreddivision.org/liberationofstalagVIIA.htm
* Extracts of Diaries written by Roger Collinson whilst a prisoner of World War II - 21st February 1943 to 18th May 1945 [http://www.riggwelter.co.uk/RogerCollinson.html

See also

* Roger DEVAUX : "Treize Qu'ils Etaient" - Life of the french prisoners of war at the peasants of low Bavaria (1939-1945) - [http://www.nos-racines.fr/guefangue/index.php Treize Qu'ils Etaient] - Mémoires et Cultures - 2007 - ISBN 2-916062-51-3
*List of German WWII POW camps
*stalag

References

External links

* [http://www.moosburg.org/info/stalag/indeng.html Stalag VII A Moosburg]
* [http://www.wartimememories.co.uk/pow/stalag7a.html memories of some inmates]
* [http://www.14tharmoreddivision.org/liberationofstalagVIIA.htm Liberation of Stalag VII-A]
* [http://www.naval-history.net/WW2MemoirAndSo00.htm Stoker Harold Siddall Royal Navy, captured on Crete and his life in Stalag VIIA]
* [http://www.B24.net B24.net]
* [http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780141003887,00.html The Last Escape - John Nichol, Tony Rennell - 2002 Penguin UK]