Stalag XVIII-D

Stalag XVIII-D (also known as Stalag 306) was a German Prisoner of War camp at Maribor (German: Marburg an der Drau) in what is now Slovenia. It opened in the spring or early summer of 1941, operating until the end of the war.

By July 1941 Stalag XVIII-D contained nearly 4,500 British and Commonwealth prisoners captured in Greece and Crete. Conditions initially were very poor, with more than 1,000 men accommodated in tents while huts were being constructed. There was an outbreak of typhus in early 1942. However the situation improved as the war went on. [ [http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-WH2Pris-_N75380.html II: The Crete Campaign—Prisoners in Greece and Germany | NZETC ] ]

Escapes assisted by Yugoslav Partisans became increasingly common, with most escapers being led south to the Partisan base and airfield at Semič in Bela Krajina. In August 1944, the largest mass rescue of POWs of the war in Europe took place when 132 Allied prisoners from Stalag XVIII-D were freed by Partisans in the raid at St Lorenzen.

Between August and November 1942 there was a second camp at Maribor, Stalag XVIII- B/Z. [ [http://www.moosburg.org/info/stalag/laglist.html Moosburg Online: Kriegsgefangenenlager (Liste) ] ]

Footnote. Sources put the opening date as March 1941; this cannot be correct, as Yugoslavia was not invaded by Germany until 6 April. [ [http://www.prisonerofwar.org.uk/camp_list.htm POW Camp List ] ] [ [http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gliederungen/Kriegsgefangenenlager/Stammlager-R.htm Stammlager ] ]

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