Kriegsgefangenenlager/Kommando Stalag Luft VII
Beschreibung
Polen, Woiwodschaft Oppeln, Landkreis Kluczbork
Das Lager Stalag Luft VII wird bis Juni 1944 unter Moritsfeld bei Vehlau (Moritzfelde bei Wehlau) geführt.
Das Lager bestand von Juni 1944 bis 1945 auf dem Weiler Dobrzyny (deutsch Bankauer Dochhammer)
Stalag Luft VII Bąków (1944-1945) Gefangene
01.07.1944
Gefangene 230
01.09.1944
Gefangene 848
01.10.1944
Gefangene 1027
01.11.1944
Gefangene 1312
01.12.1944
Gefangene 1505
01.01.1945
Gefangene 1618
Today, the site of the camp for RAF - in a forest, corn and clumps of grass. About Stalag recall only a nameless grave, the remains of the camp roads and a few ruins hidden among the trees.
Stalag non-commissioned officers and privates for aviation was just behind the current inn in Bąków. Part of the ring road, which is now the national road No. 11, runs just by the camp area.
Remnant of Stalag are primarily concrete roads that were roads camp. In the forest you can also come across the ruins of the former camp infrastructure.
The camp was moved to Bąkowa in June 1944 with Morzyczyn in Pomerania and received the signature Stalag luft VII of the eighth military district.
It has been designed for pilots, and therefore subject to the supervision of the Luftwaffe, or German Air Force - says Miroslaw Duda, which collects information on Bąkowski Stalag. - They stayed mainly in the RAF pilots - u, but among them were representatives of various nationalities - British, Americans, Australians, Canadians, Poles, and even the pilot of the Caribbean. In the final period went well here forty Russian prisoners.
Infrastructure camp was built almost from scratch in an area of over 40 hectares.
But the area has already had a military purpose - says Duda. - It was a training ground used, inter alia, by the dragoons, who had his office in the building that housed the police Kluczbork.
Stalag divided into three sub-camps. Each occupies a square of about 300 meters.
In each of the sub-camps were ten barracks, including two latrines with baths, hospital and government - tells enthusiast. - The rest were residential barracks. There were quite a lot - fifty feet in length ten wide.
In the barracks privates lived closest to the entrance, and non-commissioned officers farthest.
Development of the camp began in August 1944 - says Duda. - Prisoners lived first in dugouts in the old part of Stalag. Later they were moved to a new part to the barracks.
The barracks built camp service. Prisoners were forced to work.
You have to remember that in Bąków prisoners were airmen, and so a soldier aristocracy - says enthusiast. - This law was valid the Geneva Convention and no one dared to deprive their due rights.
Buildings in Stalag were wooden. Standing not directly on the ground and on pedestals. Everything is done to prisoners of war did not try to do Excavation.
Only a stove that was in every hut, in contact with the ground - says Duda. - They used it from the barracks eighth Canadians who did dig a tunnel under the furnace. They wanted to hide him from the Red Army. Earth used to build an ice rink for hockey.
Case podkopu, which could fit sixteen men, would probably not saw the light of day if it were not the case. Unluckily, that one of the German gendarmes who came to the barracks, he leaned against the stove. Great was his surprise when he collapsed.
Canadians not met this freak no punishment - says enthusiast. - You do not even have to dig down. Because during the war were not functioning construction companies, service Stalag entrusted this task to local firefighters.
In addition to the ice rink, in Stalag was, inter alia, theater and library. Service was not holding a particular discipline. No executions occurred. Pilots were even available radio - unofficially, of course - which bought from one of the German gendarmes 1,500 cigarettes.
August 1, 1944 in the German camp records stored in Bąków was 230 prisoners. This state grow every month. Sept. 1 at pop 848 prisoners, 1 October - 1027, November 1 - 1312, 1 December - 1505, January 1945 and already in 1578.
Bąkowski were sent to Stalag include pilots taking part in Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands, as well as pilots who fought in Italy who helped the Warsaw Uprising.
At the end of 1944, there were 40 Russians also embedded with Sagan.
Allied pilots were pretty well and their only concern was cool - says Duda. - They got parcels from the Red Cross, where they were, among others, preserves, chocolate and cigarettes. Such supply did not even camp service. The hardest part was the Russians. They certainly were starving.
On the edge of the forest from the fields is a nameless grave, which is a remnant of the Stalag.
Most likely, they are buried in it the Russians who died in the camp - passionate advocates. - This tomb appears in the records of the Memory of Struggle and Martyrdom, but there are no details as to the number of people buried there and their nationalities. If this were the soldiers from the West, certainly would be mustered.
Stalag was evacuated on January 19, 1945 in the direction of west to Stalag Luft III A at Luckenwalde south of Berlin, which is a subsidiary of the camp Zagan. The prisoners arrived there after 21 days. Greater part of the route defeated ponaddwustukilometrową foot. And then winter was very cold and snowy. Only the last 70 km crossed the train.
After the war, the camp buildings were used to hold the German population exported to the West under the provisions of Yalta.
The evacuation of the camp is described in the report Howatsona camp doctor and lieutenant Peter Thomson:
"January 17, 1945. Received orders to prepare for the evacuation of the camp of the impending attack Russian. We waited prepared throughout the day. All parcels from the Red Cross were issued from the warehouse. Columns retreating Germans pass by the camp. The main form of transport is horse-drawn wagons. The cold, the temperature below zero. Russian prisoners were transferred to our camp. No cigarettes.
January 18, 1945. Rations issued - seventh canned meat, 2/3 of a loaf of bread, 1/8 pound of margarine, 1/4 kg of honey, two cheeses. These are the reasons for the two and a half day's march or four days by train. The entire contents of food packages is shared between all. I can accounted for cocoa, tea, tin sausages and a little margarine. Heavy air raid in the vicinity of the camp. Last rumor - Germany leave us here, after all, we have a mess in their heads. We can move this evening after camp. I went to bed at 22.00.
January 19, 1945. 3.30, wake up and order the collection at roll call at 5.00. We set off at 7.00. Some 1,500 prisoners, guards, dogs and two field kitchens. In the morning we went through Kluczbork. The column moves slowly - every two hours five minutes of rest. We came to Kronstaad (Wolczyn) 12.30. Elements of inventory porzucaliśmy the road after every stop, mainly instruments, books and other extensive things. For some, the march is difficult. Those in the worst condition found their place on the back of the car sanitary column. At 16.00 we arrived at Winterfeld (Envy). Shelter found in farm buildings. I spent the night in the attic of hay. My main meal is bread and honey.
January 20, 1945. Expected the march at 8.00, but the guards drove us before 4.00. We set off at 6.30. Fingers and ears quickly numb from the cold. At 10.30 we reached the Karsruhr (Room). The roads are filled with refugees from all directions. Some guards disappear. We are staying in a brick factory, where it is disgustingly dirty. We light a fire, make some coffee and tea. There is a problem with the kitchen field. About 21.30 we set off again. He was ordered to cross the Oder before 8.00 am the next day, because the bridge is blown up. The temperature around zero.
January 21, 1945. Come to the Oder of 5.15. We cross the river in one formation. Spread rumors of the impending rail soon. About 7.00 we enter the Rosenfeld. The nearest stop for 7 km. About 10.00 we got to Walhaven. I'm almost finished. We have completed 41 km completed in some 24 hours. Accommodation found in stables and barns. The stench did not bother us because we were greeted warmly. Issued 100 grams of biscuits and a cup of coffee with acorns. My legs are sore. Could be 48 hours of rest. I gave up most of their equipment, including one of the two blankets. "
From the memoirs
"The camp was not large, surrounded by barbed wire. Barracks were arranged in two rows parallel to the wire. The area in the center of the camp was used as a football pitch. Two barracks were not used as living quarters for prisoners, but as classrooms and small conference rooms. Large single room served as a theater or a place for religious purposes. Barbed wire was about 15 feet high, composed of inner and outer walls spaced about 5 feet. "
Sergeant Douglas Smithson, glider pilot, was sent to Stalag 28 October 1944, after the Battle of Arnhem
"After several days of painstaking arrived in Stalag Luft 7 in Bankau close to the Polish border. To our great surprise and joy in welcoming a group of us at the gate of the prisoners we saw our rear gunner. We were worried about him because he was Jewish. Later we learned that our pilot and second shooter killed. This was a new camp, still under construction. The first week I was accommodated in a small shed comprised of seven - eight prisoners. These Sheds called dog kennels. October 13 was moved to a new part of the camp, where the barracks were large and allow for almost luxurious life compared to an apartment in a kennel.
Dec. 17, 1944. Soon we began to prepare for the inspection of the SS in the camp. Information about the visit SS - men always received earlier, so we had time to hide the radio, leaflets and other forbidden things, so that the commandant and his people could not find them. Information about the progressive front is still sent orally, bombing are already heard in the camp, and anti alarms have become commonplace.
December 23, 1944. We rink - built mainly by Canadians. It is a thing unprecedented in the camps.
December 27, 1944. Tragic event at lunchtime. Canadian pilot Stewenson was shot by a guard when he came out of the hut in the direction of the kitchen. It seemed that he heard an air raid, but it was not a siren camp, only from the nearby village. This can fool him. He died in the hospital.
January 9, 1945. Last night the Germans found a tunnel dug in barrack number 8 Obelkowany and electric lighting. Excavated material from the tunnel was used to build the rink. "
George Thomson, navigator bomber shot down on 12 September 1944