| Stalag I-A | |
|---|---|
| Alt-Drewitz, Brandenburg | |
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Germany, 1937
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| Type | Prisoner-of-war camp |
| Coordinates | |
| In use | 1940-1945 |
| Controlled by | Nazi Germany |
| Occupants | Polish, French, British, Yugoslavian, Belgian and Russian NCOs and enlisted men |
Stalag III-C Alt-Drewitz was a German Army World War II prisoner-of-war camp for Allied soldiers. It was located on a plain near the village of Alt-Drewitz, Brandenburg (now Drzewice, one of the boroughs of the town of Kostrzyn nad Odrą, Poland) about 60 kilometres (37 mi) east of Berlin.
Initially the camp served as a place of internment of several thousands of soldiers and NCOs from Poland, France, Britain, Yugoslavia and Belgium. From 1943 a number of Italian POWs were also kept there. The majority of the Soviet prisoners (up to 12,000) were killed or starved to death. Most of the lower rank prisoners were sent to Arbeitskommando to work in industry and on farms in Brandenburg. However the administration stayed with the main camp.
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The camp was established in June 1940, 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) from the fortress at Küstrin, for Belgian and French prisoners from the Battle of France. From May to June 1941 Yugoslavian and British prisoners arrived from the Balkans Campaign. In July 1941 Soviet prisoners taken during Operation Barbarossa arrived. They were held in separated facilities and suffered severe conditions and starvation. They were not accorded the treatment required by the Third Geneva Convention. Thousands of them died of starvation and disease. In September 1943 Italians arrived who had been interned because of the Italian Armistice. In September 1944 the first Americans arrived, taken prisoner as a result of the failure of Operation Market Garden or during the advance of the U.S. Army towards Germany. On 1 December 1944 the roster showed[1] 2,036 Americans, 631 Belgians, 1,416 British, 17,568 French, 1,046 Italian, 2 Polish, 1,591 Serbian, and 13,727 Soviet prisoners. In December 1944 more American prisoners arrived, taken prisoner during the Battle of the Bulge. On 31 January 1945 the camp was liberated by the Red Army. The American and British prisoners were eventually moved by train to Odessa on the Black Sea for repatriation.
Joseph Beyrle was a paratrooper of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division. Captured in Normandy in June 1944 he was taken to POW camp. He escaped twice, and after being recaptured was sent to Stalag III-C. In early January 1945 he escaped again and made his way to a Soviet tank battalion. He convinced the Soviets to allow him to fight with them. Wounded during a German air attack he was in a Soviet military hospital, from where he was sent to Moscow to the U.S. Embassy. He is believed to be the only American serviceman to have actually fought in a Soviet unit.
Walter Mehlhaff, of the 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, was captured on 19 September 1944 during the fighting on the German border. Imprisoned at Stalag III-C he escaped from a work group in early January 1945. He made his way towards Poland and finally was taken to Odessa for repatriation.[2]