List of prisoner-of-war camps in Germany

Part of Lists of Prisoner-of-War Camps section in the Prisoner-of-war camp article.

This article is a list of prisoner-of-war camps in Germany (and in German occupied territory) during any conflict. These are the camps that housed captured members of the enemy armed forces, crews of ships of the merchant marine and the crews of civil aircraft.

For civilian and concentration camps, see List of concentration camps of Nazi Germany.

World War I POW Camps

During World War I camps were run by the 25 Army Corps Districts into which Germany was divided.^[1]^[2]

Types of camps

Kriegsgefangenenlager (KGFL, "Prisoner of war camps") were divided into:

Mannschaftslager ("Enlisted Men's Camp") for private soldiers and NCOs.
Offizierslager ("Officer Camp") for commissioned officers.
Internierungslager ("Internment Camp") for civilians of enemy states.
Lazarett, military hospital for POWs.

List of camps by Army Corps districts

Map of POW camps in Germany during WWI

Kriegsgefangenenlager Crossen, 1914

British, French and Portuguese troops, c.1918

French colonial troops from North and West Africa

French POWs at work at a farm in Westscheid bei Mennighüffen

Guards Corps (Berlin)

Mannschaftslager

Döberitz. A large camp 8 miles from Berlin holding Russian, Polish, French, and British prisoners, including men of the Royal Naval Division captured at the Siege of Antwerp.
Dyrotz near Wustermark.

Lazarett

Berlin. Located on Alexandrinenstrasse.

I Army Corps (Königsberg)

None found.

II Army Corps (Stettin)

Mannschaftslager

Altdamm. Three camps holding 15,000 men.
Schneidemühl. Located three miles from the town this was a centre for work camps in the region, holding 40,000 to 80,000 men.
Stargard.
Stettin.
Stralsund.

Lazarett

Thorn.

III Army Corps (Berlin)

Mannschaftslager

Brandenburg an der Havel. Camp for Naval and Merchant Marine personnel.
Cottbus. A sub-camp of Merzdorf.
Crossen an der Oder.
Frankfurt an der Oder. Four miles from the town, holding 18,000 men.
Guben. Five miles from the town.
Merzdorf.
Müncheberg.
Spandau. Camp for POW working at a chemical factory.
Zossen. A camp 20 miles south of Berlin for British and French troops from India and Africa. The POW were subjected to propaganda urging them to revolt against their "colonial masters" with little result^[3]

Internierungslager

Havelberg. For 4,500 internees of various nationalities, including nearly 400 British Indians

IV Army Corps (Magdeburg)

Offizierlager

Burg bei Magdeburg. Camp for 900 prisoners.
Halle. Camp in a disused factory.
Magdeburg. Camp on an island in the river.
Torgau. Two camps in Bruckenkopf Barracks and in Fort Zinna.

Mannschaftslager

Gardelegen. Camp opened in September 1914.
Grabow. Formerly a military camp, consisting of eight compounds of six barracks each.
Merseburg An assembly camp holding up to 25,000 prisoners, from which men were drafted to work camps.
Quedlinburg. A camp 2½ miles from the town, holding 12,000 men.
Wittenberg. A camp 10½ acres in area at Klein Wittenberg, 2 miles from the city. Eight compounds held 13,000 men.
Zerbst. A camp at an infantry drill ground two miles north of the city. It held up to 15,000 men, but there were 100,000 registered there, the majority engaged in industry and agriculture.

Internierungslager

Ruhleben. Camp for up to 4,500 internees six miles from Berlin located at a racecourse.

V Army Corps (Posen)

Mannschaftslager

Lauban.
Sagan. A camp five miles from the town holding 6,000 men.
Skalmierschütz. A very large camp for Russians and Romanians to which British and American prisoners were sent in early 1918.
Sprottau A camp three miles from the town, and also a Lazarett for prisoners with tuberculosis.
Stralkowo. A camp three miles from the town holding mainly Russians and Romanians, and British from March 1918.

VI Army Corps (Breslau)

Offizierlager

Gnadenfrei. Situated in a former boys school.
Neisse. Located in former military academy in the centre of the town.
Schweidnitz.

Mannschaftslager

Lamsdorf. A camp at a military training ground that was reopened during World War II as Stalag VIII-B.
Neuhammer. A clearing camp for Upper Silesia. 100,000 men were registered there, but were mostly in work camps under its administration.

Lazarett

Beuthen. Two large Lazaretts, containing British prisoners from early 1918.

VII Army Corps (Münster)

Offizierlager

Gütersloh. Originally a sanatorium.
Werl. Located in a Franciscan monastery.
Wesel

Mannschaftslager

Burg Steinfurt. A camp for British prisoners.
Dortmund.
Duisburg.
Dülmen.
Düsseldorf.
Erfurt. Held 15,000 men.
Friedrichsfeld. Camp holding 35,000 men,
Hammerstein. A camp for Russian prisoners.
Heilsberg
Minden. A camp three miles from the town with 18,000 men.
Münster. There were four camps: Münster I was outside the city in open farming country, Münster II was at the racecourse, Münster III was a former Army barracks, and Münster IV was reserved for Russian prisoners.
Sennelager. Three camps just north of Paderborn, named Senne I, II & III.
Stendal. The camp was a mile NE of the town, and was centre of a number of work camps, holding 15,000 men.
Tuchel. A camp for Russians and Romanians, also holding British and American prisoners from 1918.

Lazarett

Paderborn.

VIII Army Corps (Coblenz)

Offizierlager

Crefeld. There was also a Lazarett there.

Mannschaftslager

Limburg an der Lahn. A camp holding 12,000 men in which Irish prisoners were concentrated for the purpose of recruiting for the Irish Brigade.
Meschede. The camp, just outside the town, held 10,000 POW.
Wahn. Located 20 miles south-east of Cologne at the Wahner Heide Artillery practice camp. The camp has 35,000 men on its register and was formerly a parent camp for work camps in the district.

Lazarett

Aachen. Nine hospitals for British POW awaiting repatriation.
Coblenz.
Cologne. Several hospitals. British prisoners were treated either in the Garrison Lazarett I or the Kaiserin Augusta Schule Lazarett VI.
Trier. Officer prisoners were treated in the Reserve Lazarett IV (Horn Kaserne).

IX Army Corps (Altona)

Offizierlager

Augustabad, Neubrandenburg. A former hotel holding British officers. Conrad O'Brien-ffrench was held there.
Fürstenberg.

Mannschaftslager

Güstrow. Situated in pine-woods three miles from the town. It held 25,000 men, but had another 25,000 registered there assigned to work camps.
Lübeck. A camp for men employed at the docks. Also a reserve Lazarett.
Neumünster
Parchim. A camp built on a former cavalry drill ground three miles from the town. Held 25,000 men, and up to 45,000 more registered in work camps.

Lazarett

Bremen. A garrison hospital and also a work camp attached to Soltau.
Hamburg Reserve Lazarett VII was a ward of the central prison at Fuhlsbüttel. Reserve Lazarett III was at the Eppendorfer Krankenhaus, and at Veddel there was a Lazarett for Navy personnel.

X Army Corps (Hannover)

Holzminden officers' camp.

Offizierlager

Bad Blenhorst near Nienburg
Celle. At Scheuen, and until late 1916 also Reserve Lazarett I (St Joseph).
Clausthal.
Hesepe nr. Osnabrück.
Holzminden. For British officers. Housed in a former cavalry barracks (built 1913). The site of a noted tunnel escape in July 1918.
Osnabrück. Camp located in a former artillery barracks.
Ströhen.
Schwarmstedt.
Wahmbeck. At a hotel holding mostly officers from the merchant service.

Mannschaftslager

Göttingen.
Hameln. Located a mile from Hameln, and the parent of many work camps.
Munster. Camp opened in 1914 near Soltau on Lüneburg Heath
Salzwedel.
Soltau. Camp held 35,000, but had 50,000 on its register in work camps.

Lazarett

Hanover. Lazarett V was in the Royal War School, and there was another at the Garrison Lazarett.

Internierungslager

Celle Castle. For civilians and ex-officers.
Holzminden. For up to 10,000 civilian internees, mainly Polish, Russian, French and Belgian, and including a small number of Britons. Comprised two camps, one for men, the other for women and children.

XI Army Corps (Cassel)

Offizierlager

Bad Colberg. Camp housed in a former sanatorium.

Mannschaftslager

Langensalza. Opened in 1914, the camp held 10,000 men.
Ohrdruf. Located on a former Army training ground and held 15,000 men.

XII Army Corps (Dresden)

Offizierlager

Bischofswerda.
Königstein. French and Russians held in the Fortress.

Mannschaftslager

Bautzen
Königsbrück. Held 15,000 men.

XIII Army Corps (Stuttgart)

Mannschaftslager

Heilbronn Sub-camp of Stuttgart.
Stuttgart. Two camps; one in the city in an abandoned factory building, the other in a disused factory three miles outside.
Ludwigsburg.

Lazarett

Kempten. British prisoners quartered in the hospital there.

XIV Army Corps (Karlsruhe)

Offizierlager

Karlsruhe. Two camps; one in the grounds of the Karlsruher Schloss contained naval and, later, aviation officers, the other, the former Europäischer Hof, was known as "The Listening Hotel", and was an interrogation centre.
Freiburg. Located in an old university building.
Heidelberg. In barracks four miles from town.
Ingolstadt. The camps were located in the city fortifications; fortresses 8, 9 & 10. As a camp for persistent escapers, it was the World War I counterpart to Colditz. Documented in the book The Escaping Club by Alfred John Evans.
Villingen. The camp was in a disused barracks.
Weingarten near Karlsruhe.

Mannschaftslager

Ingolstadt. Situated on the edge of the town, holding 4,000 men.
Mannheim Located two miles outside of the city. From February 1917 it used as a clearing or exchange camp for British prisoners of war awaiting repatriation. Held 10,000 men.

Internierungslager

Rastatt Camp for French civilians. During 1918 it was used as a military transit camp.

XV Army Corps (Strasbourg)

Offizierlager

Strasbourg

XVI Army Corps (Metz)

Metz. Known as Lazarett Saint-Clément.

XVII Army Corps (Danzig)

Mannschaftslager

Czersk. A camp for Russian POWs, to which British prisoners were also later sent.
Danzig (Troyl) The "camp" consists of barges moored on the bank of the Vistula River, each containing from 100 to 500 men. The administration block, kitchen, and other facilities of the camp are on shore. Men from the failed Irish Brigade were sent here.^[4]

XVIII Army Corps (Frankfurt-am-Main)

Offizierlager

Bingen am Rhein
Friedberg
Griesheim nr. Frankfurt
Mainz. Camp is in the grounds of the Citadel, and holding 700 POW.
Rosenberg. Located in Festung Rosenberg above the town of Kronach. Charles de Gaulle was held as a POW there.^[5]
Weilburg. POW held in a three-storied school-house.

Mannschaftslager

Darmstadt Located four miles from the town on a cavalry exercise ground.
Giessen
Görlitz. Held 14,000 POW.

Lazarett

Jülich
Kreuznach. For up to around 600 prisoner-patients.

XIX Army Corps (Leipzig)

Offizierlager

Döbeln

Mannschaftslager

Chemnitz. Camp located in the Friedrich-August Kaserne.
Zwickau. Camp holds 10,000 POW.

XX Army Corps (Allenstein)

Mannschaftslager

Arys
Osterode Located at a locomotive works. A sub-camp of Preußisch Holland.
Preußisch Holland. Holds 15,000 POW, though up to 35,000 registered there in various work camps.

XXI Army Corps (Saarbrücken)

Offizierlager

Neunkirchen. Located in a former monastery.
Saarbrücken. In a former school.
Saarlouis
Zweibrücken. British officers were first sent there in 1916.

I Royal Bavarian Army Corps (Munich)

Mannschaftslager

Landsberg am Lech
Lechfeld. Held 10,500 POW.
Puchheim. Located on a military airfield 13 miles from Munich. Held 12,000 POW.

Lazarett

Munich. The large war school in the Mars Platz is used as a hospital, and there is another known as Lazarett B.

II Royal Bavarian Army Corps (Würzburg)

Offizierlager

Würzburg. Located in Festung Marienberg.

Mannschaftslager

Hammelburg
Germersheim. Held 6,000 men.
Würzburg. Outside the town on a high hill.

III Royal Bavarian Army Corps (Nürnberg)

Mannschaftslager

Amberg. Held 5,000 POW.
Bayreuth. Held 5,000 POW.
Landau
Nuremberg. Located three miles from the town on an old training ground of the Nuremberg Garrison.

Lazarett

Erlangen. For officers only.

Others

Offizierlager

Eutin
Graudenz
Lahr. British from 1917.
Landshut
Ludwigshafen. From 1917.
Münden. Camp for up to 600 officers located in a former factory a mile from the town.
Osnabrück
Pforzheim. From early 1918.
Strasbourg

Mannschaftslager

Cassel (Niederzwehren). Held 20,000 POW.
Constance. All officers and men for internment in Switzerland are concentrated here. Held 15,000.
Deutsch Gabel Camp for merchant seamen under Austrian administration.
Grafenwöhr Camp and Lazarett (Bavarian Corps)
Gleiwitz. Located in a cavalry barracks. British prisoners sent there after March 1918.
Heustadt. A centre for work camps in East Prussia.
Heuberg. Located at the training area Lager Heuberg.
Kalisch. Camp for Russian and Romanian soldiers, and also British from April 1918.
Kattowitz Camp for Russian and Romanian soldiers, and also British from April 1918.
Marienburg A centre for work camps in East Prussia.
Neuburg am Inn
Ulm. Camp on the outskirts of the town, of the usual barrack type.
Zittau Russian POWs.

Lazarett

Frankfurt am Main. Several hospitals for British prisoners; Reserve Lazarett II and H65 are the principal ones.
Ingolstadt. Two hospitals in the town.
Ratisbon

World War II POW Camps

1944 map of POW camps in Germany.

POW camps run by the Germans during World War II. There were around 1,000 Prisoner-of-War camps in Germany during World War II.^[6]

Germany was a signatory at the Third Geneva Convention, which established the provisions relative to the treatment of Prisoners of War.

Article 10 required that PoWs should be lodged in adequately heated and lighted buildings where conditions were the same as German troops.
Articles 27-32 detailed the conditions of labour. Enlisted ranks were required to perform whatever labour they were asked and able to do, so long as it was not dangerous and did not support the German war effort. Senior Non-commissioned officers (sergeants and above) were required to work only in a supervisory role. Commissioned officers were not required to work, although they could volunteer. The work performed was largely agricultural or industrial, ranging from coal or potash mining, stone quarrying, or work in saw mills, breweries, factories, railroad yards, and forests. PoWs hired out to military and civilian contractors were supposed to receive pay. The workers were also supposed to get at least one day a week of rest.
Article 76 ensured that PoWs who died in captivity were honourably buried in marked graves.

Types of Camps

Dulag or Durchgangslager (transit camp) – These camps served as a collection point for POWs prior to reassignment. These camps were intelligence collection centers.
Dulag Luft or Durchgangslager der Luftwaffe (transit camp of the Luftwaffe) – These were transit camps for Air Force POWs. The main Dulag Luft camp at Frankfurt was the principal collecting point for intelligence derived from Allied POW interrogation.
Ilag/Jlag or Internierungslager ("Internment camp") – These were civilian internment camps.
Marlag or Marine-Lager ("Marine camp") – These were Navy personnel POW camps.
Milag or Marine-Internierten-Lager ("Marine internment camp") – These were merchant seamen internment camps.
Oflag or Offizier-Lager ("Officer camp") – These were POW camps for officers.
photograph of 4 sept.1944 drawing representing the Administration Barrack III in Oflag XD, by officer PWO Léon Gossens (Tilleur, Belgium) 1908-1993
Stalag or Stammlager ("Base camp") – These were enlisted personnel POW camps.
Stalag Luft or Luftwaffe-Stammlager ("Luftwaffe base camp") – These were POW camps administered by the German Air Force for Allied aircrews.

Nomenclature

At the start of World War II, the German Army was divided into 17 military districts (Wehrkreis), which were each assigned Roman numerals. The camps were numbered according to the military district. A letter behind the Roman number marked individual Stalags in a military district.

e.g.

Stalag II-D was the fourth Stalag in Military District II (Wehrkreis II).

Sub-camps had a suffix "/Z" (for Zweiglager - sub-camp). The main camp had a suffix of "/H" (for Hauptlager - main camp).

e.g.

Oflag VII-C/H meant this is the main camp.

Oflag VII-C/Z meant this is a sub-camp of a main camp.

Some of these sub-camps were not the traditional POW camps with barbed wire fences and guard towers, but merely accommodation centers.

List of Camps by Military District

Diorama of the German World War II PoW camp Stalag Luft III.

Collection of everyday items of Polish prisoners from the Oflag VII-A Murnau.

Military District I (Königsberg)

Stalag I-A Stablack, Preußisch Eylau
Stalag I-B Hohenstein
Stalag I-C, from June 1943: Stalag Luft VI, Heydekrug
Stalag I-D Montwy
Stalag I-E Prostken
Stalag I-F Sudauen

Military District II (Stettin)

Military District III (Berlin)

Stalag III-A Luckenwalde
Stalag III-B Fürstenberg/Oder
Stalag III-C Alt-Drewitz
Stalag III-D Berlin
Oflag III-A Luckenwalde
Oflag III-B Wehrmachtlager Tibor/Zuellichau
Oflag III-C Luebben/Spree

Military District IV (Dresden)

Military District V (Stuttgart)

Stalag V-A Ludwigsburg
Stalag V-B Villingen
Stalag V-C Wildberg
Stalag V-D Strasbourg
Oflag V-A Weinsberg
Oflag V-B Biberach
Oflag V-C Wurzach

Military District VI (Münster)

Stalag VI-A Hemer/Iserlohn
Stalag VI-B Neu-Versen
Stalag VI-C Oberlangen/Emsland
Stalag VI-D Dortmund
Stalag VI-F Bocholt
Stalag VI-G Bonn–Duisdorf
Stalag VI-H Arnoldsweiler/Dueren
Stalag VI-J S.A. Lager Fichtenhein/Krefeld and Dorsten
Stalag VI-K Stukenbrock
Oflag VI-A Soest
Oflag VI-B Doessel–Warburg
Oflag VI-C Eversheide/Osnabrück
Oflag VI-D Münster
Oflag VI-E Dorsten

Military District VII (Munich)

Military District VIII (Breslau)

Stalag VIII-A Görlitz
Stalag VIII-B Lamsdorf
Stalag VIII-C Sagan
Stalag VIII-D Teschen
Stalag VIII-E/308 Neuhammer
Stalag VIII-F Lamsdorf
Oflag VIII-A Kreuzburg/Oppeln
Oflag VIII-B Silberberg
Oflag VIII-C Juliusburg
Oflag VIII-D/Tittmoning Castle
Oflag VIII-E Johannisbrunn
Oflag VIII-F Mährisch-Trübau
Oflag VIII-G Weidenau/Freiwaldau
Oflag VIII-H/H Oberlangendorf/Sternberg
Oflag VIII-H/Z Eulenberg/Roemerstadt

Military District IX (Kassel)

Stalag IX-A Ziegenhain
Stalag IX-B Wegscheide/Bad Orb
Stalag IX-C Bad Sulza
Oflag IX-A/H Burg Spangenberg
Oflag IX-A/Z Rotenburg/Fulda
Oflag IX-B Weilburg/Lahn
Oflag IX-C Molsdorf near Erfurt

Military District X (Hamburg)

Military District XI (Hanover)

Military District XII (Wiesbaden)

Stalag XII-A Limburg an der Lahn
Stalag XII-B Frankenthal/Palatinate
Stalag XII-C Wiebelsheim/Rhein
Stalag XII-D Trier/Petrisberg (Trèves)
Stalag XII-E Metz
Stalag XII-F Forbach
Oflag XII-A Hadamar/Limburg an der Lahn
Oflag XII-B Mainz

Military District XIII (Nuremberg)

Military District XVII (Vienna)

Stalag XVII-A Kaisersteinbruch
Stalag XVII-B Krems–Gneixendorf. Formerly named Dulag Gneixendorf
Stalag XVII-C Döllersheim. Previously named Dulag Döllersheim
Stalag XVII-D Pupping. Previously named Zweiglager Pupping, renamed Stalag 237, Stalag 397, and finally Stalag 398 Pupping
Oflag XVII-A Edelbach

Military District XVIII (Salzburg)

Stalag XVIII-A Wolfsberg
Stalag XVIII-A/Z Spittal
Stalag XVIII-B Oberdrauburg
Stalag XVIII-C Markt Pongau
Stalag XVIII-D Maribor
Oflag XVIII-A Lienz/Drau
Oflag XVIII-B Wolfsberg/Kaernten
Oflag XVIII-C Spittal/Drau

Military District XX (Danzig)

Stalag XX-A Thorn (Poland)
Stalag 312 (also known as Stalag XX-C) Thorn (Poland) Same as above
Stalag XX-B Marienburg (Poland)

Military District XXI (Posen)

Stalag XXI-A Schildberg (Poland)
Stalag XXI-B Schubin (Poland)
Stalag XXI-B Thure (Poland)
Stalag XXI-C/H Wollstein (Poland)
Stalag XXI-C/Z Graetz
Stalag XXI-D Posen (Poland)
Oflag XXI-A Schokken (Poland)
Oflag XXI-B Schoken (Poland)
Oflag XXI-C Schubin/Schokken/Schildberg (Poland)
Oflag XXI-C/Z Grune bei Lissa (Poland)

Other Camps

Oflag 6 Tost (Poland)
Oflag 53 Pagėgiai (Lithuania)
Oflag 60 Širvintos (Lithuania)
Oflag 64 Schubin
Oflag 79 Waggum, Braunschweig
Stalag 56 Prostken (Poland)
Stalag 133 Rennes (France)
Stalag 302 Gross-Born
Stalag 307 Biała Podlaska (Poland)
Stalag 307 Dęblin (Poland)
Stalag 313 Czarne (Poland)
Stalag 315 Przemyśl (Poland)
Stalag 319 Chełm (Poland)
Stalag 323 Gross-Born
Stalag 324 Grodno (Belarus)
Stalag 325 Zamość (Poland)
Stalag 325 Rawa Ruska (Poland)
Stalag 327 Jarosław (Poland)
Stalag 328 Lemberg (Poland)
Stalag 333 Ostrów-Komorowo (Poland)
Stalag 336 Kaunas (Lithuania)
Stalag 343 Alytus (Lithuania)
Stalag 344 Vilnius (Lithuania)
Stalag 351 Berkenbrugge
Stalag 355 Khmelnytskyi Ukraine
Stalag 357 Kopernikus (Poland)
Stalag 359 Poniatowa (Poland)
Stalag 361 Šiauliai (Lithuania)
Stalag 366 Siedlce (Poland)
Stalag 369 Krakau (Poland)
Stalag 369 Kobierzyn (Poland)
Stalag 371 Stanislau (Poland)
Stalag XX-A (301) Friesack, Wutzetz/Brandenburg, (Germany)

Luftwaffe Camps

The camps for Allied airmen were run by the Luftwaffe independently of the Army.

Kriegsmarine Camps

The camps for Allied seamen was run by the Kriegsmarine independently of the Army.

Marlag und Milag Nord Westertimke

Fictional prison camps

Luft-Stalag 13 – in the TV series Hogan's Heroes
Stalag 17 – in the 1953 film of that name
Stalag Luft Nord – in the 1963 movie The Great Escape
Dusterstadt – in The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles / The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones film episode "Chapter 8: Trenches of Hell"

References

Notes

↑ Steuer (2008) Ch.13, pp.3-6
↑ Pope-Hennessy, Una (1920). Map of the Main Prison Camps in Germany and Austria, with Gazetter and Index. London: Nisbet & Co. Ltd. Retrieved 4 May 2012.
↑ Steuer (2008) Ch.11, p.6
↑ "Danzig Prisoner of War Camp in WWI". irishbrigade.eu. 2011. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
↑ "History of the Fortress". kronach.de. 2012. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
↑ Eric Lichtblau (3 March 2013). "The Holocaust Just Got More Shocking". New York Times. Retrieved 5 March 2013.

Bibliography

Steuer, Kenneth (2008). Pursuit of an 'Unparalleled Opportunity' : The American YMCA and Prisoner of War Diplomacy among the Central Power Nations during World War I, 1914-1923. New York City: Columbia University Press. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
Official list of World War II Stalags (in German)
Official list of World War II Oflags (in German)
List of Nazi camps for Allied POWs in Germany and occupied territories (in German)