Oflag X-C
Encyclopedia
Oflag X-C was a World War II
German
prisoner-of-war camp
for officer
s located in Lübeck
in northern Germany (near the border dividing the cities Lübeck and Schwartau (today: Bad Schwartau), in the corner of Friedhofsallee and Vorwerkstrasse. Therefore it is often located as Schwartau instead of Lübeck.)
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World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
prisoner-of-war camp
Prisoner-of-war camp
A prisoner-of-war camp is a site for the containment of combatants captured by their enemy in time of war, and is similar to an internment camp which is used for civilian populations. A prisoner of war is generally a soldier, sailor, or airman who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or...
for officer
Officer (armed forces)
An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...
s located in Lübeck
Lübeck
The Hanseatic City of Lübeck is the second-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein, in northern Germany, and one of the major ports of Germany. It was for several centuries the "capital" of the Hanseatic League and, because of its Brick Gothic architectural heritage, is listed by UNESCO as a World...
in northern Germany (near the border dividing the cities Lübeck and Schwartau (today: Bad Schwartau), in the corner of Friedhofsallee and Vorwerkstrasse. Therefore it is often located as Schwartau instead of Lübeck.)
Timeline
- June 1940 the camp was established for FrenchFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
officers captured during the Battle of FranceBattle of FranceIn the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...
. - June 1941 British CommonwealthCommonwealth of NationsThe Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
officers from the Battle of CreteBattle of CreteThe Battle of Crete was a battle during World War II on the Greek island of Crete. It began on the morning of 20 May 1941, when Nazi Germany launched an airborne invasion of Crete under the code-name Unternehmen Merkur...
and North African CampaignNorth African campaignDuring the Second World War, the North African Campaign took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943. It included campaigns fought in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts and in Morocco and Algeria and Tunisia .The campaign was fought between the Allies and Axis powers, many of whom had...
arrived, - During 1941 and 1942 many Allied air force crews that had been shot down were taken to Lübeck, then later transferred to Oflag VI B, Warburg
- In the beginning of 1945 the Polish Officers, inmates of OFLAG II D = Gross-Born and OFLAG II C = Woldenberg had to march westwards and reached finally OFLAG X C = Lübeck.
- Liberated April 1945 by British forces
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Sources
- German army list
- detailed account of Lt. Ben Waters, Royal Navy
- "Wire and Worse: RAF Prisoners of War in Laufen, Bibarach, Lubeck and Warburg 1940-42" ISBN 0-7110-3050-2, by Charles Rollings, printed August 2004.