Stalag IX-B
Encyclopedia
Stalag IX-B also known as Bad Orb was a World War II
German Army
POW camp at Wegscheide close to Bad Orb
in the province of Hesse, Germany
. It had the reputation of being one of the worst Stalag
s, especially when it was overcrowded in 1945.
The camp was also the site of a segregation and removal of Jewish American troops, who once identified, were taken to the labor camp
Berga
located in eastern Thuringia
12 km south of Gera
.
. The POWs were put to work together with inmates of the Buchenwald concentration camp digging 17 tunnels for an underground ammunitions factory, some of them 150 feet below ground. As a result of the inhumane conditions, malnutrition and cold, as well as beatings, 47 prisoners died. The US military authorities never acknowledged the incident.
On 4 April the 300 surviving American prisoners were marched out of the camp ahead of the approaching American troops. After a 2½ week forced march they were finally liberated. During this march another 36 Americans died.
and Oflag VI-B
). Fortunately for them the Buchenwald Camp was liberated by the US Army three days later.
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 Army
German Army
The German Army is the land component of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. Following the disbanding of the Wehrmacht after World War II, it was re-established in 1955 as the Bundesheer, part of the newly formed West German Bundeswehr along with the Navy and the Air Force...
POW camp at Wegscheide close to Bad Orb
Bad Orb
Bad Orb is a spa town in the Main-Kinzig district, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated 32 east km of Hanau. Bad Orb is between forested hills in the Nature Park Spessart, one of the largest forested areas in Germany. The canyon-side donkey path that runs to Großheubach in Miltenberg Kreis passes Bad...
in the province of Hesse, Germany
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...
. It had the reputation of being one of the worst Stalag
Stalag
In Germany, stalag was a term used for prisoner-of-war camps. Stalag is a contraction of "Stammlager", itself short for Kriegsgefangenen-Mannschafts-Stammlager.- Legal definitions :...
s, especially when it was overcrowded in 1945.
The camp was also the site of a segregation and removal of Jewish American troops, who once identified, were taken to the labor camp
Labor camp
A labor camp is a simplified detention facility where inmates are forced to engage in penal labor. Labor camps have many common aspects with slavery and with prisons...
Berga
Berga, Thuringia
Berga/Elster is a town in the district of Greiz, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated on the river Weiße Elster, 14 km southeast of Gera....
located in eastern Thuringia
Thuringia
The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....
12 km south of Gera
Gera
Gera, the third-largest city in the German state of Thuringia , lies in east Thuringia on the river Weiße Elster, approximately 60 kilometres to the south of the city of Leipzig and 80 kilometres to the east of Erfurt...
.
Timeline
- The camp was established in December 1939 and initially housed PolishPolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
prisoners sent to work in the area, especially the salt mines. - June 1940 many 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...
taken prisoner 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...
arrived. - In 1941 YugoslaviaYugoslaviaYugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
n prisoners arrived from the Balkans Campaign, mainly Serbs. - 1942 and 1943 Soviet prisoners arrived and later ItaliansItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
after the Armistice with ItalyArmistice with ItalyThe Armistice with Italy was an armistice signed on September 3 and publicly declared on September 8, 1943, during World War II, between Italy and the Allied armed forces, who were then occupying the southern end of the country, entailing the capitulation of Italy...
. - Finally in late December 1944 AmericansUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
arrived who were captured in the Battle of the BulgeBattle of the BulgeThe Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive , launched toward the end of World War II through the densely forested Ardennes mountain region of Wallonia in Belgium, hence its French name , and France and...
, approximately American 4,700 infantrymen were located here, far exceeding the capacity of the camp resulting in very severe conditions, even though officers and NCOs were later transferred to other camps. - In January 1945 the commandant ordered all Jewish prisoners to step forward out of the daily line-up. At first none did. But after standing several hours 130 came forward. However the commandant had been requested to provide 350 for the transport. Troublemakers, including Pfc J.C.F Kasten, the elected camp leader (born in Hawaii of German-American parents), were then selected including anyone who "looked Jewish". The group was taken by train to the Berga labor camp.
- Early April the camp was liberated by the US 44th Infantry Division.
Labor camp Berga
The 350 men traveled in locked box cars, without food or water, for four days. The camp was under command of Lt. Hack and was a slave labor camp, totally contrary to the rules of the Third Geneva ConventionThird Geneva Convention
The Third Geneva Convention, relative to the treatment of prisoners of war, is one of the four treaties of the Geneva Conventions. It was first adopted in 1929, but was significantly updated in 1949...
. The POWs were put to work together with inmates of the Buchenwald concentration camp digging 17 tunnels for an underground ammunitions factory, some of them 150 feet below ground. As a result of the inhumane conditions, malnutrition and cold, as well as beatings, 47 prisoners died. The US military authorities never acknowledged the incident.
On 4 April the 300 surviving American prisoners were marched out of the camp ahead of the approaching American troops. After a 2½ week forced march they were finally liberated. During this march another 36 Americans died.
Prisoner escape
During an air-raid, while the camp lights were extinguished, Hans Kasten, Joe Littel and Ernst Sinner, wriggled under the wire and escaped from the Berga labor camp. Their freedom lasted only a few days. Trying to get food at the inn of a small town, they were arrested and taken to Gestapo headquarters. After identification as POWs they were taken to Buchenwald and placed in detention cells. Most likely they would have been killed like many other escaped prisoners (see Stalag Luft IIIStalag Luft III
Stalag Luft III was a Luftwaffe-run prisoner-of-war camp during World War II that housed captured air force servicemen. It was in the German Province of Lower Silesia near the town of Sagan , southeast of Berlin...
and Oflag VI-B
Oflag VI-B
Oflag VI-B Dössel was a World War II German POW camp for officers located SW of the small town Dössel in north-western Germany.- Timeline :In 1940 the camp was built on what had been originally intended to be an airfield...
). Fortunately for them the Buchenwald Camp was liberated by the US Army three days later.
Sources
- "Forgotten Victims" ISBN 0-8133-3064-5 - by Mitchell G. Bard
- account of Pfc. Kasten