In the 1860s, the
Prussian Army established a training area for artillery at a wooded area near Lamsdorf, a small village connected by rail to
Opole and
Nysa. During the
Franco-Prussian War, a camp for French prisoners of war was established here, which housed some 3000 French POW's. During the
First World War, a much larger POW camp was established here with some 90,000 soldiers of various nationalities interned here. After the treaty of Versailles, the camp was closed down.
In 1943, the Lamsdorf camp was split up, and many of the prisoners (and
Arbeitskommando) were transferred to two new base camps
Stalag VIII-C Sagan (modern
Żagań) and
Stalag VIII-D Teschen (modern
Český Těšín). The base camp at Lamsdorf was renumbered Stalag 344.
The
Soviet Army reached the camp on 17 March 1945.
In 1945-1946, the camp was used by the Soviet-installed Polish
Ministry of Public Security to house some 8000-9000 Germans, both prisoners of war and
civilians. Polish army personnel being repatriated from POW camps were also processed through Łambinowice and sometimes held there as prisoners for several months. Some were later released, others sent to
Gulags in Siberia. About 1000-1500 German prisoners died in the camp due to malnutrition, lack of medicine and acts of violence and terror by the guards. Camp commander
Czesław Gęborski was later put on trial for his role in running the camp.
Stalag Luft VIII-B
By 1943, the famous camp for Allied flight personnel in Sagan —
Stalag Luft III — had become so overcrowded that about 1,000, mostly
non-commissioned flight personnel, were transferred to Lamsdorf. A part of Stalag VIII-B was separated by building new barbed-wire fences, designated Stalag Luft VIII-B. Thus a camp within a camp was created. However all food was provided from kitchens operated by army personnel in the camp proper.
Medical facilities
The hospital facilities at Stalag VIII-B were among the best in all
Stalags. The so-called Lazarett was set up on a separate site with eleven concrete buildings. Six of them were self-contained wards, each with space for about 100 patients. The others served as treatment blocks with operating theaters,
X-ray and laboratory facilities, as well as kitchens, a morgue, and accommodations for the medical staff.
The lazarett was headed by a German officer with the title Oberst Arzt ("Colonel Doctor"), but the staff was made up entirely of prisoners. They included general physicians and surgeons, even a neurosurgeon, psychiatrist, anesthesiologist and radiologist.
Evacuation and repatriation
In January 1945, as the Soviet armies resumed their offensive and advanced into Germany, many of the prisoners were marched westward in groups of 200 to 300 in the so-called
Death March. Some died from the bitter cold and exhaustion. The lucky ones got far enough to the west to be liberated by the American army or the Scots Guards. The unlucky ones were captured by the Soviets, who instead of turning them over quickly to the western allies, held them as virtual hostages for several more months. Many of them were finally repatriated towards the end of 1945 through the port of
Odessa on the
Black Sea.[citation needed]
Arbeitskommandos
There were more than 700 subsidiary Arbeitskommandos (working parties outside the main camp) located in various places in present-day southern Poland and northern
Czech Republic. In the second issue of The Clarion (the camp magazine) in February 1943, the RC Chaplain Father John Berry says that "...there are about 600 Working Parties and ..... you will be able to guess why so many of you will have not yet had a visit". Arbeitskommandos were set up to house lower ranks that were working in the coal mines, quarries, factories and on railways. Among them were:
Siołkowice (Schalkendorf) - work to strengthen the embankments on the Odra River (50/80 POWs)
Dzierżno (Stauwerder), present-day district of
Pyskowice
E1 in Łabędy (Laband) - (Lager I - Train station) - 1st work at Siemens-Bau-UNION, next at Łabędy (Laband) ironworks (221 POWs) Huta "Łabędy" Gliwice
E3 in Blachownia Śląska (Blechhammer), present day district of
Kędzierzyn-Koźle at Oberschlesische Hydrierwerke A.G.
E8 in
Krapkowice (Krappitz) at a paper mill run by Natronzellstoff-und Papierfabriken A.G., Werk Krappitz-Zellstof u.Papierfabrik (Fabryka Celulozy i Papieru Natronowego w Krapkowicach) (102 POWs)
E42 in
Rudawa (Rothfest) at a paper mill run by "Rothfest Papierfabrik dr.Albert Spenner GmbH" company (Głuchołaskie Zakłady Papiernicze Zakład Rudawa)
E51 in
Zabrze-Mikulczyce (Hindenburg-Klausberg (Mikultschütz)) at Mikulczyce (Abwehrgrube) coal mine (533 POWs) (Stalag VIII-B Teschen)
E55 in Zabrze-Biskupice (Hindenburg-Borsig) at Pstrowski (Hedwigs-Wunschgrube) coal mine; Borsig-Koks-Werke
E71 in
Nowa Ruda (Neurode) at the Piast (Rubengrube) coal mine, building gym "Turnhale" and barracks, and in Drogosław (Kunzendorf), present-day district of Nowa Ruda
E72 in
Bytom (Beuthen) at Bytom (Beuthengrube) coal mine (171-204-600 POWs)
E75 in
Knurów at the Knurów coal mine (262 POWs); 3 prisoners were shot while escaping in 1944
E88 in
Wełnowiec (Hohenlohehütte), present-day district of
Katowice, at the Król (König) coal mine, "Agnieszka" (Agneschaft) east shaft of the Król mine in Agnieszka (Agneshütte) colony (177 POWs), and in
Chorzów (Königshütte) at Prezydent (Königsgrube) coal mine
E94 in
Malnia (Mallnie/Odergrund) - "Emilienhoff" Vorwerk, limestone quarry, "Bata" shoe factory and construction Reichsautobahn motorway; ex-property Malnia "Emilienhof" belonged to Graf von Sponeck
E110 in Dzierżno (Stauwerder), present-day district of
Pyskowice - exploitation of aggregates (39 POWs) (Stalag VIII-B Teschen)
E114 in
Velké Kunětice (Gross Kunzendorf) at a stone quarry and factory
E115 in
Dobra (Burgwasser). Three POWs escaped on 18 August 1941
E151 in
Zabrze-Maciejów at the Ludwik-Concordia (Concordia-grube) coal mine, Maciej shaft (Westschacht) 1941-42 Gewerkschaft Castellengo-Abwehr A.G.~ Vereinigte Oberschlesische Huttenwerke AG Gleiwitz Werk Donnersmarckhutte
E152 in
Górażdże (Goradze/Waldenstein) at a limestone quarry
E154 in Golina-
Pomianów Dolny (Gollendorf-Nieder Pomsdorf)
E155 in
Koźle-Port (Cosel-Oderhafen) within present-day city limits of Kędzierzyn-Koźle, at the Siemens Papier- und Zellstofwerke Feldmuhle AG (Zakłady Papieru i Celulozy Kędzierzyn-Koźle)
E209 in
Bobrek, present-day district of
Bytom, at the Józef shaft of the Bobrek coal mine (Gräfin Johanna Schacht) (111/141 POWs) (Stalag VIII-B Teschen)
E411 in
Szombierki (Schönberg), present-day district of
Bytom, at the
Szombierki Coal Mine (Hohenzollerngrube) (38 POWs), (Stalag VIII-B Teschen)
E414 in
Brzezie (Hohenbirken), present-day district of
Racibórz, at a saw mill in Lukasyna/Dębicz (Lukasine)
E415 in Brzezie (Hohenbirken), present-day district of Racibórz, at a tile factory in Lukasyna/Dębicz (Lukasine)
E419 in
Opole-Groszowice (Oppeln Groschowitz) at a cement factory of the Schlesiche Portland Zement-Industrie A.G. Oppeln company, which in 1941 was taken over by the Verenigte Ost und Mitteldeutsche Zement Aktiengesellschaft company
E428 in
Suchy Bór (Derschau) at a sawmill (2nd owner was Berthold Winkler; 34 POWs)
E431 in Dolní Teplice (Unter-Weckelsdorf), present-day district of
Teplice nad Metují
E446 in
Zlaté Hory (Zuckmantel) - 11 POWs working at "Śliweczka" sawmill. Accommodation in the sawmill area.
E456 in
Kałków (Kalkau) - fortifications works (60 POWs)
E460 building railway bridge
E478 in
Toszek (Tost) at a sawmill (20 POWs); Oflag VIII-D Tost; Oflag 6& Ilag A/H POW(1249-military&civilians), buildings hospital -Provinzial–Heil- und Pflegeanstalt (Anstalt)
E479 in
Tarnowskie Góry (Tarnowitz) - railway work (207 POWs)
E490 in
Bytom (Beuthen) at the railway building (32 POWs) (Stalag VIII-B Teschen)
E494 in
Gliwice - railway transport at Gliwice Wschodnie (Sośnica) (Gleiwitz Ost) station (52 POWs),(Stalag VIII-B Teschen)
E508 in
Siemianowice Śląskie (Siemianowitz-Laurahütte) - work production of anti-aircraft artillery in the Laura mill (huta "Jedność"; Hütte "Laura" Berghütte Königs- und Bismarckhütte AG Rheinmetall-Borsig)
E535 in
Sosnowiec (Sosnowitz) West at the Milowice (Milwitzgrube) coal mine (~500 POWs, 6 barracks)
E538 in Sosnowiec-Sielec (Sosnowitz-Sielz) at the Hrabia Renard coal mine (Grad Renad Grube) (526 POWs, barracks on Rzeźnicza street) (Stalag VIII-B Teschen)
E543 in
Dąbrowa Górnicza (Dombrowa) at the Paryż (Paris) coal mine (423 POWs), 8 barracks at the wood yard of the Koszelew coal mine (Stalag VIII-B Teschen)
E579 in Niwka, present-day district of
Sosnowiec - stalag called "Pawiak", 8 barracks for 600/1,000 POWs, Modrzejów (Modrowgrube) coal mine ("Theodor Körner" Preussag)
E580 in
Czeladź at the Saturn coal mine, 8 barracks at Węglowa Street, 352 POWs (British paratroopers); (Stalag VIII-B Teschen)
E585 in Jagerndorf at a brickyard
E586 in Kazimierz, present-day district of Sosnowiec, at the Kazimierz/Juliusz (Juliusgrube) coal mine, POWs held in a school building at Ligonia 3a street in Pekin-Porąbka
E587 in Czeladź-Piaski at the Czeladź coal mine (Stalag VIII-B Teschen)
E593 in
Szombierki (Schönberg), present-day district of Bytom, at the Szombierki Coal Mine (Hohenzollerngrube) (416 POWs) (Stalag VIII-B Teschen)
E594 in
Chorzów (Königshütte Ost) at a nitrogen plant - Górnośląskie Zakłady Azotowe (Oberschlesische Stickstoffwerke) (197 POWs) (Stalag VIII-B Teschen)
E706 in Zabrze-Biskupice (Hindenburg-Biskupitz) at firm "Borsig-Kokswerke AG" and "Szczęście Ludwika" (Ludwigsglück) coal mine (36 POWs)
E707 in
Sosnowiec (Sosnowitz) - 119 British POWs worked in area of the city (Stalag VIII-B Teschen)
E708 in Łabędy (Laband), present-day district of Gliwice - construction of railway track (101 POWs); "Baugesellschaft Kahlenbach" (64 POWs), "Vereinigte Deutsche Nickelwerke AG" (37 POWs)
E711 in
Bierawa (Reigersfeld) at a chemical plant of
IG Farben company (246 POWs)
E714 in Blachownia Śląska (Blechhammer), present day district of Kędzierzyn-Koźle - BAB21, BAB48 (Bau Arbeit Bataillon) from 1942 to November 1944 (550/600 POWs), both battalions merged into one battalion in March 1943 (1,100 POWs)
E715 in
Monowice at the
IG Farben chemical factory. Set up in September 1943, it housed about 1,200 prisoners, mostly British.
E719 in Gliwice-Sztygarów (Ligota Zabrska) (Gleiwitz-Steigern (Ellguth Zabrze)) at Reichswerke Hermann Göring (290 POWs) (Stalag VIII-B Teschen)
E721 in
Kałków-
Łąka (Kalkau-Wiesau) at a sugar factory Zuckerfabrik Ottmachau
E724 in
Świętochłowice (Schwientochlowitz) at smelter "Florian" (Falvahütte) (198 POWs)
E725 in
Chorzów at the Batory smelter (Bismarckhütte) (268 POWs) (Stalag VIII-B Teschen)
E727 in Miechowice (Mechtal), present-day district of Bytom, at a power station (346 POWs) (Stalag VIII-B Teschen)
E737 in
Fosowskie (Vosswalde), present-day district of Kolonowskie - Chemische Fabrik Vosswalde produced charcoal, which was bagged and sent out by rail, and its by-product of wood alcohol.
E738 in Trzebinia at a refinery managed by Erdöl Raffinerie Gmbh (200-300 POWs), (Stalag VIII-B Teschen). The refinery was bombed and destroyed by the Allied air force on 7 August 1944
E739 in Zielona (Grunkolonie), present-day district of Dąbrowa Górnicza, at Bankowa (Bankhütte) Steel and Ironworks at Zielona Street (152 POWs) (Stalag VIII-B Teschen)
E740 in
Kobiór (Kobier) at an ammunition depot (84 POWs) (Stalag VIII-B Teschen)
E742 in
Łaziska Górne (Ober Lazisk) at Electrowerke factory (124/150 POWs), 2 barracks in the Kopania colony in Łaziska Górne
E744 in Kazimierz Górniczy, present-day district of Sosnowiec, at the Kazimierz-Juliusz (Kasimir-Julius/Kasimirgrube) coal mine (497/800 POWs), barracks near Brunona Jasieńskiego street.
E746 in Chorzów (Königshütte) - work in construction (601 POWs) (Stalag VIII-B Teschen)
E748 in
Bobrek, present-day district of Bytom, at the railway (48 POWs) (XII - 1943 - Stalag VIII-B Teschen)
E749 in Pyskowice (Peiskretscham) at the railway (187 POWs) (Stalag VIII-B Teschen)
E750 in
Katowice (Kattowitz) at Huta Baildon (Baildonhütte) (66 POWs)
E753 in
Sierakowice (Graumannsdorf/Schierakowitz) - work in forestry (21 POWs)
E754 in Czeladź at the Mars coal mine (252 POWs) (Stalag VIII-B Teschen)
E755 in Wojkowice Komorne (Wojkowitz Komorne), now
Wojkowice, at the Jupiter coal mine, Saturn cement mill (UK RAF, French and Italian POWs). Stalag was located in the area of today's Wojkowice prison.
E756 in
Radzionków (Radzionkau) at the Radzionków coal mine (Radzionkaugrube) (155 POWs), barracks located at the mine (Stalag VIII-B Teschen)
E757 in Kalety (Stahlhammer) - at a paper factory (Zellstoff und Papierfabrik Natronag AG/Fabryka Celulozy i Papieru Natronag S.A.) (60 POWs), the building of the factory nursery served as a POW camp; in
Chebzie (Morgenroth), present-day district of
Ruda Śląska at a zinc smelter, and in Janów, present-day district of Katowice at a coal mine (Jutrzenka/Wieczorek?)
E758 in Knurów at Dworcowa street (169 POWs, 2 buildings)
E759 in Gliwice (Gleiwitz) - 49 POWs worked in public transport (Stalag VIII-B Teschen)
E760 in Bobrek, present-day district of Bytom - work for the Narrow-Gauge Railway Authority (58 POWs) (XII - 1943 Stalag VIII-B Teschen)
E761 in Bobrek, present-day district of Bytom - transport (17 POWs) (XII - 1943 Stalag VIII-B Teschen)
E762 in Bobrek, present-day district of Bytom at a concrete factory (Beton u.Monierbetrieb) (10 POWs) (XII - 1943 Stalag VIII-B Teschen)
E770 in Otmęt (Ottmuth), present-day district of
Krapkowice, at the Bata shoe factory (OTA – Schlesische Schuhwerke Ottmuth A.G./Śląskie Zakłady Przemysłu Skórzanego „Otmęt”)
E778 in
Skorogoszcz (Schurgast) - POW works in a field hospital "SS LAZARET"
E782 in Kuźnia Raciborska (Ratiborhammer), est. 11 July 1944
E794 in Kędzierzyn (Heydebreck), present-day district of
Kędzierzyn-Koźle - BAB20, BAB40 (Bau Arbeit Bataillon) from 1942 to November 1944 (550/600 POWs), both battalions merged into one battalion in March 1943 (1,100/1,180 POWs)
E795 in
Burgrabice (Borkendorf) at Landesflussbauamt Neisse/Krajowy Urząd Robót Wodnych "Nysa"
E798 in
Grodziec (Friedrichsgrätz) - forestry work (Stalag VIII-B Teschen/Czeski Cieszyn)
E800 in Kłodnica (Klodnitz), present-day district of Kędzierzyn-Koźle - work in forestry
E902 in Zabrze (Hindenburg) at the Makoszowy coal mine (Delbrückschachte) (460 POWs) (Stalag VIII-B Teschen)
E902 coal mine
E22050 gas works transport
British POWs at Auschwitz
E715 was a POW camp for British prisoners which was administered and guarded by soldiers from
Wehrmacht because it was a subcamp of Stalag VIII-B camp. However, as it was attached to the
Monowitz concentration camp (codenamed Buna after the
synthetic rubber it made) which was one of the 28 sub-camps under the control of
Auschwitz III, the
SS had effective control. E715 was next to the I.G. Farben chemical plant just a few hundred meters away from the entrance to Monowitz.
The first 200 British POWs arrived at Auschwitz in September 1943 but over the winter of 1943 another 1,400 British POWs (mostly captured in
North Africa) were transported to E715. Between February and March 1944, 800 were transferred to camps at
Blechhammer and
Heydebreck-Cosel in Germany. After that, British POWs numbers remained approximately 600 for the remainder of the war. Most prisoners were
put to work in machine shops making pipes and repairing chemical plant equipment.
POWs regularly bore witness to the atrocities occurring at Monowitz because the SS made no attempt to conceal their brutality; the Allied prisoners routinely saw inmates from the Arbeitslagers being hanged, pushed off buildings, fatally beaten and shot.[3] Some POWs made contact with concentration camp inmates and passed on information about the war's progress that had been acquired using secret radios in the POW camp. Sergeant
Charles Coward even managed to pass intelligence about the atrocities occurring at Monowitz through letters to the British War Office. This led to representatives from the
Red Cross making two visits to E715 in the summer 1944.
With the start of the Soviet
Vistula–Oder Offensive in January 1945, Auschwitz was evacuated by the SS. The Wehrmacht closed POW camp E715 on January 21, 1945 forcing the British POWs to undertake a
forced march to
Stalag VII-A at
Moosburg in Germany. Three days earlier, the inmates of Monowitz had been sent on their own death march to
Gleiwitz near the Czech border where they boarded trains to
Buchenwald in Germany and
Mauthausen in Austria. Although the British POWs received better treatment than the concentration camp prisoners, they only received slightly more food. In April 1945, the British POWs at Auschwitz were liberated by the U.S. Army at Stalag VII A in Moosburg.
I made it a point to get one of the guards to take me to town under the pretense of buying new razor blades and stuff for our boys. For a few cigarettes he pointed out to me the various places where they had the gas chambers and the places where they took them down to be cremated. Everyone to whom I spoke gave the same story - the people in the city of Auschwitz, the SS men, concentration camp inmates, foreign workers - everyone said that
thousands of people were being gassed and cremated at Auschwitz, and that the inmates who worked with us and who were unable to continue working because of their physical condition and were suddenly missing, had been sent to the gas chambers. The inmates who were selected to be gassed went through the procedure of preparing for a bath, they stripped their clothes off, and walked into the bathing room. Instead of showers, there was gas. All the camp knew it. All the civilian population knew it. I mixed with the civilian population at Auschwitz. I was at Auschwitz nearly every day...Nobody could live in Auschwitz and work in the plant, or even come down to the plant without knowing what was common knowledge to everybody.
Even while still at Auschwitz we got radio broadcasts from the outside speaking about the gassings and burnings at Auschwitz. I recall one of these broadcasts was by Anthony Eden himself. Also, there were pamphlets dropped in Auschwitz and the surrounding territory, one of which I personally read, which related what was going on in the camp at Auschwitz. These leaflets were scattered all over the countryside and must have been dropped from planes. They were in Polish and German. Under those circumstances, nobody could be at or near Auschwitz without knowing what was going on.[4]
In 1998,
Arthur Dodd, a former British POW from Camp E715, published Spectator In Hell, a book about his time imprisoned at Monowitz.[3]