Luckenwalde - Stalag 3A South of Berlin
Title
Luckenwalde - Stalag 3A South of Berlin
Description
A description of the conditions at Stalag 3A.
Creator
Coverage
Language
Format
Two printed sheets
Publisher
Rights
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Contributor
Identifier
SCarterR1620578v10009-00020001, SCarterR1620578v10009-00020002
Transcription
[circled H]1 [circled 1]
LUCKENWALDE
[underlined] STALAG 3A SOUTH OF BERLIN [/underlined]
DESCRIBED AS A “BRUTISH POW CAMP” CONTAINING ABOUT 10,000 POW’S OF ALL NATIONALITIES, INCLUDING POLISH CIVILIANS FROM THE RESISTANCE MOVEMENT, [underlined] DOCUMENTED ACCOUNTS DESCRIBE [/underlined] APPALLING LAVATORY ARRANGEMENTS RIFE FOR A TYPHUS EPIDEMIC IN WARM WEATHER.
ONE POW DESCRIBED IT “AS A TERRIBLE PLACE” WHERE ONLY THE INDOMITABLE FIGHTING SPIRIT OF THE MEN KEPT THEM FROM GOING UNDER.
CONDITIONS DETERIORATED FURTHER AS MORE POW’S FLOODED IN EVERY DAY, SOME OF WHICH WERE COLUMNS OF MARCHERS FROM THE PRISON CAMPS IN THE EAST, ARRIVING EXHAUSTED AND STARVED.
BUNKS WERE THREE-HIGH, BARRACKS WERE CRAMMED: MARQUEES ERECTED ON THE MUDDY GROUND SOON FILLED TO OVERFLOWING.
THIS IS WHAT AWAITED MY FATHER AND THE OTHER SURVIVORS FROM THE EVACUATION OF STALSG [sic] LUFT VII IN JANUARY 1945.
THE DAILY FOOD ALLOWANCE CONSISTED OF:
SEVEN MEN TO ONE LOAF OF BREAD
3/4 OF A MUG OF SOUP
A SMALL POTATO
A SLIVER OF MARGARINE TO COVER ONE SLICE OF BREAD
PASTE OR CHEESE TO COVER A 1/4 OF A SLICE
TWICE A DAY A MUG OF MINT TEA OR ACORN COFFEE
UNCERTAINTY EXACERBATED FEAR FOR THE IMMEDIATE FUTURE
RUMOURS WERE RIFE; THEY WERE TO BE TAKEN TO BERLIN AND HELD HOSTAGE. THEY WERE TAKEN OUT OF THE CAMP TO THE RAILWAY STATION AND THEN TAKEN BACK TO CAMP AGAIN, AND ALL THE WHILE BEING IN THE MIDST OF A BATTLE ZONE.
BUT THEN THE GERMAN GUARDS DESERTED AND FINALLY ON 22ND APRIL 1945 RUSSIAN TROOPS ARRIVED AND FORMALLY “LIBERATED” STALAG LUFT 3A.
[page break]
[circled H]1 [circled 2]
UNTIL ONE RUSSIAN GENERAL ORDERED THE WATCHTOWER TO BE MANNED BY RUSSIAN GUARDS AND PATROLS RE-INSTATED ALONG THE BARBED WIRE PERIMETERS.
IT WAS NOW LATE APRIL AND [underlined] POLITICS [/underlined] WERE PREVENTING LIBERATION.
ALONG WITH COUNTLESS OTHERS MY FATHER WITH SIX COMPANIONS DECIDED TO TAKE THEIR LIVES INTO THEIR OWN HANDS, AND, WHEN THE OPPORTUNITY PRESENTED ITSELF “SLIPPED OUT” OF CAMP TO TRY TO REACH THE AMERICAN LINES – WHICH AFTER TEN DAYS EVADING GERMANS AND RUSSIANS – THEY DID!
AT LAST MY FATHERS WAR WAS OVER. HE WAS JUST SHORT OF 21 YEARS OF AGE IT WAS RARE FOR MY FATHER TO SPEAK OF HIS WAR TIME EXPERIENCES.
HOWEVER, I HAVE HAD THE [underlined] PRIVILEGE [/underlined] TO TRAVEL WITH HIM, PART OF THE WAY, BY HAVING ACCESS TO MY FATHERS PERSONAL COPY OF JOHN NICHOLS AND TONY RENNELLS BOOK “THE LAST ESCAPE” WHICH WAS HEAVILY UNDER LINED AND MARKED WITH, [underlined] I WAS THERE [/underlined]
WHAT A JOURNEY!
LUCKENWALDE
[underlined] STALAG 3A SOUTH OF BERLIN [/underlined]
DESCRIBED AS A “BRUTISH POW CAMP” CONTAINING ABOUT 10,000 POW’S OF ALL NATIONALITIES, INCLUDING POLISH CIVILIANS FROM THE RESISTANCE MOVEMENT, [underlined] DOCUMENTED ACCOUNTS DESCRIBE [/underlined] APPALLING LAVATORY ARRANGEMENTS RIFE FOR A TYPHUS EPIDEMIC IN WARM WEATHER.
ONE POW DESCRIBED IT “AS A TERRIBLE PLACE” WHERE ONLY THE INDOMITABLE FIGHTING SPIRIT OF THE MEN KEPT THEM FROM GOING UNDER.
CONDITIONS DETERIORATED FURTHER AS MORE POW’S FLOODED IN EVERY DAY, SOME OF WHICH WERE COLUMNS OF MARCHERS FROM THE PRISON CAMPS IN THE EAST, ARRIVING EXHAUSTED AND STARVED.
BUNKS WERE THREE-HIGH, BARRACKS WERE CRAMMED: MARQUEES ERECTED ON THE MUDDY GROUND SOON FILLED TO OVERFLOWING.
THIS IS WHAT AWAITED MY FATHER AND THE OTHER SURVIVORS FROM THE EVACUATION OF STALSG [sic] LUFT VII IN JANUARY 1945.
THE DAILY FOOD ALLOWANCE CONSISTED OF:
SEVEN MEN TO ONE LOAF OF BREAD
3/4 OF A MUG OF SOUP
A SMALL POTATO
A SLIVER OF MARGARINE TO COVER ONE SLICE OF BREAD
PASTE OR CHEESE TO COVER A 1/4 OF A SLICE
TWICE A DAY A MUG OF MINT TEA OR ACORN COFFEE
UNCERTAINTY EXACERBATED FEAR FOR THE IMMEDIATE FUTURE
RUMOURS WERE RIFE; THEY WERE TO BE TAKEN TO BERLIN AND HELD HOSTAGE. THEY WERE TAKEN OUT OF THE CAMP TO THE RAILWAY STATION AND THEN TAKEN BACK TO CAMP AGAIN, AND ALL THE WHILE BEING IN THE MIDST OF A BATTLE ZONE.
BUT THEN THE GERMAN GUARDS DESERTED AND FINALLY ON 22ND APRIL 1945 RUSSIAN TROOPS ARRIVED AND FORMALLY “LIBERATED” STALAG LUFT 3A.
[page break]
[circled H]1 [circled 2]
UNTIL ONE RUSSIAN GENERAL ORDERED THE WATCHTOWER TO BE MANNED BY RUSSIAN GUARDS AND PATROLS RE-INSTATED ALONG THE BARBED WIRE PERIMETERS.
IT WAS NOW LATE APRIL AND [underlined] POLITICS [/underlined] WERE PREVENTING LIBERATION.
ALONG WITH COUNTLESS OTHERS MY FATHER WITH SIX COMPANIONS DECIDED TO TAKE THEIR LIVES INTO THEIR OWN HANDS, AND, WHEN THE OPPORTUNITY PRESENTED ITSELF “SLIPPED OUT” OF CAMP TO TRY TO REACH THE AMERICAN LINES – WHICH AFTER TEN DAYS EVADING GERMANS AND RUSSIANS – THEY DID!
AT LAST MY FATHERS WAR WAS OVER. HE WAS JUST SHORT OF 21 YEARS OF AGE IT WAS RARE FOR MY FATHER TO SPEAK OF HIS WAR TIME EXPERIENCES.
HOWEVER, I HAVE HAD THE [underlined] PRIVILEGE [/underlined] TO TRAVEL WITH HIM, PART OF THE WAY, BY HAVING ACCESS TO MY FATHERS PERSONAL COPY OF JOHN NICHOLS AND TONY RENNELLS BOOK “THE LAST ESCAPE” WHICH WAS HEAVILY UNDER LINED AND MARKED WITH, [underlined] I WAS THERE [/underlined]
WHAT A JOURNEY!
Collection
Citation
Susan Carter, “Luckenwalde - Stalag 3A South of Berlin,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed June 13, 2025, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/collections/document/41903.