Prisoner of war camps
Prisoner of war
Used for: POW, PoW
Someone held in custody by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. Almost 10,000 Bomber Command aircrew became prisoners of war after they were shot down or baled out. Allied aircrew prisoners were the responsibility of the Luftwaffe and Goering ordered that they were to be treated fairly. Captured RAF prisoners were first sent to the Dulag Luft transit camps near Frankfurt and then mostly taken to one of seven Stalag Luft Camps although some ended up at other camps. Prisoners organised educational lessons, sports, entertainments and camp newspapers. Food rations were supplemented by, in theory, one Red Cross parcel per week for each prisoner.
Dulag Luft
Stalag Luft 1
Stalag Luft 2
Stalag Luft 3
Stalag Luft 4
Stalag Luft 5
Stalag Luft 6
Stalag Luft 7
Stalag 3A
Stalag 4B
Stalag 7A
Stalag 8B
Stalag 357
the long march
Used for: the death march
A series of forced marches between January and April 1945 when Allied prisoners of war held in German military prison camps were forced to march westward away from the advancing Russian forces. This series of separate marches from individual camps is collectively known as the long march. In harsh winter conditions prisoners were marched, under guard, with poor clothing and rations. Many marched 500 miles (800 km) and some almost 1000 miles (1600 km). Over 2000 prisoners are estimated to have died from hypothermia, exhaustion, starvation and disease during the long march.