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Stalag XXI-D

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Coordinates:52°23′42″N16°51′25.2″E/ 52.39500°N 16.857000°E/52.39500; 16.857000(Fort VIII)
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Stalag XXI-D
Poznań,German-occupiedPoland
Fort IIIA of the Poznań Fortress, one of the forts occupied by Stalag XXI-D
Stalag XXI-D is located in Poland
Stalag XXI-D
Stalag XXI-D
Coordinates52°23′42″N16°51′25″E/ 52.39500°N 16.85694°E/52.39500; 16.85694
TypePrisoner-of-war camp
Site information
Controlled byNazi Germany
Site history
In use1940–1945
Battles/warsWorld War II
Garrison information
OccupantsPolish, French, British, Belgian, Dutch, Serbian, Soviet and Italian prisoners of war

Stalag XXI-Dwas a GermanWorld War IIprisoner-of-war campbased inPoznańinGerman-occupiedPoland,operated in 1940–1945. It held Polish,French,British, Belgian, Dutch, Serbian, Soviet and Italian POWs.[1]

It was one of four main German POW camps in the Military District XXI, alongside theStalag XXI-AinOstrzeszów,Stalag XXI-BinSzubinandStalag XXI-CinWolsztyn.[2]The Reserve Hospital in Ostrzeszów was suboridnate to Stalag XXI-D.[1]

Description

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Following theinvasion of Polandin 1939 and the establishment of theReichsgau Wartheland,Poznań became the administrative centre of 'Wehrkreis XXI' (Military DistrictXXI). Some ofPoznań's eighteenth century fortswere used as prison camps. Most notorious of these was theconcentration camp,Fort VII,which was predominately used to house Polish prisoners.

Some other forts, along withforced labourcamp locations in the surrounding countryside, were used to hold PoWs.[3]These collectively formed Stalag XXI-D and accommodated just over 3,000 prisoners in total.[4]

Camps

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In Poznań itself, three forts were used to house PoWs; Rauch, IIIA and VIII.

On the eastern, right, bank of theRiver Warta,near to the present day St. Roch bridge, stood Fort Rauch, the most southern of theright bank fortifications.Although partially demolished during the 1920s, it was used to accommodate about 750 men. AnICRCreport of August 1941 described the fort as being "a circular building, made of red brick with three floors each with its windows facing an interior court which acts as the hub of the fort. There is no overcrowding and the rooms are not so large that they become noisy when filled with prisoners." Prisoners lived in many of the 50 basement rooms of the brick builtredoubt,with 30-46 beds per room. Other rooms were used as a common room and theatre. After the war Fort Rauch was completely demolished and acollegenow stands on the site.[citation needed]

52°24′7.20″N16°57′3.60″E/ 52.4020000°N 16.9510000°E/52.4020000; 16.9510000(Site of Fort Rauch)

Further to the north-east, Fort IIIA (Fort Prittwitz) was used to hold GaulistFrench soldiers.In 1993 Fort IIIA was converted for use as a crematorium. It is set in what are now grounds of the Milostow cemetery, which contains graves and memorials to Poznań's many war dead.[5]52°25′0.62″N17°0′5.69″E/ 52.4168389°N 17.0015806°E/52.4168389; 17.0015806(Fort IIIA)

Fort VIII

Of the west, left bank forts, Fort VIII (Fort Grolman) was also used to house British and French prisoners.;[4]The fort still stands, located to the south of Stadion Miejski, home toLech Poznań football club.52°23′42″N16°51′25.2″E/ 52.39500°N 16.857000°E/52.39500; 16.857000(Fort VIII)

Work camps were established in a wide area in and around Poznań. These included; Working Camp 4, Ostrowo[6] Krotoszyn d14;[7] Kuhndorf[8][9](possibly located at or near Sołacki Park renamed 'Kuhndorfpark' during the occupation in theNiestachów, Jeżycearea of north west Poznań); XXI-D/Z inOstrzeszówJune–December 1943[10][11](about 130 km south-west of Poznań), XXI-D/Z inMątwySeptember–December 1943[10](nearInowrocław[11]about 107 km north-east of Poznań), and even as far away asŁódź[11]about 200 km to the east and closer toWarsawthan Poznań. Despite the distance, administration of the work camp at Łódź fell under Stalag XXI-D for part of the war. One group of PoWs were billeted in a disused textile dye works and worked in engineering workshops under the control of the German Ordnance Corps, supplying repair services for the Russian Front. This Ordnance Corps was known as H.K.P 20 (translated as Rearguard Vehicle Repair Park).[12] The German Army training area atBiedruskoa few miles north of Poznan, was the location of a PoW working camp between July 1940 and June 1942. Initially a sub-camp ofStalag XXI-B,by September 1941 became camp 11 of Stalag XXI-D.[13]Prisoners moved between three locations within a few kilometres during that period, including a disused Polish Cavalry stables. Prisoners worked, for example, filling bomb craters.[14]

Timeline

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Memorial plaque inŁódźat the place to which English pilots escaped from Stalag XXI-D in 1941 during theDorszeaction organized by thePolish resistance
  • June 1940 - August 1940 Stalag XXI-A/Z based at Poznań.[15]
  • Stalag XXI-D established 1 August 1940.[10][15]
  • Early March 1941Ronald Littledale,Michael SinclairandGris Davies-Scourfieldarrived at Fort VIII in a party of about 400 officers.[16]
  • 28 May 1941 Littledale, Sinclair and Davies-Scourfield escaped from Fort VIII in ahandcartof rubbish, hiding in a rubbish pit outside the camp. The escape was orchestrated by thePolish resistance movementas part of theDorszeoperation.[17]Poles then provided the escapees with shelter in Poznań, secured false documents and organized transport toŁódźand eventuallyWarsaw.[17]Later on, the escapees were eventually recaptured by the Germans and sent toOflag IV-CatColditz Castle.[16]
  • 4 Oct 1941 - Allan Wolfe,6th Royal West Kents,captured atDoullens,placed in solitary confinement at Fort Rauch for one of three failed escape attempts.[18]
  • October 1941 - POWs from the dissolved Stalag XXI-B camp inTurbrought to Stalag XXI-D and itsforced laboursubcamps.[19]
  • 12 May 1942 Murder of Sapper Alexander.[20]
  • 1942? - Allan Wolfe escaped while working on a road, walked toCzechoslovakiaand remained there until liberated by the Russians.[18]
  • March 1943 - Funeral of Rifleman Cecil A. PonsfordKRRC,allegedly shot for persistentwhistling.[21]
  • 31 March 1943 - Ellis Phythian of theCheshire Regiment,captured atTournaiin May 1940, escaped from a working party, stowed away on a train toNancyand returned to the UK via thePyreneesinto Spain in July 1943.[22][23]He was awarded theDCMin December that year.[24]
  • April 1943 - Administration of H.K.P. 20 Lodz transferred fromStalag XXI-Ato XXI-D.[12]
  • June 1943 - December 1943: Camp at Ostrzeszów (Schildberg) administratively transferred to Stalag XXI-D fromStalag XXI-A(remainder transferring toOflag XXI-C).[12][15]
  • 15 July 1943 Shooting of two escaping prisoners of war at Working Camp 4 (making a rifle range), Ostrowo.[6]One prisoner, Acting Able Seaman Esrom May of Point Rosie, Newfoundland, died of his wounds but the other, a Scottish private in the Gordon Highlanders, John Stewart, recovered.
  • circa 1943(?) - weakbeersupplied to replace contaminated drinking water. Stolen Radio concealed inbarrel.[25]
  • 16 April 1944 Shooting of Fusilier Rigby and wounding of other prisoners of war.[26]
  • June 1944 - H.K.P. 20 Lodz physically relocated toStalag 344 (Stalag VIII-B).[12]
  • October 1944 - Stalag XXI-D reached its maximum population of 7,250.[1]
  • PoWs were moved out before the advancing Red Army eventually took the town at theBattle of Poznańin 1945.[27]
  • February 1945 - Camp dissolved.[1]

Notable prisoners

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See also

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References

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  1. ^abcdMegargee, Geoffrey P.; Overmans, Rüdiger; Vogt, Wolfgang (2022).The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume IV.Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. p. 501.ISBN978-0-253-06089-1.
  2. ^Encyklopedia konspiracji Wielkopolskiej 1939–1945(in Polish). Poznań: Instytut Zachodni. 1998. p. 393.ISBN83-85003-97-5.
  3. ^Eric T. Reeves (12 December 2005)."Into captivity, Abbeville 1940 – 1945".WW2 Peoples' War.BBC.Retrieved29 August2010.
  4. ^abBill Forster (24 November 2005)."The Diary of Alan Forster, POW 3921, Stalag VIIIB (October 1944 – May 1945) Part 2".WW2 Peoples' War.BBC.Retrieved29 August2010.
  5. ^"UNIVERSUM"(in Polish). 2008.Retrieved13 September2010.
  6. ^ab"WO 311/948 Shooting of two escaping British prisoners of war at Working Camp 4 (making a rifle range), Ostrowo, Poland (attached to Stalag XXI D, Posen), 15 July 1943".Records created or inherited by the War Office, Armed Forces, Judge Advocate General, and related bodies.The National Archives.Aug 1, 1943.Retrieved8 September2010.
  7. ^trustygeorge (15 September 2005)."The Long March Home Part 2".WW2 Peoples' War.BBC.Retrieved12 September2010.
  8. ^David Beard (September 28, 2006)."The Prisoner of War Page".Retrieved6 September2010.
  9. ^"Stalag 21D POW Camp".The Wartime Memories Project.
  10. ^abc"Stalag (Stammlager)".Lexicon of the Wehrmacht(in German).Retrieved24 September2010.
  11. ^abcSmit, David Jan (1997).Under the Flags of Sweden and of the Red Cross(PDF).ISBN90-901002-6-1.Retrieved8 September2010.
  12. ^abcdJohn Dale Chew. Martin Chew (ed.)."Letters of John D. Chew from Stalags XXI-A, B, D and VIII-B".Prisoner of War (1939-1945) Letters Home.Retrieved7 September2010.
  13. ^Douglas Evans (2000)."Autumn 2000 Newsletter".The National Ex-Prisoner of War Association Newsletter(Autumn 2000 ed.). The National Ex-Prisoner of War Association.Retrieved7 October2010.
  14. ^Eric Reeves (2003)."Summer 2003 Newsletter".The National Ex-Prisoner of War Association Newsletter(Summer 2003 ed.).Retrieved7 October2010.
  15. ^abcWerner Schwarz."Moosburg Online: Kriegsgefangenenlager (Liste)"[List of POW camps in Germany and occupied territories].Wehrkreis XXI - Posen (Poznań) [Polen].Retrieved30 August2010.
  16. ^abRonald B. Littledale(1946)."Escape to Freedom"(PDF).Kings Royal Rifle Corps Association.Retrieved31 August2010.{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal=(help)
  17. ^abAleksandra Pietrowicz.""Dorsze" z Poznania ".Przystanek Historia(in Polish).Retrieved21 August2022.
  18. ^abAllan Wolfe."Capture at Doullens: 6th Royal West Kents".WW2 Peoples' War.BBC.Retrieved7 September2010.
  19. ^Daniluk, Jan; Winiecki, Mariusz (2020).Stalag XXI B/H Thure. Jeńcy wojenni w Turze w latach II wojny światowej(in Polish and English). Translated by Parsons, Alan. Szubin: Polsko-Amerykańska Fundacja Upamiętnienia Obozów Jenieckich w Szubinie. pp. 22, 56.ISBN978-83-958269-0-0.
  20. ^"WO 311/964 Murder of Sapper Alexander at Stalag XXI D, Posen, Poland, 12 May 1942".Records created or inherited by the War Office, Armed Forces, Judge Advocate General, and related bodies.The National Archives.Retrieved8 September2010.
  21. ^Christopher Palmer."Rifleman Cecil A. Ponsford. Army, Kings Royal Rifle Corps".The Wartime Memories Project - The Second World War.Retrieved6 September2010.
  22. ^"Conscript Heroes. MI9 nos 1000–1499".WWII Escape and Evasion Information Exchange.Retrieved23 October2010.
  23. ^Les Allan (2004)."Spring 2004 Newsletter".The National Ex-Prisoner of War Association. Archived fromthe originalon 31 October 2010.Retrieved28 September2010.{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal=(help)
  24. ^ "No. 36278".The London Gazette(Supplement). 7 Dec 1943. p. 5374.
  25. ^John Dale Chew. Martin Chew (ed.)."Secret Camp Radios".Prisoner of War (1939-1945).Retrieved7 September2010.
  26. ^"WO 309/2135 Shooting of Fusilier Rigby and wounding of other prisoners of war, Stalag XXI D, Posen, Poland".Records created or inherited by the War Office, Armed Forces, Judge Advocate General, and related bodies.The National Archives.16 April 1944.Retrieved8 September2010.
  27. ^"Wartime Memories of Thomas W Gould".BBC.17 May 2005. Archived fromthe originalon April 19, 2013.Retrieved30 August2010.
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POW memoirs

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  • Duncan, Michael (1954). "Underground from Posen". London, William Kimber. ASIN B0000CKW35
  • Belson, Dorrien (2003). "Caught! Prisoner of War No. 487" Henley, Bentwyck Henry Publishers Ltd.ISBN1-904538-01-0
  • Davies-Scourfield, Gris (2004). "In Presence of my Foes". Barnsley, Pen and Sword Military.ISBN1-84415-197-2
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