CONFIDENTIAL
BAU-UND ARBEITSBATALLION 20 (Wehrkreis VIII)
Date of visit: May 9, 1942.
Acting Camp Commander: Hauptmann Schmitz,
British Man of Confidence: SM Frank Batty, P.o.W. 9234.
British Physician: Lt. Colonel Donald Crawford
I.) GENERAL DESCRIPTION
This battalion which used to be in Wehrkreis XX was about two months ago transferred to a new quarter in south-east Germany not far from a new established industrial district. The battalion is lodged together with Bau-u. Arbeitsbatallion 40 in a new barrack camp surrounded by woods. The location is healthy and the camp is very well arranged. There is no danger of bombardments and no air raid shelters have been found necessary. Precautions against fire are satisfactory.
II.) CAPACITY AND PRESENT PERSONNEL
The battalion consists of 597 men all in the main camp.
The prisoners do all sorts of building and excavating work. A small part of the men work 10 hours at night and the rest 10 hours in the day. Some are on piece work. They are free on Sundays, and there were no complaints about the working conditions.
III.) INTERIOR ARRANGEMENTS
The barracks are of standard type with rooms for twenty men. The rooms are filled to their capacity but there is no overcrowding. The beds are of double tier type with straw mattresses and with two blankets each. The beds are free from vermins. There is electric light and the rooms are well lighted. The heating has been sufficient and now that the winter is over the prisoners are allowed to bring fire wood back from their working place to enable them to prepare their Red Cross food.
There is a good ventilation in the rooms. It was stated that there is not enough material for cleaning the rooms, and the Camp Commander stated that material was already ordered and expected in the near future. It was asked by the Man of Confidence if not worn out shirts etc. could be given out for this purpose.
The meals are taken in the rooms and there is a sufficient number of benches and tables.
IV.) BATHING AND WASHING FACILITIES
The bathing and washing facilities are very satisfactory. There were no complaints about the supply of hot water.
V.) TOILET FACILITIES
The latrines are very satisfactory and in sufficient number. They are of the flush type and the seats are separated by parting walls. There are no night latrines but the men are allowed to go out at night.
VI.) FOOD AND COOKING
The food is prepared in common for both battalions in the camp and in a well equipped kitchen. There is a British sergeant in charge of the kitchen, who is also able to control the rations given out. All men working outside the camp receive the additional ration for heavy workers but the camp staff receives only the usual civilian ration. The rations are the standard ones and are given in the report for battalion 40.
There was said to be an order that no coffee subst. may be given out the prisoners of war any more and tea subst. is given out instead. The men did not seem to like this change. Otherwise the food was said to be well prepared but the camp staff stated their ration was hardly sufficient to work on.
Since the battalion has been transferred to the new quarters and has been made independent from Stalag XX A, to which they previously belonged, there had only been one issue of Red Cross food parcels on April 28th. At that occasion 1800 parcels had arrived for both battalions, that is for 1200 men. There is an agreement between the battalions that whichever Red Cross parcels arrive for the one battalion will be shared with the other one.
VII.) MEDICAL ATTENTION AND SICKNESS
The British physician, Lt. Colonel Crawford was very satisfied with the hygienic arrangements in the camp. He only asked to have the removal of tins etc. between organised for the summer. This matter had already been taken up with the Commander.
There is a good infirmary with an examination room and two sick wards. There are beds for 20 patients but at present there were only 4 patients, all with minor diseases. The equipment with instruments and drugs was said to be very satisfactory.
VIII.) CLOTHING
The clothing conditions can be considered as fairly good, but so far each man has only one uniform. It was, however, stated by the Commander that orders had been given by the Wehrkreis Commander that each man should be provided with an extra uniform for work. It was said that this order would be carried out within the near future. The matter will be checked on the next visit.
There was at present only a small stock of uniforms and boots. On the 21st of August 1941, 600 pairs of boots had been sent to the battalion from Stalag XX A without telling if the boots were British Red Cross stuff or German property. The boots had been issued as German property although the British Man of Confidence was quite sure they had arrived from the British Red Cross. It was the same with uniforms handed out to the battalion when going away from the Stalag XX A. Over these equipments the British Man of Confidence had had no control.
The acting Commander agreed that the Man of Confidence should be in control of all Red Cross clothing but stated that so far none had been received by the battalion. The real origin of the above mentioned clothing was to be investigated by the camp authorities and the matter will also be looked into by the representative of the Legation at the next visit to Stalag XX A.
IX.) LAUNDRY
Laundry is done by the men themselves. There is a good supply of hot water for this purpose as well as a drying room. An electric washing-machine has been promised in so far that one can be found.
X.) PAY
Each man received a minimum pay of 70 pfg. a day.
XI.) CANTEEN
There were no complaints about the canteen.
XII.) RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY
There is no priest in the camp. A Catholic priest comes from time to time from a camp in the neighbourhood and a visit from the Church of England priest of Stalag VIII B was expected.
The German High Command will be asked to have a Church of England priest transferred to the camp.
XIII.) RECREATION AND EXERCISE
There is a recreation room with a stage and an orchestra. Because of some unhappy incidents in the camp in the last few months there was, however, not much feeling among the prisoners for plays or concerts.
There is a couple of footballs and other sport equipment and a sport ground has been arranged.
There are a sufficient number of indoor games and the library contains about 400 books. It has been asked for more books through the Y.M.C.A.
XIV.) MAIL
The mail is coming in very badly which was said to be mainly due to the fact that the battalion still has its address in common with Stalag XX A. A letter from England takes an average time of 8 weeks to arrive. The matter about the address will be taken up with the German High Command.
Very few private parcels have arrived.
XV.) A representative of the Y.M.C.A. had recently visited the camp.
XVI.) COMPLAINTS
There were the same complaints from the non-commissioned officers working in this battalion as mentioned in the report from of battalion 40. The matter will be taken up in the same way with the German High Command.
There were no other genuine complaints mentioned.
XVII.) GENERAL IMPRESSION
Although the accommodations and the material conditions in the camp are very good, the impression left to the representatives of the Legation is definitely a bad one. This seems to be due to a lack of cooperation from the side of the camp authorities with the British prisoners of war. As reported separately two prisoners have been shot by German guards within the last three months and these incidents have of course greatly lowered the spirit of the prisoners.
All matters subject to complaint in this report have been discussed with the local camp authorities. Defects which the local camp authorities refuse to correct or state they are unable to correct have been taken up with the German High Command.
Gabriel Naville.
Dr. Folke Malmquist.
