CONFIDENTIAL

No. 222.

Date of visit: July 23rd 1943.

STALAG IV D/Z

Camp Commander: Oberst Blau.

Indian Camp Senior: Buta Ram-Havildar, pow No. 5719.

Indian Man of Confidence: Shri Dhar Lal Farasy, pow No. 5800.

I.) GENERAL DESCRIPTION

        No change in the general outset of the camp since last visit of September 22nd, 1942.

II.) CAPACITY AND PRESENT PERSONNEL

        At the time of the visit the total number of prisoners in this camp was: 4322 Indian prisoners of war: of these

        1276 were in the camp

            22 were in lazarets

        3024 were in working detachments (9), the very greatest majority being in the Kdo Koenigsbruecke known as the training camp for the Indian Legion; the Legation's representatives were never allowed to visit this last camp.

        Out of the 1693 prisoners in the main camp

                401 are Sikhs

                555   "  Hindus

                604   "  Mohammedans

                133   "  Christians

        404 are working in parties but living in the camp.

        All these prisoners of war were transferred last spring from camps in Italy.

III. ) INTERIOR ARRANGEMENTS

        No change since last visit.

        Each prisoner has 3 blankets but the Man of Confidence complained that they were rather small; the Camp Commander replied that all the blankets were of the German army type and that he was quite unable to provide blankets of other sizes; he suggested that the Man of Confidence made an application to the I.R.C.C.

IV.) WASHING AND BATHING FACILITIES

        Adequate, except for the water supply which is still limited. However, every prisoner can have a hot bath once a week.

V.) TOILET FACILITIES

        Some more latrines have been built or are in course of building and the number of seats will now be adequate.

VI.) FOOD AND COOKING

        There was no complaint about the food which is cooked by prisoners; the meat ration is replaced in this camp by 240 gr. of dried vegetables (peas) weekly and 250 gr. of potatoes daily as supplement plus enough margarine for cooking the dried vegetables.

        The Man of Confidence complained that the cooking facilities for private food were inadequate in summer; he asked permission for the prisoners to have in addition of the tea kitchen the possibility to cook out of doors; this was granted at once by the Camp Commander; enough wood is as their disposal.

        There is in the camp an enormous stock of Red Cross parcels.

        The Man of Confidence complained that in the past he had no serious control over the issuing of Red Cross parcels and that large quantities of them had been sent to the famous Party in Koenigsbruecke which he considered as wrong as the prisoners there have joined the so-called Indian Legion; recently a letter from the I.R.C.C. arrived in the camp forbidding to send any longer parcels to that camp and since then no parcels have been sent.

        It was arranged with the Camp Commander that in future there will be two keys to the Red Cross stores, one in the hands of the camp authorities and one in the hands of the Man of Confidence; he will therefore have the control over the parcels.

VII.) MEDICAL ATTENTION AND SICKNESS

        There are in the camp 2 Indian medical officers; Capt. Singh and Lt. D.M. Khan; 8 Indian sanitators (not recognised); the Man of Confidence was asked to send to the Protecting Power a list of all non-recognised sanitators in order to take the necessary steps in view of their recognition.

        There is a revier with 36 beds. At the time of the visit there were 25 patients and no serious cases; 8 cases of pleurisy in course of recovery.

        The daily sick parade is as an average attended by 80 to 100 prisoners.

        The general health condition was said to be as good as possible.

        All the prisoners of the camp have been X-rayed in April last for Tbc. and the Indian medical officers declared that the number of TBc cases was very small.

        Dental attention by civilian dentist in town; satisfactory.

        The medical officers had no complaints and the collaboration with the German Doctor seems easy.

VIII.) CLOTHING

        The prisoners on working parties are provided with 2 uniforms. Clothing in general in fairly good condition.

        A large stock of Red Cross stuff is still at hand.

        Like in many other camps the Man of Confidence stated that he has the control over the incoming and outgoing stock but that the decision over to whom the clothing is issued lies entirely in the hands of the camp authorities; the Camp Commander said that he is not in a position to do anything about it as that is done according to a general order from the O.K.W.

IX.) LAUNDRY

        The prisoners wash their laundry themselves. There was a complaint that there was not enough hot water for that purpose; it was then arranged with the camp authorities that 3 days a week enough hot water will be put at their disposal.

X.) MONEY AND PAY

        There was a complaint that up to now the Indian prisoners were paid only 40 pfng a day instead of the 70 pfng paid to other prisoners of war; The Camp Commander explained that in the beginning the Indian prisoners did much less work than the other prisoners; it was since then arranged that every working party is paid 40 pfng a day for the first 3 months and that if they prove during that period of time to work satisfactorily the whole party will as from the fourth month be paid 70 pfng a day.

        The Man of Confidence stated that when the prisoners left Italy they had to hand over their Italian money and received a receipt for it; when they arrived in Germany they had to give their receipts to the German authorities but since then they have received no money in exchange; the Camp Commander explained that the transaction had to be made through the "Devisenstelle" and that it took always a long time but that he had just received the money which would be paid very soon.

XI.) CANTEEN

        The canteen is very poorly stocked.

        The Man of Confidence stated that up to now he had not been shown the profits of the canteen.

XII.) RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY

        There is a special prayer room for every separate religion.

XIII.) RECREATION AND EXERCISE

        Sport facilities sufficient (football, volley ball); there are in the camp 4 Canadian footballs but no pump for them; the Y.M.C.A. will be asked to provide one if possible as well as religious books in Indi, Urdu and Gurmukhi which are greatly wanted.

XIV.) MAIL

        Incoming mail from India very poor; about 90% of the prisoners have received no letters from home since their captivity although they are writing their regular number of letters and cards.

        The letters take about 2 to 3 months from India (air mail about 7 weeks).

XV.) WELFARE WORK

        Nothing to report.

XVI.) COMPLAINTS

        The following points were brought before the Legation's representative.

        (1) The Man of Confidence asked if the camp authorities were justified in making some prisoners work without pay for the German guards; he pointed out that the prisoners were quite ready to do the usual camp fatigues without payment but that they did not think right that they ought for instance to peel potatoes for the German kitchen without being paid for it; the inspector declared to the camp authorities that such work should be paid for but, as the Camp Commander did not seem quite sure if according to the German regulations he is allowed to pay for such work the matter will be brought before the German High Command.

        (2) There was a complaint that in several working parties the prisoners have to do war work working in factories producing arms and ammunition or digging trenches for depositing ammunition; the Camp Commander did not deny it and his reply was that every prisoner who objected to that sort of work was at once taken back from that party and that therefore he considered that the prisoners who did not object had actually volunteered for the work; the inspector then made it quite clear that according to the Geneva Convention art. 31, par. 1 - "it is forbidden to employ prisoners in the manufacture or transport of arms or munitions of any kind or on the transport of material destined for combatant units". The German High Command will be asked to intervene and give order to stop the war work for prisoners. Further the Man of Confidence asked for the permission to visit the different working parties which was at once given to him.

        (3) The Man of Confidence stated that only the special prisoner of war Indian newspaper is allowed in the camp which nobody reads as it is pure propaganda and he asked for the British pow newspaper "The Camp" to be distributed in the camp; the Camp Commander replied that he could do nothing about it without an order from the German High Command; therefore that instance will be asked to have "The Camp" sent to Stalag IV D/Z.

        (4) The Man of Confidence complained that when a man is punished even for a small offence the issuing of his Red Cross parcel is always stopped for a week. The Camp Commander replied that he gave that order on the advice of the Man of Confidence himself as the latter said that it was the only punishment which was really felt by Indian prisoners. The Man of Confidence then declared that there was certainly some misunderstanding as in his opinion such a measure of punishment should only be taken in case of serious offences and not for every small offence; the Camp Commander then decided that in every case of punishment the Man of Confidence would decide if the issuing of Red Cross parcels should be stopped.

        (5) The following prisoners:

                5292 Har. Major Chanan Singh

                6879   "         "     Man Singh

                reported that their rank badges had been taken from them some time ago by the camp authorities without any reason; the camp Commander replied that these badges were needed for an exhibition in Berlin and that they would be returned to the prisoners is about a fortnight. Will be checked at next visit.

        (6) There is in this camp a man Habib Ali-7279 who was captured while his merchant ship was bombed; as he does not belong to the R.N. he claims to be a civil internee and asks to be sent to an internees camp. His case will be submitted to the German High Command.

XVII.) GENERAL IMPRESSION

        There was no complaint about the treatment in this camp which seems to be fair; the material conditions are as a whole satisfactory and this camp can be considered as a fairly good one.

        On the other hand propaganda by the German authorities is still going on in the camp in order to procure new enlistments in the so-called Indian Legion; recently 5 Indian members of that corps were sent to the camp but it seems that they had a very cold reception. The Man of Confidence stated that this propaganda has absolutely no success in this camp. It must be added that the prisoners are no longer ill-treated or subject to brutality.

Gabriel Naville.