TRANSLATION BY THE LONDON DELEGATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS COMMITTEE (Germany)
STALAG IV F
visited on the 22nd of April 1944 by M. Paul Wyss & Dr. Thudicum
British Camp Leader: Aubrey Neale, No. 63
There is no doctor at the camp
Strength: 24,035 prisoners, of whom:-
British 4,355 (25 at the camp, 102 at the Infirmary and 37 in Lazarets)
Americans 69 (69 in Lazarets)
Among the British prisoners are:
25 Australians
260 South-Africans
6 Canadians
60 Cypriots
3 British doctors at the Infirmary and in the Lazarets out of 29 doctors in all.
11 British (1 being an N.C.O.) out of 84 medical orderlies.
Number of Labour Detachments: 790 of which 71 are British
--------------------
Site and Accommodation
This camp is still in the large administrative buildings (officers and drying rooms) of an old mechanical laundry which is situated 11 kilometres from a town. The interior of these buildings is clean. The strength of the camp is reduced enough to give the prisoners comfortable space. The delegates draw attention to the fact that each Camp Leader has his own office, which makes his work much easier.
The rooms are spacious and very clean. The prisoners have dressing-rooms, wardrobe rooms, individual lockers where they can lock up their private belongings; and large sets of shelving make it possible for them to keep their luggage tidily. The compound gives an excellent impression.
Certain of the rooms are divided into two sections, one of which serves as living quarters and the other as dining-room. There are enough tables and seats. The men are grouped 18 to 60 to a room according to the relative sizes of the various rooms in use.
The prisoners sleep on two- or three-tier bunks made of wood; the palliasses are filled with wood-shavings. These have not been changed since March 1943. Each prisoner has two blankets. The electric lighting is adequate and the heating during the winter season was quite satisfactory.
Food
Three prisoners do the cooking. The head of the kitchen staff, who is a prisoner, can check the rations every day. These are regularly posted up and the amounts issued confirm to those listed.
The bad quality of the potatoes is noticeable; the Camp Leaders state that the wastage amounts to about 50%. The quality of other food stuffs is satisfactory.
The prisoners cannot do their own individual cooking; The kitchen staff are responsible for this, and do it between 2.0. and 5.0. p.m. four days in the week, and between 3.0. and 5.0. on the other three days.
It is, however, not possible to check the quantities of the food rations issued in Labour Detachments; the cooking for these is done by German workers in the canteens of the factories.
Clothing
The British prisoners in this Stalag arrived from Italy in October 1943. The Americans are treated as though they were British in matters appertaining to clothing.
The state of the prisoners' clothing is poor. These prisoners have, as a general rule, but one uniform each; a quarter of the men have two pairs of trousers, one third are wearing uniforms of armies of a nationality different from their own; it is urgently necessary to send these prisoners:
2000 pairs of trousers
2000 tunics or battle dress tops
2000 pairs of pants and
2000 pairs of socks.
The condition of the men's footgear is satisfactory. There is enough repair material for boots and shoes available.
Canteen
The canteen of this camp is very poorly stocked. The prisoners can only get beer once a week - on Sundays.
Leisure and Intellectual and Religious Needs
Twenty two chaplains exercise their ministry unrestrictedly in the Stalag.
There is no theatre and no orchestra; the prisoners can go to a Cinema performance once a week. They play football, volley-ball and basket-ball and ask that these may also be allowed, this Summer, to bathe in a neighbouring lake. This request has been acceded, after intervention by the delegates.
Hygiene
According to all reports, the hygienic arrangements of the camp are satisfactory.
Medical Attention
There is no doctor at the camp itself. The French doctor from the neighbouring Infirmary visits the camp three times a week. The state of health among the prisoners is good.
Pay
This is arranged normally; the prisoners get between 34 and 42 R.M. a month.
Collective parcels
These arrive quite satisfactorily and the Camp Leaders have absolute control of them.
The British prisoners have a reserve stock which will suffice for 3 weeks. The room in which the parcels are stored is only large enough to hold a maximum reserve of 4 weeks' supplies. The British stocks at present in hand amount to 6000 Canadian parcels and 6300 Argentine bulk consignments.
The number of letters which the prisoners are allowed to write is the regulation one and the time taken for transmission of mail is normal.
Discipline
This is very good.
Anti-air-raid shelters
These consist of the showerbath installations which are on the ground floor and are obviously no good. But, since the district is never bombed, the prisoners do not ask for better shelters.
Interview with the Camp Leaders (without witnesses)
This touches on all the points previously mentioned in this report.
Conclusion
This Stalag produced an excellent impression.
TRANSLATION BY THE LONDON DELEGATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS COMMITTEE (Germany)
VARIOUS LABOUR DETACHMENTS FOR BRITISH PRISONERS
attached to STALAG IV F
Meeting between the British Camp Leaders and the delegates which occurred on the 21st of April 1944
Delegates: Dr. Thudicum and M. Paul Wyss
Seven Camp Leaders, representing about 550 British prisoners, were present at this Conference, in the course of which they gave the delegates detailed information in regard to the life of prisoners in the various Labour Detachments which they represented. Certain requests made subsequently formed the subject of discussion between the delegates and the German authorities of the Camp. During this discussion, most of the points at issue were able to be settled.
Detachment P. 88
Camp Leader R.G. Kirwood, No. 250142
Strength 111 prisoners, working at ground-levelling
Detachment Z. 122
Camp Leader C.A. Willey, No. 250091
Strength 21 prisoners - Rubber factory
Detachment Z. 72
Camp Leader D. Dogherty, No. 249870
Strength 30 prisoners - Rubber factory
Detachment L. 94
Camp Leader A.T. Gregory, No. 250287
Strength 172 prisoners - Brick Works
Detachment M. 92 and M. 93
Camp Leader R.J. Sirtydom (?) No. 262801
Strength 59 prisoners doing levelling for the State Railways.
Detachment R. 80
Camp Leader G.W. Sapsford, No. 261571
Strength 51 prisoners - Factory making lignite blocks.
Detachment T. 35
Camp Leader D.M. Brown, No. 274073
Strength 97 prisoners - levelling.
Accommodation
These are industrial labour detachments where the prisoners are more particularly occupied in levelling ground. On the whole the men's living quarters are satisfactory.
The delegate visited two, which made a good impression. Only, at Detachment P. 88, the ventilation is defective, as the windows cannot be kept open at night on account of the black-out.
At Detachment Z. 122 the living quarters are over a piggery, which renders the atmosphere continually full of the smell of pigs. In these two detachments the men only receive one blanket each from their employers, which is contrary to the regulations. Certain prisoners, however, have two blankets to use, having brought a second one with them from Italy.
Detachment L. 94's quarters are particularly damp. In three of the Detachments the latrines for day use as well as those provided for the night are inadequate. The delegates were given an assurance that the necessary improvements in all these defective quarters shall be made.
Food
In most cases, German women prepare the prisoners' food in the kitchen to which the prisoners do not have access. The Camp Leaders therefore are unaware of the quantity or quality of the rations issued and cannot check them. The food is well prepared but the quantity appears to be unmistakably inadequate.
In each detachment small stoves are available upon which the prisoners can cook the contents of their Red Cross parcels. They are also provided with enough fuel for these stoves.
Clothing
On the whole the clothing is in a poor state. The prisoners have only one uniform each; only 25% of them possess a second pair of trousers, one of such pairs being in a very bad state; about 25% of the men have no British uniforms but are dressed in old uniforms of men of another nationality. As a general rule, the prisoners possess two sets of under-clothing, but these are already very shabby. Their socks, also, are in a bad condition.
The prisoners have no working outfits, with the exception of those men who do particularly dirty work, in the Synthetic Rubber Works where Detachment Z. 72 is employed.
Medical Attention
Medical attention is provided by prisoner doctors of a nationality other than British. These men are qualified physicians, but they lack dressings and drugs in adequate quantities. Serious cases are sent away to a neighbouring Infirmary which contains about 60 beds. This Infirmary is run by a doctor who is not British; Often these is no room for British prisoners in it. For instance, a case is cited of two prisoners from Detachments Nos. M.92 and M.932, who were suffering from malaria, and who remained unattended at their detachment quarters, not being able to gain admission to the Infirmary as there were no beds available.
Dental attention is given once every 5 or 6 days by a travelling doctor-dentist, of a nationality other than British, who has adequate equipment for doing the usual preservative dental work. Artificial dentures can be made in the locality.
Collective parcels
These are sent out once a month from the Stalag. The Camp Leaders have absolute control of them - both in regards to reception and distribution.
Correspondence
Lately, prisoners have been receiving letter-forms and cards only at irregular intervals, as a result of bombing.
Leisure and Intellectual and Religious Needs
The prisoners can play football on neighbouring playing fields. There is a comparatively large open space around their cantonments, except in the case of Detachment R.80 where the prisoners are shut up whenever they are not at work. In this Detachment the men are lodged on the third floor of a house, and there is not exterior open space.
The skipping-ropes which are sent out by the Red Cross were confiscated, as a precaution against attempted escapes.
Books have just arrived from the Stalag except at Detachment T.35, which is completely without any; it should however, be noted, that this detachment has only recently been formed.
The prisoners complain of not yet having been visited by a chaplain, although they have already been for more than 6 months in Germany. The delegate learned that for al the British throughout the Stalag, the only chaplain is a member of the Salvation Army, whom most of the men do not much like.
At the canteen, the prisoners can only buy beer.
Work and Pay
The prisoners work on an average from 10 to 12 hours a day. The conditions under which they work are identical with those imposed on civilians working in the same employment.
At Detachment P.88 it often happens that prisoners have to work 4 or 5 consecutive Sundays, without being granted compensatory alternative days of rest; but the men are free on Sundays after 2.0 o'clock p.m. if there are no more trucks to unload. At Detachment L.94 half the prisoners have to go 7 to 9 kilometres to their place of employment, on foot be it understood, without the time the journey to and from their work takes them being counted as part of their day's work.
It thus happens that the men leave their living quarters at 4.30 a.m. and do not return there until between 6.0 and 7.0 p.m. Their pay is regulation and amounts to a minimum of 70 pfennigs per day.
Discipline
This is maintained without the exercise of undue severity.
Conclusion
When the main grounds for discontent have been removed, these detachments will be able to be classed as good ones.
