Stalag VB

TRANSLATION BY THE LONDON DELEGATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS COMMITTEE Germany

Medical staff

Patients

9 Doctors (of whom 3 are British)

58 members of the medical corps (of

whom 12 are British)

30 British, of whom there are

2 Arabs

1 Indian

6 Australians

8 New Zealanders out of 174

No changes have been made since the delegates' last visit in the general management of the lazaret.

All the British were formerly at the Lazaret at Nagold ("Abtailung für Kriegsgefangene") and they have also been visited by a delegate of the Red Cross International Committee. At the moment, there are no more British at Nagold, all having been evacuated in March 1942 to the Rottenmunster Lazaret. The British head doctor, Captain Gilder, also acts as Camp Leader for his compatriots.

As it was in the past, this lazaret is entirely separate but it is only a few minutes' walk away from the German lazaret. This great stone building, comprises a ground floor and three other storeys; it was in use before the war as a Home of Rest and a Lunatic Asylum. It is in the open in a quiet park on the edge of a river. It contains 400 beds; on the day of our visit there were 185 patients in bed there.

Each storey contains an average number of 12 to 15 rooms, each holding a number of beds which varies from 3 to 12. All the beds for patients are individual structures of iron, and each one is furnished with a mattress, 2 sheets which are changed at least once a month, two blankets which come from the German authorities, sometimes three, and a pillow. All the rooms are electrically lighted and have central heating, which functions to the satisfaction of all the occupants of the building. The ventilation is good. In short, the housing accommodation calls for no criticism.

A placard on each door carries the name of the prisoner, the malady from which he is suffering, and the name of the doctor who is treating him. Perfect order reigns throughout. Patients whose condition does not necessitate their remaining in bed, have at their disposal a dining-room for the purpose of meals, reading and writing.

The medical staff is also well housed on the 3rd floor. The men have wooden two-tier bunks, and enjoy the same amenities as the patients.

The doctors, too, are well housed in rooms containing from 2 to 3 beds each, on the rooms where their own patients' wards are.

A non-commissioned officer is in charge of the kitchen which is in a small building which stands facing the lazaret; he had complete control of the rations issues and is able to participate in their weighing. He prepares meals according to the taste of the prisoners and the quantities allotted to each prisoner per week correspond to the regulations and are as follows

Bread

Meat

Fat

Cheese "Quark"

"Nahrungsmittel"

(nourishing foods)

Sugar

Tea

Marmalade

2250 gr.

350 "

206 "

92 "

100 " (presumably

pulses, proteins)

225 "

14 "

175 "

The quality of the food supplies is good. One stove only, and this only during certain hours of the day, is available for the preparation of food stuffs coming from collective parcels. At our request the Commandant assured us that he will consider the possibility of putting a room permanently at the disposal of the prisoners, together with a stove and sufficient fuel.

The doctor can prescribe a milk diet. This can be made up of mashed potatoes, of milk, of oat flakes, and of white bread; at the present moment 1/4 of a litre of milk per day can be supplied on a special order. Two months ago the milk ration was seriously decreased, as well as becoming of skimmed instead of whole milk. We were able to induce the Commandant to agree that, in future, against a prescription ordered by the doctor, a prisoner shall be able to obtain 1/2 a litre of milk per day.

British All the British, members of the medical staff, sick and wounded, are, for the most part very well equipped (most of them have been in the lazaret for a long time, having come either from Greece or Crete). A consignment of clothing coming during the Summer from the Red Cross, has made it possible for the Camp Leader to set up all his compatriots with a new outfit. The same applies to shoes and underwear.

Each patient in the lazaret receives a shirt, a pair of pyjamas and a pair of socks.

The lazaret has no repair shop. All things needing repair have to be sent to Stalag V B. This is not often done as the repairs to clothing and shoes are generally badly done and often articles of lesser worth are returned; delays also are long. Fortunately among the prisoners there are always some trained workers who, with makeshift materials and those found on the spot do the most urgent repairs.

The washing, both sheets and personal linen, is done at the German military hospital. For this reason prisoners are not issued monthly with washing powder. Many men complain that their linen often returns ruined and they prefer, therefore, to wash it themselves. We were able to obtain a distribution of the regulation amount of washing powder for this purpose. Apart from this each man receives one tablet of soap per month.

The canteen has only a very limited range of articles for sale; toilet articles, which are of first importance, are lacking. They are only rarely to be found in the German market. Mineral water is for sale, but beer is scarce. The Camp Leader controls and verifies the accounts, whenever he wishes to do so. The small profits realised enable occasional gratuitous distributions of cigarettes to all prisoners to be made.

Food parcels arrive with great regularity sometimes direct from the Red Cross and sometimes through the intermediation of Stalag. The Camp Leader disposes of them personally. He uses a special room for this purpose; at the moment there is a sufficient stock to last until 15 January 1943. A hundred "medical comfort" parcels are also kept in store at the same place.

The same applies to clothing. A room at the lazaret itself is at the disposal of the Camp Leader, he has still a small stock of footwear, trousers and socks available. The issue of these and their control is not in the hands of the Camp Leader.

There are no showerbaths installed. On the contrary there are two bathrooms on each floor; each prisoner can take one hot bath per fortnight.

The disinfection of clothes is done without any difficulty whenever this appears necessary in a very modern installation at the German military hospital.

The latrines have water flushes, they are clean and hygienic and there are some on each floor.

There is a little park, adjoining the lazaret and surrounded by barbed wire which the patients can use, when they are well enough; also the medical staff, for playing football, volleyball etc.

Indoor games, (chess, packs of cards, pingpong nets and balls) would be welcomed.

The medical attention to the patients is well organised from every point of view. The relations between the German head doctor, the ("Stabsarzt") Doctor-Captain, and the prisoner doctors are excellent - these latter have complete freedom to order treatments for their patients.

Thanks to the numerous rooms in the lazaret, the different sections are well separated. In the medical section, on the day of our visit, were 75 patients; in the surgical section 74 and 36 patients were distributed in the section for infectious cases; among these 11 were under observation for neuroses under the direction of Doctor Wredde a doctor specialist at the Reservelazarett of Rottenmunster.

a) Surgery The head doctor is a surgeon and does all the surgical operations. Since the end of January 1942, 150 operations have been performed (of which 50 were for hernia, 20 for appendicitis, fractures etc...) On the first floor there are two rooms for operations (a septic and an aseptic one). These latter are simply installed but well equipped. There are sufficient instruments. The sterilisation of instruments is done by means of an electric boiler, in the operating room itself. The sterilisation of linen from the operating theatres, bandages etc. is done by means of a "tambours de Schimmelbusch" (presumably some kind of mechanical washing machine) at the neighbouring civilian hospital.

b) Medicine All analyses are done in a small laboratory (All examinations of sputum). The examinations of cultures are done not far away. All the patients at present being treated in this section are almost chronic cases, but not of a serious nature. An X-ray apparatus makes it possible to take radioscopic plates of the thorax and the limbs.

c) Infectious diseases On the day of our visit, several cases of influenza, angina and furunculosis (boils) were isolated. Many patients were under observation. Up to the present no cases of exanthematic typhus have been reported. All the medical staff has been inoculated against exanthematic typhus; there is the necessary serum for the injections at the lazaret.

On case of tuberculosis (dormant), who is British, was discovered in the lazaret and will be sent on, soon, to Konigswartha.

d) Oto-rhino-laryngology Patients who are only slightly ill are cared for by the captain-doctor Serny (a Frenchman) who is a surgeon. Complicated cases, on account of lack of the necessary material, are treated in the military lazaret for the neighbourhood.

e) Opthalmia All the patients in need of opthalmic treatment attend regular consultations at the military lazaret for the district.

All British patients are regarded as unfit for service. Lately some of them have been sent to the lazaret of Lamsberg and others to Konigswartha. Of the 30 who are at present at the lazaret 15 are in the surgical section and the others in the medical section. Surgical attention is given also to British patients by the French surgeon specialist.

All the patients in this lazaret come chiefly under the regulations of Stalag V B. Cases of mental affliction come under the regulations of Wehrkreis V.

The British have enough. These come, in great part from the Red Cross or through the intermediation of the Stalag; when they have passed the censor they can be issued without restriction.

This is given at the German Reservelazarett of the district, where in particular treatment of the tooth-roots is undertaken, as well as stoppings and extractions; against payment at a reduced rate and according to the possibilities, some artificial dentures can be made.

The British have a library of more than 1,500 books; at his own request the Camp Leader can obtain books and newspapers from the Stalag.

A little room on the 3rd floor was being got ready, at the time of our visit, in anticipation of the end-of-the-year festivities. Theatrical activity is much decreased and stops short at short plays. There is no orchestra but the prisoners have a piano at their disposal. (The prisoners would like to receive indoor games of various kinds, cards for Bridge; chess, nets and racquets for pingpong, etc...)

British Patients are allowed to write two letters and two cards a month; the members of the medical staff double that number. The doctors are allowed 6 letters and 8 cards a month.

Personal parcels and letters arrive in the normal way. There is little or nothing lacking in regard to the delivery of parcels. These latter, after passing through the censorship, are put entirely at the prisoners' disposal by the Camp Leader who has control of their issue.

The medical staff receive the pay due to them; all is paid regularly. Despatches of money can be effected without difficulty; they leave the lazaret fairly quickly but the time which elapses before they are delivered in France is sometimes rather long.