Stalag 383 was a German

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Prisoner of War A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

camp located in

Hohenfels, Bavaria Hohenfels (literally ''High Cliffs'') is a municipality in the district of Neumarkt in the region of Upper Palatinate () in Bavaria, Germany. The town is host to the United States Army Garrison Hohenfels, which operates the Joint Multinational ...

History

The

German Army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...

founded a training area near

in 1938. A troop camp for trainees, located in a high valley surrounded by dense woodland and hills at a homestead called 'Polnrich', was commandeered for use as a

camp in 1939. At first it was used for Allied NCOs and named Oflag IIIC but was later renamed Stalag 383 as it expanded with other ranks. The camp comprised 400 detached accommodation huts, x , each typically housing 14 men. More were built towards the end of the war as prisoners were moved in from other camps as the Russian front advanced from the east. The name, Oflag III-C, was reassigned to a camp at

Lübben (Spreewald) Lübben (Spreewald) (Lower Sorbian: ''Lubin (Błota)'' , Polish: ''Lubin'') is a town of 14,000 people, capital of the Dahme-Spreewald district in the Lower Lusatia region in Brandenburg, in eastern Germany. Administrative structure Districts o ...

and operated between August 1940 and June 1942. On April 24, 1945, Major General

Stanley Eric Reinhart Major General Stanley Eric Reinhart (September 15, 1893 – June 4, 1975) was a senior United States Army officer of the United States Army. He figured prominently in World War II as commander of the 65th Infantry Division. Early life and mil ...

's 65th Infantry Division captured Hohenfels. Major General Gustav Geiger, staff and guards surrendered. The prisoners, including many British and Colonial inmates, were liberated. Later, between 1945 and 1949 the site became a

displaced persons camp A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for internally displace ...

. The Americans subsequently retained the site and it doubled in size.

Notable people

Terry Frost Sir Terence Ernest Manitou Frost RA (13 October 1915 – 1 September 2003) was a British abstract artist, who worked in Newlyn, Cornwall. Frost was renowned for his use of the Cornish light, colour and shape to start a new art movement in ...

(1915–2003), artist *

Adrian Heath Adrian Paul Heath (born 11 January 1961) is an English football manager and former player. He most recently served as head coach of Major League Soccer club Minnesota United until October 2023. As a player, he is best known for his six season ...

(1920–1992), painter *

Percy Sekine Percy Sekine (born 20 February 1920 in London, died on 15 October 2010) was a distinguished sensei of the Hammersmith, London based Judokan. He represented Great Britain in international judo tournaments four times in the 1940s and 1950s, and was ...

(1920–2010), RAF pilot and prisoner in 1942

References

External links

Stalag 383 - The Wartime Memories Project

Personal account by Bill Clark, POW at Stalag 383

World War II prisoner-of-war camps in Germany {{World-War-II-stub

History

Notable people

See also

References

Further reading

External links