Oflag XXI-C was a

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 ...

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 camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured as Prisoner of war, prisoners of war by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, inte ...

for

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

s ('' Offizierlager'') located in

Ostrzeszów Ostrzeszów () () is a town in south-central Poland, in Greater Poland Voivodeship. It is the capital of Ostrzeszów County. Ostrzeszów is located in the historical Wieluń Land. The population in 2023 was 14,095 inhabitants. The town is situated ...

in German-occupied

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. It held mostly Norwegian officers arrested in 1942 and 1943, but also

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * Pertaining to Serbia in Southeast Europe; in particular **Serbs, a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans ** Serbian language ** Serbian culture **Demographics of Serbia, includes other ethnic groups within the co ...

and

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

POWs. Originally most Norwegian soldiers and officers had been released after the end of the Norwegian campaign, but as resistance activities increased, the officers were rearrested and sent to POW camps.

Camp history

The camp was originally established in June 1942 near

Skoki Skoki () is a town in Poland, Greater Poland Voivodeship, Wągrowiec County, with 4,003 inhabitants (2010). It is located about 40 km north of Poznań. It is the seat of the administrative district (gmina) called Gmina Skoki. History Establ ...

north of

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

, in what had previously been Oflag XXI-A, opened in September 1940 as a camp for Polish officers. In March 1943 it was moved to

(renamed ''Schildberg'' during the German occupation) taking over buildings previously used as a camp for wounded and sick

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

non-commissioned officers and designated

Stalag XXI-A Stalag XXI-A was a German Army World War II prisoner-of-war camp located in Ostrzeszów in German-occupied Poland. It held mostly Polish, French and British POWs, but also Dutch, Belgian and Yugoslav. It was one of four main German POW camps in ...

. This camp was unique in that it comprised several buildings in the centre of the small town, from which the remaining Polish inhabitants had been removed. These buildings were not adjacent to each other and were surrounded by barbed-wire fences. In 1944 the Norwegian officers were located as follows: 630 in the Seminary; 290 in the high-school; 100 in the primary school; 80 in the Richter house; 30 in hospital. There was also a sub-camp (''Zweiglager''), designated Oflag XXI-C/Z established at Gronówko near

Leszno Leszno (, , ) is a historic city in western Poland, seat of Leszno County within the Greater Poland Voivodeship. It is the seventh-largest city in the province with an estimated population of 62,200, as of 2021. Leszno is a former residential cit ...

, between September 1943 and January 1945.

Escapes

The Dutch organized two successful escapes from the camp, most likely in cooperation with the Polish resistance, as two officers escaped on 17 September 1943 and 15 officers and an orderly on 2 November 1943. Two Norwegian POWs escaped during the evacuation in January 1945 and first hid in an abandoned prison building in Ostrzeszów, and then were received by a local Polish family.

Liberation

In January 1945 the officers were marched out westward towards

Odolanów Odolanów is a town in the Greater Poland Voivodeship of Poland, about south-west from Ostrów Wielkopolski, with over 5000 inhabitants. History The first written document that mentions Odolanów dates back to 1301, when it was part of the fr ...

, finally arriving at

Oflag III-A An Oflag (from ) was a type of prisoner of war camp for officers which the German Army established in World War I in accordance with the requirements of the 1899 Hague Convention, and in World War II in accordance with the requirements of the G ...

Luckenwalde Luckenwalde (; Upper Sorbian language, Upper and , , ) is the capital of the Teltow-Fläming district in the state of Brandenburg in eastern Germany. It is situated on the Nuthe river north of the Fläming Heath, at the eastern rim of the Nuthe-Ni ...

, south of

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. On 21 January 1945 the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

liberated the abandoned camp. On 5 May 1945 the Norwegians were transported east to a camp near

Legnica Legnica (; , ; ; ) is a city in southwestern Poland, in the central part of Lower Silesia, on the Kaczawa River and the Czarna Woda. As well as being the seat of the county, since 1992 the city has been the seat of the Diocese of Legnica. Le ...

in Silesia, then travelled for several days by train to

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

and

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus municipality, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, finally arriving in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

on 28 May 1945.

Commemoration

A permanent exhibition devoted to the history of Norwegian POWs of the camp was established in 1996 within the

Władysław Golus Regional Museum in Ostrzeszów Władysław Golus Regional Museum () is a museum in Ostrzeszów, Poland. Located at the local town hall, it contains historical, archaeological, ethnographic, numismatic and art collections, including an exhibition devoted to the history of Norw ...

References

Bibliography