Stalag I-A was a German prisoner-of-war camp during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, located in the village of Stabławki (then officially ''Stablack''). It housed mainly

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

, French and

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

prisoners of war, but also

Britons British people or Britons, also known colloquially as Brits, are the citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the British Overseas Territories, and the Crown dependencies.: British nationality law governs m ...

and

Italians , flag = , flag_caption = Flag of Italy, The national flag of Italy , population = , regions = Italy 55,551,000 , region1 = Brazil , pop1 = 25–33 million , ref1 = , ...

. The camp was built in late 1939 by Polish prisoners of war, who were captured during the German-Soviet

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week af ...

which started World War II. In 1940 the Poles were joined by Belgian and French prisoners following the

Fall of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France during the Second Wo ...

, and by Russians in 1941 following the

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named afte ...

. Some British and Italian prisoners were also there. On 25 January 1945, as Russian troops approached, the camp was abandoned and all prisoners were evacuated to the west.

Kommandos of Stalag I-A

Few of the men registered at Stalag I-A were housed at the main camp, as most were assigned to ''

Kommando A ''Kommando'' (, "unit" or "command") is a general term for special police and military forces in German, Dutch, and Afrikaans speaking nations. It was also the term in the World War II era ''Luftwaffe'' for special units used to test new air ...

s'' (sub-camps) spread over the entire district. * E1, Central Camp * E2, Stablack hospital * E3,

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was na ...

* E4,

Heinrichswalde Heinrichswalde is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. History From 1648 to 1720, Heinrichswalde was part of Swedish Pomerania. From 1720 to 1945, it was part of the Prussian Province of Pomer ...

* E5, around Königsberg * E6, Königsberg * E7,

Wehlau Znamensk (; ; lt, Vėluva; pl, Welawa) is a rural locality (a settlement) in Gvardeysky District of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Pregolya River at its confluence with the Lava River east of Kaliningrad. Populat ...

* E8, Preußisch Eylau * E9, Heilsberg * E10,

Gerdauen Zheleznodorozhny (russian: Железнодоро́жный, lit. ''railway (town)''; until 1946 german: Gerdauen; pl, Gierdawy; lt, Girdava), is an urban locality (an urban-type settlement) in Pravdinsky District of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russ ...

* E11, Heiligenbeil, sub-divided into five ''

Zug Zug (Standard German: , Alemannic German: ; french: Zoug it, Zugo rm, Zug New Latin: ''Tugium'')named in the 16th century is the largest town and capital of the Swiss canton of Zug in Switzerland. Its name originates from the fishing vocabulary ...

''; Heiligenbeil, Bladiau, Ludwigsort, Zitten and Lichtenfeld * E12, Memel * E13, Unknown * E14, Labiau * E16,

Insterburg Chernyakhovsk (russian: Черняхо́вск) – known prior to 1946 by its German name of (Old Prussian: Instrāpils, lt, Įsrutis; pl, Wystruć) – is a town in the Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia, where it is the administrative center of ...

* E17,

Schlossberg Schlossberg or Schloßberg (German for ''Castle Mountain''; usually a hill or mountain with a "castle" on it) may refer to: Places *Schlossberg (Bavaria), a part of the municipality of Stephanskirchen in Bavaria, Germany *Schloßberg (Bopfingen), a ...

* E18,

Gumbinnen Gusev (russian: Гу́сев; german: Gumbinnen; lt, Gumbinė; pl, Gąbin) is a town and the administrative center of Gusevsky District of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Pissa and Krasnaya Rivers, near the borde ...

* E19, Ebenrode * E20, Bartenstein * E34,

Tilsit Sovetsk (russian: Сове́тск; german: Tilsit; Old Prussian: ''Tilzi''; lt, Tilžė; pl, Tylża) is a town in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the south bank of the Neman River which forms the border with Lithuania. Geography ...

Ragnit Neman (russian: Не́ман; german: Ragnit; lt, Ragainė; pl, Ragneta), is a town and the administrative center of Nemansky District in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located in the historic region of Lithuania Minor, on the steep southern bank ...

* E44, Union Giesserei locomotive plant, Königsberg * E45, Angerapp

References

External links

Pegasus Archive photographs
{{Authority control World War II prisoner-of-war camps in Germany World War II sites in Poland

Kommandos of Stalag I-A

See also

References

External links