Stalag VI-K Senne (also known as Stalag 326) 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 (POW) camp. It was named after the natural region Senne, mainly a heath landscape, where the camp was located, near to the town of

Schloß Holte-Stukenbrock Schloß Holte-Stukenbrock is a city in the district of Gütersloh in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located near the Eggegebirge, approx. 15 km east of Gütersloh and 15 km south-east of Bielefeld Bielefeld () ...

, in today

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. During the war the camp held mostly

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 ...

prisoners of war, but also some French, Polish and

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 ...

s. The camp was overrun by the rapidly-advancing 2nd Armored Division on 2 April 1945, with troops of the U.S. 117th Infantry Regiment, 30th Division, subsequently taking control. Close to the camp there are 36 mass graves of Soviet POW, and in addition around 400 graves of other men who died in the camp. In the mid-1960s a monument was erected to commemorate the approximately 65,000 men interred there. From October 1946 to December 1947 the camp was operated by the British occupation authorities as , holding party and government officials. Early the following year the camp became - a camp through which 150,000 refugees and

displaced person Forced displacement (also forced migration or forced relocation) is an involuntary or coerced movement of a person or people away from their home or home region. The UNHCR defines 'forced displacement' as follows: displaced "as a result of perse ...

s passed before it was closed in 1969. A police training institute has occupied the camp administration blocks since 1970, and there is a permanent exhibition of articles, photographs and documents pertaining to the camp in the "Documentation Centre" there.

References

World War II prisoner-of-war camps in Germany Buildings and structures in Gütersloh (district) 1941 establishments in Germany 1969 disestablishments in West Germany Military installations established in 1941 {{NorthRhineWestphalia-struct-stub

See also

References