The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, 1933-1945

The Wehrmacht established Dulag 170 on April 21, 1941. After Germany invaded the Soviet Union, it was deployed to various locations in Ukraine and Russia. From August 1, 1941, to September 11, 1941, the camp was deployed in Belaia Tserkov’ (today Bila Tserkva) (map 9e).¹ From October 1941 to January 1942, it was in Poltava (9f).² Beginning in January 1942, it was deployed in Sumy (9f);³ as of June 1942, it was in Belgorod (9d);⁴ and in the second half of 1942, it was in Kantemirovka (9d).⁵ In 1943 and 1944, the camp was once again deployed in various locations in Ukraine. In the spring of 1943, the camp was located in Shpola; however, by this time, it was no longer being used as a prisoner of war (POW) camp. The unit received field post number (Feldpostnummer) 04 443 between July 15, 1942, and January 24, 1943. The number was struck on May 25, 1944. On November 19, 1943, the Germans ordered the camp disbanded.

The camp was initially subordinate to the 454th Security Division (Sicherungsdivision). Beginning in October 1941, the camp was subordinate to the Sixth Army Rear Area Commander (Kommandant rückwärtiges Armeegebiet, Korück, 585). Beginning on December 29, 1942, the camp was under the authority of the Commander of Prisoners of War in Operations Area II (Kommandeur der Kriegsgefangenen im Operationsgebiet II).⁶ As of February 1943, it was subordinate to the Army Group South Rear Area Commander (Befehlshaber des rückwärtigen Heeresgebiets Süd, Berück Süd). The first camp commandant was Oberstleutnant von Donop; he was succeeded by Oberstleutnant Fritz Reinkober. The camp doctors were Oberarzt Stocklesza and Oberarzt Dr. Willi Schöpper.⁷ While it was deployed in Belaia Tserkov’ in 1941, the camp was guarded by a company of the 415th Reserve Battalion (Landesschützenbataillon).⁸

Dulag 170 primarily held Soviet POWs. The conditions in the camp were similar to those in other camps for Soviet POWs. Meager and low-quality food rations, overcrowding, and lack of proper medical care led to malnutrition and disease, which created a high mortality rate. Abuse by the German guards exacerbated the prisoners’ suffering. As in other camps, the Germans screened newly arrived prisoners to separate out Jews and Communists, who were then shot near the camp by the guards or Security Service (Sicherheitsdienst, SD).⁹

In early 1970, the public prosecutor’s office in Hannover (Germany) conducted an investigation of the former commandant of Dulag 170, Fritz Reinkober for murder of socalled “undesirable” prisoners. The investigation was closed in 1975 because of insufficient evidence.