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

The Wehrmacht established Dulag L on September 8, 1939, in Defense District (Wehrkreis) II and deployed it to Stargard in Pommern (today Poland) (map 4b), 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) east of Stettin (today Szczecin, Poland). The camp was located on the western outskirts of Stargard, approximately 2.5 kilometers (1.6 miles) from the railway station, in the vicinity of army barracks and grounds. Dulag L was subordinate to the Commander of Prisoners of War in Defense District II (Kommandeur der Kriegsgefangenen im Wehrkreis II).

Dulag L held Polish prisoners of war (POWs) and persons interned during the September 1939 campaign in Poland. A significant number of camp inmates had been taken prisoner on the Baltic coastline in the vicinity of Gdynia, Oksywie, Kępa Oksywska, Gdańsk, Wejherowo, and Bożepole Wielkie. Among them were soldiers and civil internees (including policemen, clergymen, and adolescent males). Some of them were from Gdynia.¹ Officers came to Dulag L from Bożepole Wielkie, Gdynia, Hel, Oksywie, and Tomaszów Lubelski, among other locations.²

The arrival date of the first transport is uncertain, but was probably September 15, 1939. The Armed Forces High Command (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, OKW) report from that day indicates that there were 8,655 prisoners in Dulag L (including 1,960 civilians). The following day, the population was listed as 6,003 (13 officers, 5,945 rank-and-file soldiers, and 45 civilians).³ Prisoner accounts state that a large transport of prisoners arrived on September 20.⁴ On September 23, 1939, Dulag L held 11,350 prisoners (441 officers, 10,002 rank-and-file soldiers, and 907 civilians), and a day later there were 10,851 (20 officers, 9,924 rank-and-file soldiers, and 907 civilians).⁵ On September 30, 1939, there were 10,410 prisoners (9,582 rank-and-file soldiers and 828 civilians).⁶ Officers from Dulag L were mainly sent to Oflags in Defense District II and Oflag XI A in Osterode.⁷

The prisoners were transported to Stargard by rail, then led to the camp on foot. During the march, the prisoners encountered hostile attitudes from the German civilian population. Upon arrival at the camp, money, compasses, maps, flashlights, matches, and sharp objects (including razors and penknives), as well as canteens, spoons, and cups, were taken away from the prisoners.⁸ Prisoners were segregated according to whether they were civilian or military and by rank (officer or enlisted). The prisoners slept in tents, although there were instances when they were put in army garages or warehouses for a short time.⁹ Jews and prisoners with German ancestry lived in separate tents, away from the other civilians and POWs. The exact number of tents is not known. One prisoner wrote about three rows of 30 tents, for a total of 90.¹⁰ The tents were numbered with Arabic numerals, and the highest number assigned was 53.¹¹ The tents were intended to hold 250 people. Some tents had straw for bedding, but most prisoners slept on the bare ground. Only some of them received blankets, but even that did not provide sufficient protection from the cold. Witness accounts say that there were tables in some tents (but probably only in the officers’ tents).¹² No one was allowed out of the tents from 7:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. The camp was surrounded by a high barbed-wire fence and entanglements. Watchtowers were located inside the fence. Regulations forbade prisoners from getting close to the fence. Prisoners could be shot by the guards for breaking these rules.

The camp infrastructure was very simple. It contained rudimentary bathing and disinfecting facilities, a kitchen, and administrative buildings. The infirmary was located in one of the tents. There was a post office, from which prisoners could send (censored) postcards printed with information about the camp and whether they were sick or healthy.¹³ The sanitary conditions in the camp were primitive. There was only one water pump and the latrines were uncovered.¹⁴ Camp regulations provided for three meals. Prisoner accounts confirm that the food did not provide adequate nutrition or calories. The prisoners received bread and ersatz coffee for breakfast and a watery rutabaga soup for dinner.

No records from any prisoners from Dulag L have come to light. Prisoners who were sent to work probably received identification cards with a stamp reading “Prisoner of War, Durchgangslager L, Stargard in Pommern.”¹⁵ These prisoners were required to undergo delousing and receive vaccinations. Many prisoners volunteered for work, hoping to receive more food. Prisoners assigned to the labor units (Arbeitskommandos) were used primarily as agricultural laborers. Prisoners worked on the land of estates in the surrounding counties, mainly Kreis Saatzig (today Szadzko) and Kreis Pyritz (today Pyrzyce). They were guarded by German soldiers while at work. The exact number of prisoners who were sent to work from Dulag L is not known, but reports from October 1939 indicate figures between 71 percent and 86 percent.¹⁶ [End Page 127]

The garrison officer (Standortoffizier), Major Joachim von Hellermann, oversaw prisoner burials. The Neues Gesellschaftshaus (New Society House) building, where there was purportedly a hospital, was recorded as the prisoners’ place of death.¹⁷ The first deaths among prisoners were reported on September 23, 1939. Prisoners were buried in a cemetery near the camp, which was later known as the Russian cemetery (Russenfriedhof), since most of the prisoners who were buried there were Soviet POWs who died in Stalag II D. The site is now known as the International Military Cemetery.¹⁸

Dulag L was converted into Stalag II D on October 20, 1939.¹⁹