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

The Wehrmacht established Oflag VII D (maps 4f and 5) on January 23, 1941, in Defense District (Wehrkreis) VII by redesignating Oflag VII C/Z. It was initially located in Tittmoning. On October 24, 1941, the camp moved to Stanislau (Polish: Stanisławów, today Ivano-Frankivs’k, Ukraine) in the Generalgouvernement. While located in Tittmoning, the camp was subordinate to the Commander of Prisoners of War in Defense District VII (Kommandeur der Kriegsgefangenen im Wehrkreis VII). During the deployment in Stanislau, the camp was subordinate to the Commander of Prisoners of War in the General Government of Poland (Kommandeur der Kriegsgefangenen im Generalgouvernement Polen).

During its time in the Generalgouvernement, Oflag VII D held the field post number (Feldpostnummer) 45 667, which it received between July 30, 1941, and February 28, 1942. The number was struck between March 1 and September 7, 1942.

The commandant of the camp during its time in Tittmoning and in Stanislau until February 1942 was Major Hermann Spruner von Mertz. He was replaced by Major (later Oberstleutnant) Wilhelm Schimmer (b. 1889 in Munich), who remained the commandant after the camp was converted into a Stalag. The deputy commandant was Alexander Faber du Faur. The counterintelligence (Abwehr) officer at Tittmoning was Oberleutnant Walther Klau; he was replaced after the relocation by Hauptmann Konrad von Kaas.¹

Oflag VII D held British prisoners of war (POWs) in both Tittmoning and Stanislau; while at Stanislau it also held Soviet POWs. The treatment of the British prisoners was satisfactory. The living conditions and treatment faced by the Soviet prisoners were significantly worse and the death rate among them was high. Sanitary conditions in the camp were poor; at least 25 men died of typhus in April 1942.² On April 17, 1942, the camp was repurposed as a camp for enlisted men and redesignated as Stalag 371.³ The British prisoners were transferred to other camps and only Soviet prisoners remained in the new Stalag.