OFFIZIERLAGER (OFLAG) X A
The Wehrmacht established Oflag X A (map 4a) in the fall of 1939, in Itzehoe, in Defense District (Wehrkreis) X. In March 1941, it relocated to Sandbostel.1 The camp was subordinate to the Commander of Prisoners of War in Defense District X (Kommandeur der Kriegsgefangenen im Wehrkreis X). The camp commandant was Oberst von Fuchs.
Oflag X A held Polish officers and orderlies (batmen). On September 1, 1941, the camp held 1,853 officers and 213 batmen.2 The Germans treated the prisoners decently and [End Page 261] conditions were generally satisfactory and in keeping with the main provisions of the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War (1929).
The prisoners in the camp had some opportunities to partake in cultural and recreational activities. The camp had a library that held around 7,000 books as of September 1941. Several educational courses were available in subjects such as foreign languages, agriculture, and business. The prisoners took part in daily physical exercises after morning roll call, and a few were able to play sports like football, although these activities were limited by the lack of sporting equipment. No mass was held in the camp on Sundays, as there were no priests among the prisoners; an officer instead led the men in prayers on Sunday mornings, though they complained to visiting representatives of the Red Cross and YMCA about their wish for spiritual support.3
On April 17, 1942, the camp was reorganized as Stalag 362 and deployed to Slutsk, in occupied Belarus.4
SOURCES
Primary source material about Oflag X A is located in BA-MA (RW 6: 450), WASt Berlin (Stammtafel Oflag X A), NARA (T 84, roll 463), USHMMA, and BArch B 162/9259–9262.
Additional information about Oflag X A can be found in the following publications: G. Mattiello and W. Vogt, Deutsche Kriegsgefangenen- und Internierten-Einrichtungen 1939–1945. Handbuch und Katalog: Lagergeschichte und Lagerzensurstempel, vol. 2 (Koblenz: self-published, 1987), p. 15; Charles Rollings, Wire and Walls: RAF Prisoners of War in Itzehoe, Spangenberg and Thorn 1939–42 (Shepperton: Ian Allan, 2002); Aleksander Sałacki, Jeniec wojenny nr 335 (Warsaw: MON, 1973); and Georg Tessin, Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939–1945, Vol. 3: Die Landstreitkräfte 6-14 (Frankfurt/Main: Biblio, 1972), p. 182.
NOTES
1. Mattiello and Vogt, Deutsche Kriegsgefangenen- und Internierten-Einrichtungen, p. 15.
2. OKW/Kriegsgef. Org. (Id), Bestand an Kriegsgefangenen im Ost- u. Südostgebiet u. in Norwegen, 1942–1944, BArch B 162/18251.
3. USHMMA, RG-30.007M, Miscellaneous Records Relating to Prisoner of War Camps in Germany, Reel 1, Folder 4, p. 674.
4. Mattiello and Vogt, Deutsche Kriegsgefangenen- und Internierten-Einrichtungen, p. 15.
