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

The Wehrmacht established Stalag 305 on April 27, 1941, in Ludwigsburg (map 4f), in Defense District (Wehrkreis) V. In August 1941, it was relocated to Reichshof (Polish: Rzeszów) (map 5) in the Generalgouvernement, and, in October 1941, it was moved again, to Kirovograd (today Kropyvnyts’kyi, Ukraine) (map 9f), where it replaced Dulag 171.¹ Stalag 305 received field post number (Feldpostnummer) 08 226 between February 1 and July 11, 1941. The number was struck between January 25 and July 31, 1943, then reissued on December 7, 1943, and struck for good on April 26, 1944. It is unclear exactly when the camp ceased operations. The last documented date when the camp was open was in March 1944. The last commander was not removed from the personnel roster until July, but there had been severe combat in the area that spring, and the camp may have been destroyed then.

While the camp was located in Kirovograd, it was subordinate first to the Commander of Prisoners of War with the Armed Forces Commander Ukraine (Kommandeur der [End Page 288] Kriegsgefangenen beim Wehrmachtsbefehlshaber Ukraine). After March 1943, the camp was under the authority of the Commander of Prisoners of War with the Rear Area Commander, Army Group South (Kommandeur der Kriegsgefangenen beim Befehlshaber Heeresgebiet Süd).

Oberstleutnant Werner Hiltrop was the camp commandant from October 1941 through September 1942. He was succeeded by Major Flecker, who served until December 15 of that year, when he was himself replaced by Oberstleutnant Hossenfelder. The final commandant, an officer named Scheffler, took over from Hossenfelder sometime in the fall of 1943. The adjutant was Hauptmann (later Major) Häberle; the counterintelligence (Abwehr) officers were Hauptmann Karl Kugler, Leutnant Willi Gushurst, and Hauptmann Schmidt; and the camp officer (Lageroffizier) was named Kientz. There were three camp doctors: Dr. Kindervater, Dr. Guter, and Dr. Elsass. The camp staff consisted of a total of about 100 men.²

The main camp in Kirovograd was located partly in former barracks of the 43rd Regiment (Lager 1a) and partly in a former prison (Lager 1b).³ It had two subcamps (Zweiglager). One of them, at the Adabash railroad station was known as Lager 2. The commandant of Lager 2 from October 29, 1941, was Oberleutnant (later Hauptmann) Oskar Frank, and the camp officer was Oberleutnant Baron. The other subcamp, Lager 3, was located in the town of Pervomaisk (Mykolaïvs’ka oblast’, Ukraine). Lager 2 consisted of a number of unheated wooden barracks and a former granary, surrounded by barbed wire. These barracks were meant to accommodate no more than 500 prisoners, but in fact they held 10–20 times that number of men.⁴

The camp was guarded by the 783rd Reserve Battalion (Landesschützenbataillon). Until October 1941, the battalion commander was Oberstleutnant Dr. Wiegand. Hauptmann Kirchhoff then assumed the duties of battalion commander until February 1942. The 1st Company, as well as the first and fourth platoons of 2nd Company, commanded by Hauptmann Georg Garbe, guarded the main camp in Kirovograd; the second and third platoons of 2nd Company guarded Lager 2, and 3rd Company guarded Lager 3.⁵

The main camp and subcamps held 22,200 prisoners of war (POWs) in February 1942; 20,200 in June 1942; 33,700 in October 1942; 16,800 in December 1942; and 13,500 in February 1943.⁶ The conditions in the camp were inhumane. The food ration consisted primarily of balanda, a thin soup made mostly of water with some potatoes, flour, and millet (or other grain). The balanda was cooked in metal barrels in unsanitary conditions. Each prisoner was issued 1–1.5 liters (4.2–6.3 cups) of balanda per day, and 6–15 prisoners had to share a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of low-quality bread. Because there were no eating utensils, the prisoners used tin cans that had held canned foods and other objects. The caloric value of these rations was quite low and did not exceed 1,300 calories per day. Suffering from constant hunger and brought to the point of despair, the prisoners tried to assuage their hunger by eating grass and leaves. There were also instances of cannibalism. Conditions in the subcamps were just as bad as those in the main camp, and it is estimated that as many as 200–300 prisoners died every day in the subcamp in the winter of 1941–1942.⁷

The camp buildings were unheated and unlit, and an intolerable stench and filth prevailed. No material support was provided in the camp. The prisoners wore the clothing they were wearing when they fell into enemy hands. Such living conditions led to outbreaks of disease, especially typhoid fever and dysentery, and to extremely high mortality, to which the lack of medical care contributed. The onset of winter drove the death rate among the prisoners even higher, as most had practically nothing with which to ward off the cold.⁸

Selections (Aussonderungen) were conducted regularly in the camp, especially when new prisoner transports arrived, to separate out political commissars, Communist Party members, and Jews, who were subsequently executed. In the second half of November 1942, more than 100 such prisoners were selected in Lager 2. They were held for several days in three railroad cars and then shot on the order of the camp commandant. Feldwebel Otto Kempf, a platoon commander in 2nd Company, headed an execution squad of 20 men. Selections were also conducted in the main camp at Kirovograd and in Lager 3. Sometimes these shootings were carried out by the camp guards, and at other times the prisoners selected were handed over to the Security Service (Sicherheitsdienst, SD) to be shot.⁹ The SD carried out two massacres of Jewish civilians from Kirovograd near the camp; while the staff of the camp was undoubtedly aware of these incidents, the West German postwar investigation determined that the camp guard battalion did not participate in them.¹⁰

According to materials from the Soviet Extraordinary State Commission (ChGK), 54,000 POWs died in the Kirovohrads’ka oblast’.¹¹ However, casualty figures from the ChGK are often substantially exaggerated and should be viewed accordingly. After the war, Georg Garbe and Otto Kempf were investigated for war crimes by the West German authorities. However, the investigation was ended on June 27, 1968, due to a lack of evidence.