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

The Wehrmacht established Stalag 355 on April 30, 1941, in Defense District (Wehrkreis) V.¹ From June to August 1941, the camp was located in Neusiedl am See (map 4f), in present-day Austria. From September 1941 until the end of 1943, the camp was located in Proskurov (today Khmel’nyts’kyi, Ukraine) (9e). From September 1941 to July 1943, Stalag 355 had a subcamp (Zweiglager) in the barracks of a military post in Starokonstantinov. From January 12 to March 22, 1944, the camp was located in Düren, Germany (Defense District VI) (4a), and from March 22 to June 9, 1944, it was in Oerbke, Germany (Defense District XI) (4a).² While deployed in Ukraine, the camp was subordinated to the Commander of Prisoners of War with the Armed Forces Commander Ukraine (Kommandeur der Kriegsgefangenen beim Wehrmachtsbefehlshaber Ukraine).

Stalag 355 received field post number (Feldpostnummer) 09 240 between February 1 and July 11, 1941. The number was struck between January 25 and July 31, 1943, renewed on November 11, 1943, and struck for good on May 18, 1944.

Stalag 355 held Soviet prisoners of war (POWs). The population reached a peak of 20,800 in October 1942 before declining to 2,600 in October 1943.³ The conditions in the camp were similar to those in other camps for Soviet POWs. Overcrowding, malnutrition, disease, and deliberate abuse by the guards led to a high mortality rate. The prisoners were so badly malnourished that they resorted to eating grass and leaves. Former prisoner Dmitrii Nebol’sin, who was held in the camp in 1942, stated that

on the grounds of the camp, everything remained as it was before the war: good, sound barracks, neat walks, paths, areas with horizontal bars and parallel bars, suspended washbasins intended for use by dozens of people at one time—only there was no grass, it had vanished; the prisoners had torn it out all the way down to the rootlets, even including the roots, and eaten it, thus exposing the soil, which had been pounded flat by thousands of feet. A day in the camp seemed like a year, and our thoughts were occupied the whole time with hopes of changes and grub. From early morning everyone was on the move, looking for food, tobacco, and people from the same part of the country. In the common zone, to which we were moved, it was possible to wander freely about the area and drop into barracks to see “old” prisoners. Getting some extra grub “on the side” was almost impossible, and only those who had managed to save some valuables, watches, knives, and the like succeeded in bartering with the politsais [police], medical orderlies, and guard squad for a piece of bread or a twist of makhorka [tobacco]. In the morning, for our so-called breakfast, we each were issued 100 grams [3.5 ounces] of ersatz bread, which immediately vanished into our empty bellies; for the midday meal, a ladel of balanda [weak soup]; and for supper, nothing. On the other hand, we could drink our fill of water—as much as we wanted. People wasted away before our eyes. Soon, even in us “fresh ones,” gauntness began to become evident; the furrows on our foreheads were more sharply outlined; our backs became hunched. The cruel cold deprived people of all common sense—they cut and chopped up their belts into very tiny pieces, moistened the crumbs with water, chewed and swallowed. I saw Uzbeks drink clay dissolved in water, and then, the next day, they were rolling on the ground, [End Page 358] writhing with agonizing pain in their abdomens, caused by extreme constipation, and they died in unbearable torment. Every day, a wagon drawn by horses drove around the camp and took away the corpses of the prisoners.⁴

As in other camps, the prisoners were screened to separate out Jews and Communists, who were then shot near the camp by a Security Service (Sicherheitsdienst) detachment or the camp guards.⁵ The exact number of prisoners who died in the camp in Proskurov is unknown. According to Soviet Extraordinary State Commission (ChGK) materials, 65,000 prisoners died in the camp.⁶ From November 1941 to January 1942 alone, 40,000 prisoners reportedly died.⁷ At the branch camp in Starokonstantinov, another 3,300 perished.⁸ However, casualty figures from the ChGK are often substantially exaggerated and should be viewed accordingly. The camp was dissolved on October 1, 1944.