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

The Wehrmacht established Stalag 373 from the staff of Oflag XXI A on April 17, 1942, in Bobruisk (map 9b). The Germans disbanded the camp on October 15, 1943, then reestablished it on May 9, 1944, from the staff of Stalag I F/Z in Prostken (today Prostki, Poland) (4c).¹ The camp was permanently disbanded on December 14, 1944.² While deployed in Bobruisk, the camp was subordinate to the Army Group Center Rear Area Command (Befehlshaber des rückwärtigen Heeresgebiets Mitte), in support of the 203rd Security Brigade (Sicherungsbrigade).³ During the deployment in Prostken, the camp was subordinate to the Commander of Prisoners of War in Defense District I (Kommandeur der Kriegsgefangenen in Wehrkreis I). Stalag 373 received field post number (Feldpostnummer) 47 486 between March 1 and September 7, 1942. The number was struck on November 5, 1943.

The first commandant of Stalag 373 was Oberstleutnant (later Oberst) Ignaz Kloimüller. He was succeeded by Major Wilhelm Lindenau, who was followed in early 1943 by [End Page 377] Oberstleutnant Walter Däublin. The deputy commandant was Major Hubert Brandt. The counterintelligence (Abwehr) officer was Hauptmann Harry Stieger.⁴ While it was deployed in Bobruisk, the camp was guarded by personnel from the 2nd Company of the 825th Reserve Battalion (Landesschützenbataillon).⁵

While deployed in Bobruisk, the camp held Soviet prisoners of war (POWs) and interned civilians. It was also used as a penal camp (Straflager) at this time, both for Soviet prisoners who broke the law (including former volunteer concentration camp guards, or Hilfswillige) and for civilians accused of collaborating with partisans or other crimes.⁶ During the deployment in Prostken, the camp held Italian military prisoners.⁷ Conditions in Stalag 373 during its deployment in Bobruisk were similar to those in other camps for Soviet POWs. The camp was overcrowded and the prisoners received little food or medical care. Newly arrived prisoners were screened by the counterintelligence officer to separate out “undesirables,” such as Jews and political commissars, who were executed by Security Service (Sicherheitsdienst) personnel near the camp.⁸ Little information is available about the camp in Prostken, although it is likely that conditions there were poor as well.