MANNSCHAFTSSTAMMLAGER (STALAG) XII E
The Wehrmacht established Stalag XII E in Metz, in Defense District (Wehrkreis) XII (map 4d), on December 9, 1940, as a result of the reorganization of Frontstalag 212.1 At first, it continued to be deployed in Metz.
Frontstalag 212 had taken over a large number of remnants of former temporary prisoner-collecting points, the condition of which by that time was often unacceptable. In addition, the parts of the fortifications that were used as housing and the camp area in Metz were suitable only to a very limited extent to serve as a Stalag. The aim of the reorganization was thus to reduce and streamline a large number of geographically separate housing areas by setting up a Stalag. The intention was to create a camp operation that was tightly organized and easy to oversee. The camp initially reported to the Commander of Prisoners of War in Defense District XII (Kommandeur der Kriegsgefangenen im Wehrkreis XII).
The following camp commandants have been identified: up to December 17, 1940, Oberstleutnant z.V. Ludwig Freiherr von Imhof, and from January 14–November 6, 1941, [End Page 474]
Major z.V. Theodor Wussow.2 The permanent camp area and the work detachments (Arbeitskommandos) were guarded by Reserve Battalion (Landesshützenbattailon) 381.
Stalag XII E consisted of a large number of camp sections with various names:
1a. Fort Goeben (French: Fort de Queuleu)
1b. Fort Manteuffel (French: Fort de Saint-Julien), the main camp 2. Warningen (French: Vany) subcamp and Mörchingen (French: Morhange) subcamp
5. St. Julian camp military hospital in Metz
6b. Johannis-Bannberg (French: Ban Saint Jean) subcamp
7. Housing/work detachments in Wecklingen, Elsingen (French: Elzange), and Bidlingen (French: Budling)
8. Housing/work detachments in Fentsch (French: Fontoy) and Grosshettingen (French: Hettange-Grande)
—Saarburg (French: Sarrebourg) subcamp (housing for personnel of the military hospitals outside the combat zone and collecting camp (Sammellager) for escapees who had been recaptured
—Saargemünd (French: Sarreguemines) subcamp.
From December 17, 1940, to December 1941, prisoner of war (POW) Construction and Labor Battalion 42 (Kriegsgefangenen Bau- und Arbeitsbataillon 42) had been subordinate to Stalag XII E for disciplinary purposes because of its deployment in the region.
From Frontstalag 212, Stalag XII E took over field post number (Feldpostnummer) 10 655, which was terminated between July 15, 1942, and January 24, 1943.3
The Stalag was a medium-sized camp with a maximum of approximately 10,000 POWs.4 From first to last, most of the POWs were French, followed by Serbians during the final months. In addition, a small number of prisoners (fewer than 70) from Poland and Belgium were in the camp. In terms of rank, the prisoners were noncommissioned officers and enlisted men. Because some “old inventories” were taken over from Frontstalag 212, there were also some (fewer than 50) French officers and civilians in Stalag XII E during the first weeks.
The housing areas were very diverse, owing to the initial situation in the various parts of the camp:
in Metz: buildings in permanent barracks (Kasernen) and in the fortress area, also wooden barracks;
in Mörchingen and Saarburg: buildings of former French barracks; and
in Saargemünd: vacant houses in park grounds, then in a former French permanent barracks area.
Around 70 percent of the POWs were deployed in approximately 100 work detachments. They were most commonly used to perform agricultural labor. One distinctive feature was that several detachments maintained various fortifications in the region, fortifications that were part of the former Maginot Line (water, heat, electricity, maintenance). These work detachments generally consisted of the French soldiers previously deployed there.
On the whole, the treatment of the POWs was acceptable but was adversely affected by poor external conditions, such as the damp and cold accommodations. An attempt was made to improve these living conditions or to close the worst areas.
There was a library for the prisoners, and they began to set up an orchestra and a theater group, but a sustained and full-scale program for the prisoners’ free time was very difficult to bring about, partly because of the distance between the housing areas. Catholic priests from among the POWs held religious services. The Serbian POWs had to contend with the fact that they received no food deliveries from relief organizations.
Medical care for the prisoners was provided first in the camp’s medical clinic, in this case Camp Section 5, the socalled St. Julian camp military hospital in Metz. It was run by physicians and personnel from the POW population, under German supervision. The more serious cases were referred to military hospitals outside the combat zone (with POW wards) in Mörchingen and Saarburg.
Various delegations visited the Stalag during its time in Metz. Visit reports are available for the following: International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC): February 6, April, and September 26–27, 1941; Scapini Mission: May 12 and August 16, 1941; YMCA: April 22, August 20, and August 21, 1941.
The visit reports of the ICRC, in particular, describe the POWs’ complete set of living conditions. They are explicit [End Page 475] concerning the prisoners’ poor housing situation (“dirty and primitive”) and suggest that the best solution is to close the camp.5
To the Germans, too, there was clearly no sustainable, long-term solution to the situation, and so they decided to close the camp in Metz and redeploy the Stalag XII E headquarters to the east. As a result, the commandant’s office was made subordinate to the Commander of Prisoners of War in Defense District I, operation of the camp in Metz was terminated, and the remaining POWs and housing areas were made ready to hand over to Stalag XII F.
In January 1942, the Stalag staff moved to Zambrów, in the Białystok District. There, camp operations resumed in February. The prisoners were lodged in wooden barracks. They were all Soviet prisoners, approximately 2,000 in number. Their treatment was in keeping with the usual poor conditions for Soviet POWs in terms of food rations and medical care. There were no longer any visits by delegations, and there were no deliveries of food by relief organizations. Approximately 40 percent of the POWs were deployed in work detachments.
The deployment of Stalag XII E in the east ended after only seven months. On September 4, 1942, the General Army Office (Allgemeines heeresamt, AHA) ordered the closure of the camp. The POWs and the campgrounds were handed over to Stalag 316 for use as a subcamp. After the headquarters was disbanded, the headquarters personnel were used for the organization of POW Labor Battalions 180 to 190.
SOURCES
Primary source information about Stalag XII E is located in BA-MA: RH 34/138, RH 49/21, RH 53-12/19, RW 6/483, RW 48/12, RW 59/128, MSg 200/810; BArch B 162/16506, 27870; and PAAA R 40705, 40706a, 40706c, 40770, 40973, 40974, 40989.
Additional information about Stalag XII E can be found in the following publications: Michel Frick, Les camps de prisonniers de guerre allies en Moselle 1940–44 (Strasbourg, 2007); Zygmunt Lietz, Obozy jenieckie w prusach wschodnich 1939–45 (Warsaw: MON, 1982); Philippe Wilmouth, Les camps de prisonniers de guerre en Moselle 1940–48 (Villefrance, 2009); Gianfranco Mattiello, Prisoners of War in Germany 1939–1945 (Camps, Nationalities, Monthly Population) (Lodi: self-published, 2003); and Norbert Kannapin, Die deutsche Feldpostübersicht 1939–45 (Osnabrück, 1980).
NOTES
1. Stammtafel Stalag XII E (BA-MA RH 53-12/19) and Stammkarte AHA (BA-MA RH 15/456).
2. BA-MA RW 59/2128 (the so-called card index of commandants).
3. Kannapin, Die deutsche Feldpostübersicht 1939–45.
4. Monthly population reports of the OKW, by nationality, can be found in Mattiello, Prisoners of War.
5. Besuchsbericht des IKRK vom 06.02.41 (PAAA R 40705).
