MANNSCHAFTSSTAMMLAGER (STALAG) LUFT 5
The Wehrmacht established Stalag Luft 5 (map 4e) in March 1943 in Wolfen, in Defense District (Wehrkreis) IV.1 The camp was subordinate to Air District Command III (Luftgau-Kommando III).
Stalag Luft 5 held Soviet prisoners of war (POWs). It was a relatively small camp; the prisoner population peaked at 1,357 on June 1, 1943.2 The conditions in the camp were harsh, as they were in other camps for Soviet POWs. By June 1, 1943, 46 prisoners had died, including 21 who were killed in Allied bombing raids, 5 who died in accidents, 3 who were shot, and 17 who succumbed to starvation or disease.3 The exact date of the camp’s dissolution is unknown; however, it must have closed before April 19, 1945, when Allied forces occupied Wolfen. [End Page 508]
SOURCES
Primary source material about Stalag Luft 5 is located in BA-MA (RL 23) and TsAMORF.
Additional information about Stalag Luft 5 can be found in the following publication: 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. 167.
NOTES
1. OKW/Kriegsgef. Org. (Id), Bestand an Kriegsgefangenen im Ost- u. Südostgebiet u. in Norwegen, 1942–1944, BArch B 162/18251.
2. Ibid.
3. Abgänge des Kriegsgefangenenlagers No. 5 d. Lw., Wolfen Krs. Bitterfeld, Meldung No. 1 v. 19. Mai 1943 an die Wehrmachtsauskunftstelle für Kriegerverluste und Kriegsgefangene, Berlin; Abgänge des Kriegsgefangenenlagers No. 5 d. Lw., Wolfen Krs. Bitterfeld, Meldung No. 2 v. 1. Juni 1943 an die Wehrmachtsauskunftstelle für Kriegerverluste und Kriegsgefangene, Berlin, TsAMORF.
