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

The Wehrmacht operated several types of camps outside the main prisoner of war (POW) camp system (Kriegsgefangenenwesen). These included temporary collection camps, which were referred to as transit camps (Durchgangslager, Dulags), although they were not part of the formal class of Dulags under the main system; a variety of camps that were simply called POW camps (Kriegsgefangenenlager, KGL); two camps that held Serbian civilians taken hostage in retaliation for partisan attacks, which were called concentration camps (Konzentrationslager, KL), even though they were not part of the SS Main Economic and Administrative Office (SS-Wirtschafts- und Verwaltungshauptamt, SS-WVHA) concentration camp system; and the “special camps” (Sonderlager), which mainly held Soviet POWs who were selected for training as propagandists and counterintelligence agents. The nature of these camps and the conditions experienced by the prisoners were as diverse as their functions, and they should not be thought of as a cohesive class of camps—their only unifying feature is that they were not part of the main POW camp system.

There were at least 20 camps designated Dulags that were not part of the formal system of transit camps. Rather than proper transit camps, these were ad hoc facilities, usually organized by individual military units for the temporary confinement of prisoners. Ten of these camps were established during the invasion of Poland, located in Blon (Błonie), Bochnia, Kielce, Krakau (Kraków), Öhringen (Gliwice-Sośnica), Reichshof (Rzeszów), Schildberg (Ostrzeszów), Soldau (Działdowo), Tarnów, and Wadowice. These camps were established hastily, and the conditions were quite primitive. Most of them had been closed by December 1939, as the prisoners had been transferred to permanent camps.¹

A Dulag of this type was established in Corinth in May 1941 to hold British and Commonwealth prisoners captured during the fighting in Greece. This camp only operated for a few weeks before the prisoners were transferred to Dulag 183 in Thessaloniki (which was part of the main system of Dulags).²

Three of these informal Dulags were established in the occupied Soviet Union, located at Achtyrka (today Okhtyrka, Ukraine), Borispol (today Boryspil’, Ukraine), and Kurbatovo, near Voronezh. The camps at Achtyrka and Borispol held Soviet POWs. The conditions in these camps were atrocious, as they were in almost all camps for Soviet prisoners. The camp at Borispol also held some civilian prisoners. The camp at Kurbatovo held civilian prisoners exclusively. These civilians were residents of Voronezh who were evacuated from the frontline area. The conditions in this camp were also poor, with insufficient food and inadequate medical care leading to malnutrition and disease. All three of these camps had been dissolved by the end of 1942.³

Five such Dulags were created on the western front after the Allied landings in Normandy in 1944. Two were located within the Reich, in Lollar and Neubreisach (today [End Page 518] Neuf-Brisach, France); two were in France, in Châlons-sur-Marne and Morancez (Dulag West); and one in Belgium, in Mecheln (Mechelen/Malines). These camps held Allied POWs in transit to permanent POW camps.⁴

Finally, one other Dulag was established in Sassnitz, in Pomerania. Little is known about this camp, including its exact dates of operation and the number or nationality of its prisoners.

The second category of camps outside the main POW camp system was for those simply called POW camps, or KGLs. Thirty of these camps were in northern Italy and the formerly Italian-occupied areas of southeastern Europe. These camps held Italian military prisoners who were interned by the Germans after the Italian capitulation to the Allies in September 1943. Most of these camps were short lived, operating for only a few weeks while their prisoners were gradually transferred to permanent camps. Conditions in these camps were generally poor; the Germans viewed the interned Italians as traitors and often treated their former allies badly.⁵

There were also four camps in Western Europe that received this designation: three in France, located in Dunkirk (Dünkirchen), Lorient, and Saint-Nazaire, and one on the occupied island of Jersey. The camps in France were established in the weeks after the Allied landings in Normandy and continued to operate until the end of the war. Little is known about these camps or the conditions in them. The camp on Jersey was established in 1943 and held a diverse group of prisoners, including French North African soldiers, as well as some American and British troops and potentially some Soviet prisoners as well. Conditions in this camp were reportedly decent, and it received a positive assessment from a Red Cross delegate that visited the camp in February 1945.⁶

Two camps in Eastern Europe were designated as KGLs: one in Poland, located in Kielce, and one at Rogavka, in northwestern Russia. The camp in Kielce operated from 1942 to 1944, and held Soviet prisoners who were being assessed as potential collaborators and propagandists; in this sense, it was more similar to the Sonderlager, discussed below, than to the other camps designated as KGLs.⁷ The camp in Rogavka was also atypical—it was essentially a forced labor camp for Soviet POWs. A group of about 800 Soviet prisoners, mainly from Dulag 110 in Staraia Russa, were brought to Rogavka in the summer of 1942 to extract peat. By the following year, the need for laborers at the site had grown significantly and civilian laborers were also brought to the camp. On September 1, 1943, control of the camp was transferred to the civilian police forces in northwestern Russia, namely the Commander of the Security Police and SD (Befehlshaber der Sicherheitspolizei und des Sicherheitsdienstes, BdS) Ostland, and converted into a Sipo camp.⁸

Finally, there was one camp at Hövik, in Norway, which was also designated as a KGL. Little is known about this camp, as no significant documentation is currently available about it.

The third category of Wehrmacht camp that operated outside of the main POW camp system consisted of two so-called concentration camps, which, despite their names, were not part of the SS-WVHA concentration camp system. These two camps were located at Jarak and Šabac in Germanoccupied Serbia. Both camps were created by the 342nd Infantry Division and held Serbian civilians; the camps were later turned over to the German military administration in Serbia. The camp at Jarak was established in late September 1941 and held Serbian men from Šabac and Sremska Mitrovica who were interned after Chetniks and partisans attacked German soldiers in Šabac. This camp held between 6,000 and 7,000 people in terrible conditions. The Jarak camp was short lived: in early October, the prisoners were transferred to the new camp at Šabac. Here, they were joined by other civilian prisoners, including a group of 1,000 Austrian Jews as well as some Roma from the surrounding area. Conditions in the Šabac camp were likewise poor. The Germans frequently executed hostages from this camp in reprisal for partisan attacks on German forces. The camp in Šabac operated until March 31, 1942, when the prisoners were transferred to other camps, such as the Sajmište concentration camp in Semlin (Zemun).⁹

The final type of camps outside of the main POW camp system were the 10 special camps (Sonderlager). Eight of these camps—Sonderlager Boyen (Lötzen/Giżycko), Dabendorf, Fremde Heere Ost (Berlin), Ibbenbüren, Wuhlheide, Wustrau, Wutzetz, and Ziethenhorst—were operated by the Army High Command, Foreign Armies East Branch (Oberkommando des Heeres, Abteilung Fremde Heere Ost). Seven of these camps held Soviet POWs who had been identified as potential collaborators, either as propagandists and counterintelligence agents or as volunteers for the collaborationist Russian Liberation Army, commanded by Andrei Vlasov. Sonderlager Boyen held Soviet officers who were interrogated (and frequently tortured) by the Germans. Unsurprisingly, those who cooperated with the Germans, whether through collaborating or by providing them with information, received much better treatment than those who refused.¹⁰

One Sonderlager, located in Komotau in the Sudetenland (today Chomutov, Czech Republic), held captured French intelligence officers who had been arrested by the Germans during the occupation of Vichy France in 1942. The camp operated from 1943 to 1945. Conditions in this camp were generally good.¹¹

Finally, one Sonderlager, Luftwaffe Sonderlager Ost, held Soviet Air Force officers captured by the Luftwaffe. This camp, which was located in Sudauen, in East Prussia (today Suwałki, Poland), operated from 1942 to 1943. Little information is available on the conditions in this camp, although they are believed to have been acceptable.¹²

The special camps operated by the Wehrmacht served a variety of purposes and held a diverse group of prisoners in a wide range of conditions. It should be emphasized that these camps were not a coherent class of camps—their only unifying feature is that they were not part of the main POW camp system. However, they do demonstrate the degree of [End Page 519] autonomy and initiative that individual units of the Wehrmacht possessed and the decision-making process of the lower levels of the Wehrmacht command structure. These idiosyncratic, improvised camps further demonstrate the diverse nature of Wehrmacht captivity during World War II.