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

The facts surrounding Dulag Schildberg are uncertain. It is believed that the Wehrmacht established the camp in [End Page 526] September 1939 in the town of Schildberg (today Ostrzeszów, Poland) about 72 kilometers (44.5 miles) northeast of Wrocław (map 4c). Dulag Schildberg was probably a short-term collection camp, organized on an ad hoc basis and guarded by regular troops on temporary duty. It was also called a “prisoners’ camp” (Gefangenenlager). On January 6, 1940, the Germans may have converted the camp into Stalag XXI A Schildberg.

In the fall of 1939, the camp was under the control of the Eighth Army Rear Area Command (Kommandant rückwärtiges Armeegebiet, Korück, 558); later, it came under the authority of the Commander of Prisoners of War in Defense District XXI (Kommandeur der Kriegsgefangenen im Wehrkreis XXI).

The camp held Polish army prisoners of war (POWs) captured by the Germans in September 1939 as well as civilians interned by the Germans because of their participation in the defense of their towns. In total, 22,000 Polish POWs and 12,000 members of the civilian population passed through the camp. The conditions in which the prisoners lived during their confinement were harsh, especially at the beginning of the camp’s existence. Because of overcrowding in the camp and an acute shortage of accommodations, newly arriving prisoners had to live in cellars or tents or even remain outdoors. The food was scanty, and medical aid was practically nonexistent (organization of a hospital did not begin until November 1939). Later on, the prisoners’ conditions of confinement improved somewhat.

In the camp, there was a constant effort to recruit civilians and POWs for work in Germany. At the same time, Polish Jewish officers were sent to special Jewish camps, while “suspicious” Poles were sent to concentration camps.