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

In June 1941, the Germans established a complex of five camps on the island of Crete, near Galatas and Canea (map 8), to hold Allied prisoners of war (POWs) until they could be transferred to the Greek mainland and from there sent to Germany.¹ They dissolved the camps in early 1942, with the departure of the last of the prisoners. The camps were subordinate to Armeeoberkommando (AOK) 12, at first, and then to the Commander South Greece (Befehlshaber Südgriechenland) and Commandant of Fortress Crete (Kommandant der Festung Kreta). The camp’s field post number (Feldpostnummer) was 46 234. KGL Kreta was also referred to in some documents as Dulag Kreta.

The camps held British, Australian, New Zealander, and Greek POWs. The prisoners’ conditions of confinement were unsatisfactory. There was a constant shortage of water and food, and, initially, there was practically no medical aid. Most of the prisoners lived outdoors, with no overcoats or proper clothing. The Red Cross was not granted access to the camps until early 1942. The Germans separated the prisoners according to nationality. There was a resistance movement, which primarily took the form of attempted escapes, many of which were successful: with the help of the local populace, escapees used stolen boats to get to the Greek mainland.²

As early as June 1941, the Germans moved the first group of prisoners to Dulag Corinth, and 6,500 prisoners remained on Crete. In early July 1941, 2,300 of them were transferred through Dulag Saloniki to Germany, and, one week later, 1,900 others followed. Then, an epidemic interrupted the shipment of prisoners to Germany, which did not resume until early October 1941. At the end of 1941, only 100 prisoners remained in the camps.³

The Germans reactivated the camp complex in December 1944, and it remained open until Germany capitulated in May 1945. As part of the complex, the Germans established a hospital camp (Lazarett) on June 9, 1941. They liquidated it at the end of September.⁴ The hospital camp was under the authority of the commandant of the island of Crete, the commander of the German forces on the island. This was the commander of the XI Fliegerkorps, General Kurt Student, who also—on his own initiative—called himself the “governor” of the island of Crete.⁵

The hospital camp held wounded and sick British, Australian, New Zealander, and Greek military personnel. There were up to 220 beds in the hospital camp, and the sick and wounded prisoners were tended by British doctors and medical orderlies. More than 1,200 prisoners passed through the hospital, 23 of whom died. In July–September 1941, all the prisoners were evacuated in batches to the camp in the city of Saloniki (Thessaloniki).⁶ [End Page 533]