Stalag VIII-A

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Stalag VIII-A was a World War II German POW camp just east of Görlitz, Germany (currently Zgorzelec, Poland.) Prior to the outbreak of war it was a Hitlerjugend camp.

Contents 1 Timeline 2 Notable inmates 3 See also 4 References 5 External links 6 Further reading

[edit] Timeline

In October 1939 it was modified to house about 15,000 Polish prisoners from the German September 1939 offensive. By June 1940 most of the Poles had been transferred to other camps and replaced with Belgian and French taken prisoner during the Battle of France. At one time there were over 30,000 jammed into facilities designed for 15,000. In 1941 a separate compound was created to house Soviet prisoners. In 1943 2,500 British Commonwealth soldiers came from the battles in Italy. Finally in late December 1944 1,800 Americans arrived that were taken in the Battle of the Bulge. February 14, 1945 the Americans and British were marched out of the camp westward in advance of the Soviet offensive into Germany.

[edit] Notable inmates

It was there that Olivier Messiaen, a French prisoner, finished composing Quatuor pour la Fin du Temps, a famous work of chamber music. With the help of some Germans, he was able to assemble three other POWs to help him perform the piece for the rest of the camp^[1].

[edit] See also

• List of German WWII POW camps

[edit] References

1. ^ Article in "New Yorker"

• New Zealand On-line history of WW II
• Diary of Sgt.John Kline captured in Ardennes 1944

[edit] External links

• Diary of a Prisoner and Picture Collection
• B24.net
• The Last Escape - John Nichol, Tony Rennell - 2002 Penguin UK
• Arbeitskommando 10001 in Ruckenwaldau, Lower Silesia (now Wierzbowa, Poland), Agency Camp German Stalag VIII-A.

[edit] Further reading

• Rischin, Rebecca. For the End of Time: The Story of the Messiaen Quartet. Cornell University Press: 2003. ISBN 0-8014-4136-6

v • d • e Main German World War II Prisoner-of-war camps 1944-1945 Stalag IX-C Ziegenhain • Stalag XI-B Fallingbostel • Oflag 79 Brunswick • Oflag VII-B Eichstätt • Stalag XIII-D Nürnberg • Stalag VII-A Moosburg • Stalag XIII-C Hammelburg • Oflag IV-C Colditz Castle • Stalag XI-A Altengrabow • Stalag III-A Luckenwalde • Stalag IV-B Mühlberg • Stalag VIII-A Görlitz • Stalag XX-B Marienburg • Stalag XX-A Thorn • Stalag 344 Lamsdorf • Stalag VIII-B Teschen • Stalag Luft I Barth • Stalag Luft IV Gross Tychow • Stalag Luft 7 Bankau • Stalag Luft VI Heydekrug • Stalag Luft III Sagan • Stalag X-B Sandbostel • Marlag und Milag Nord, Westertimke • See also - The March (1945)