Stalag IV-A Elsterhorst was a

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, and military prisons. P ...

located south of the village of Elsterhorst (now Nardt), near

Hoyerswerda Hoyerswerda () or Wojerecy () is a major district town in the district of Bautzen in the German state of Saxony. It is located in the Sorbian settlement area of Upper Lusatia, a region where some people speak the Sorbian language in addition to G ...

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

, north-east of

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

(this should not however be confused with Stalag IV-A Hohnstein, which was located 20 miles ENE of Dresden).

Camp history

The camp opened in 1938, and the first occupants were 350 prisoners from

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

, who were accommodated in tents. In 1939, prisoners from the German

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...

arrived and were put to work building 40 barrack huts. Originally Stalag IV, the camp was re-designated Stalag IV-A in October 1940. In June 1940, part of the camp was re-designated Oflag IV-D, as a camp for officers, predominantly French, but also Belgian, British, Canadian and Yugoslav. Another part of the camp was set aside as a hospital for prisoners as Reserve Lazarett 742. From 1941, the stalag received POWs from Russia, who were housed in a separate compound. After the

bombing of Dresden The bombing of Dresden was a joint British and American aerial bombing attack on the city of Dresden, the capital of the German state of Saxony, during World War II. In four raids between 13 and 15 February 1945, 772 heavy bombers of the Roya ...

in February 1945, conditions for American and British prisoners worsened considerably. They were particularly affected by the withholding of their

Red Cross parcel Red Cross parcel refers to packages containing mostly food, tobacco and personal hygiene items sent by the International Association of the Red Cross to prisoners of war during the First and Second World Wars, as well as at other times. It can ...

s, leading to general malnourishment and consequently a number of deaths from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

Liberation and after

As the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

advanced, the camp received more Belgian and French POWs from camps further east. In February 1945, officer prisoners were marched westwards. The camp was finally liberated by the Russians in April 1945. While under Russian control, the camp was used to hold up to 70,000 captured German troops. In October 1945, the camp was returned to German administration and was used as a transit and quarantine camp for troops returning home. From 1946, the camp was used as a resettlement camp for refugees from territories now in Poland, until finally closed on 31 March 1948. In 1957, the site of the camp was redeveloped as Nardt airfield.

Deaths

Prisoners who died at the camp were interred at the cemetery in Nardt. The remains of French, British and Canadian POWs were exhumed and returned to their homelands in 1952. The Russians were re-interred at a memorial grove in Hoyerswerda in 1974.

References

{{Reflist

Camp history

Liberation and after

Deaths

References

See also