Oflag IV-A was a World War II German POW camp for officers located in the 15th-century Burg Hohnstein, in Hohnstein, Saxony.
| Oflag IV-A | |
|---|---|
| Hohnstein, Saxony | |
 Burg Hohnstein, with the village of Hohnstein in the foreground | |
  Oflag IV-A | |
| Coordinates | 50°58′47″N 14°06′33″E / 50.97966°N 14.10923°E |
| Type | Prisoner-of-war camp |
| Site information | |
| Controlled by |  Nazi Germany |
| Site history | |
| In use | 1939-1940 |
| Garrison information | |
| Occupants | Polish and French officers |
Camp history
editThe castle was first used as a camp in 1933–34, named KZ Hohnstein.[1] As a Schutzhaftlager ("protective custody camp"),[2] it held political prisoners, mostly members of the Communist Party, who were forced to work in a nearby quarry.[1]
The camp was reopened on 1 October 1939 to house Polish generals and their staffs captured during the German September 1939 offensive. On 15 May 1940 most of them were transferred to Oflag IV-B Koenigstein.
By September 1940 the prisoners at the camp were mainly French, with 100 officers up the rank of colonel, and 28 generals. There were also seven Dutch and 27 Polish generals, with orderlies.[3] By the end of October 1940 all these prisoners had been transferred to other camps, and the castle was then used to accommodate evacuee children from Hamburg and Berlin.[4]
German records indicate the camp was in existence until April 1945.[5]
Post-war it housed refugees and displaced persons until 1948.[2]
Prominent inmates
edit- General Juliusz Rómmel
- General Tadeusz Kutrzeba
- General Walerian Czuma
- General Edmund Knoll-Kownacki
- General Franciszek Kleeberg
- General Emil Krukowicz-Przedrzymirski (7 July - 29 October 1940)
See also
editReferences
edit- Notes
- ^ a b "Hohnstein Castle". World War II Museums. 2011. Retrieved 27 December 2011.
- ^ a b "Burgmuseum". Burg Hohnstein in Sachsen (in German). 2011. Retrieved 27 December 2011.
- ^ Eggers, pp.13-14
- ^ Eggers, p.17
- ^ "Kriegsgefangenenlager (Liste)". Moosburg Online (in German). 2011. Retrieved 27 December 2011.
- Bibliography
- Eggers, Reinhold (1961) Colditz - The German Side of the Story (edited and translated by Howard Gee) New York: W. W. Norton & Company