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The Kriegies of Oflag 64 September 17, 2006 Introduction to Oflag 64 in Sczubin, Poland
A partial map of the locations of German POW camps, which were located throughout Germany, Poland, East Prussia, and Austria. The red arrow points to the location of Oflag 64 in Poland. Presented by Stalag Luft I. Prior to WWII, the camp at Sczubin, Poland was a boys' school. When war became obvious, the Poles closed the school, built some barracks, and used it as a billeting area for Polish cavalry.
German soldiers destroy a Polish border checkpoint in Sopot in September 1939, a few days after the invasion started (September 1, 1939). If you look closely, you can see a few of them laughing. This is when the Germans were having fun. Presented by Wikipedia.org
German troops parade through Warsaw September 28-30, 1939, after Poland surrendered. Credit: National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD. Presented by Holocaust Encyclopedia.
This is a map diagramming the German and Soviet invasions of Poland, September 1939. They had earlier agreed to partition the country. The red dot is the approximate location of Sczubin. Credit: National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD. Presented by Holocaust Encyclopedia. The Germans invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. Poland surrendered on September 28. By prior agreement with the Germans, the Soviets invaded Poland on September 17 and took what they could get. The Germans would later push them out on their way to Moscow, and, following that, the Soviets would push the Germans out of the USSR and Poland on their way to Berlin. The Germans found the Sczubin barracks, ringed it with barbed wire, added more barracks and turned it into a POW camp. The camp was named Oflag 21B, but that camp moved to Usedom, a Baltic Sea island that was, at the time, German. The camp at Sczubin was re-designated Oflag 64.
Artist's drawing of the Oflag 64 camp. Artist: Jim Bickers, among the first group of American POWs to come to this camp in June 1943. Presented by Oflag64.us. Initially, the camp was home to captured French, British and Soviet officers. Then, in June 1943, it became exclusively a POW camp for American Army officers at the rank of full colonel or below. We have read that Oflag 64 was the only German POW camp for American Army officers in WWII during this period.
This is a model of Oflag 64 constructed by Major Robert Eckman, USA (Ret.), 168th Infantry Regiment Supply Officer. Presented by Iowa National Guard.
Diagram of Oflag 64 layout. The yellow arrows point to barracks. The White House was the German administration building. The POW staff also worked in this building. The red cross marks the camp hospital. Presented by Task Force Baum
This is a model of Oflag 64 constructed by Major Robert Eckman, USA (Ret.), 168th Infantry Regiment Supply Officer. Presented by philmoibm at webshots, which has a number of different photo perspectives of the model. The camp was about 300 x 200 yards, surrounded by two barbed wire fences. Richland College described it as follows:
As an aside, we urge you to visit the Richland College site. The school hosts a book of sorts about Oflag 64 with 14 articles written by the prisoners. These and others we will lead you to explantions of what life was like at the prison camp. We do not spend much time on that, but instead concentrate on the final roads to liberation that the prisoners experienced.
St Petersburg resident Robert Keith, former Oflag 64 POW, returned to America by way of Russia, Egypt and Italy. Photo credit: Fred Victorin. Presented by the St. Petersburg Times. There is a very good collection of photos of the camp taken by Robert M. Keith on January 23, 1945, when he and Gerry Searle returned to the compound after being marched out on January 21 and then escaping. They returned to the camp and took the photos shown in his collection. We commend it to your attention. Keith spent 18 months in the camp. We will just show one of his photos of the camp, which in this instance was presented by the St. Petersburg Times.
This photo shows the multi-fence lines and the barracks off to the left. Oflag 64 was initially populated mainly by American Army officers captured in Tunisia in February 1943. We want to talk about this a little bit. It will help you understand the incredible journey these captured officers were on during the full course of their service in this war. Go to: How the first group of Americans got there: The Tunisia campaign |
Table of Contents Introduction to Oflag 64 in Sczubin, Poland. How the first group of Americans got there: The Tunisia campaign The Soviets attack, the POWs are moved The POWs are liberated, but it "weren't" easy Some of the men of Oflag 64 whom you have not yet seen
OFLAG 64, A P.O.W. Odyssey. The Third Reich utilized a Polish school in Sczubin, Poland, as the only camp for American ground-force officers.Learn the unique barbed wire experience of these officers, including General Patton's son-in-law, John K. Waters. (Includes a controversial liberation attempt by Patton.) We honor service and sacrifice. Please click the "Donate" button and contribute $20 or more to help keep this station alive. Thanks. |
