Surviving the Stalag : Life as a Prisoner of War in Germany

Article written by Amynte Eygun, MA.
Westmount, Quebec – 23 October 2024: During the hours and days following the initial crossing and assault on the banks of the Leopold Canal, the Germans managed to capture and imprison the entirety of the RMR’s # 3 Platoon. While the men, led by Sergeant Craddock were making their way to the Magdehem-Aardenburg road, they were held up and captured by the enemy. The men were subsequently sent to German prisoner of war camps or German hospitals to be treated for their injuries. The Germans had a detailed network of prison camps for both civilians and military personnel. For military prisoners, these camps were called Stalags, short for Stamlager, which in turn is short for Kriegsgefangenen-Mannschaftsstammlager which translates to “main camp for enlisted prisoners of war”. During the Second World War, Nazi Germany was divided into 17 military districts, with over 1,000 prison camps divided in these districts. Each district was given a roman numeral to keep track of them. The majority of the RMR men who were taken as prisoners were sent to Stalag XI-B Fallingbostel. This name translates to Camp 11B at Fallingbostel, in Germany.

While there is little information about the day-to-day operations at this Stalag, the first-hand account of prisoners gives us a small idea of the conditions. In late January-late February 1945, 16 RMR men were imprisoned in the overcrowded camp when a large group of prisoners from Stalag Luft IV (a camp for Air Force prisoners) were marched to Fallingbostel to evade the advancing Russian troops in Germany. Stalag XIB was overcrowded with starving prisoners, with not enough food or space for everyone. They described that the food as “potatoes and a green stew that was made up of boiled grass and boiled sugar beets. It tasted like nothing and all it did was fill space…we used to look at the trees in the distance beyond the wire and wonder if we could get them and scrape off the bark and eat the inner bit later.” The men from Stalag Luft IV did not stay long, but the horrible conditions at Fallingbostel left a lasting impact. The RMR men had been at the camp since late October – early November, living through months of the cold winter without sufficient food or space.

Because the Germans had separate camps for civilians and military personnel, there were also big differences in the treatment of these various prisoners. Depending on the location of the camps there were also differences in treatment. Many Axis prisoner of war camps for the military in Asia had much worse conditions than the ones in Europe, lack of basic human rights, food and backbreaking labour. At Stalag XI-B, the captors broadly followed the rules of the Third Geneva Convention of 1929. Some examples of these rules were:
Art. 2: Prisoners of war are in the power of the hostile Government, but not of the individuals or formation which captured them. They shall at all times be humanely treated and protected, particularly against acts of violence, from insults and from public curiosity. Measures of reprisal against them are forbidden.
Art. 4 : The detaining Power is required to provide for the maintenance of prisoners of war in its charge. Differences of treatment between prisoners are permissible only if such differences are based on the military rank, the state of physical or mental health, the professional abilities, or the sex of those who benefit from them.
Art. 11 : The food ration of prisoners of war shall be equivalent in quantity and quality to that of the depot troops. Prisoners shall also be afforded the means of preparing for themselves such additional articles of food as they may possess. Sufficient drinking water shall be supplied to them. The use of tobacco shall be authorized. Prisoners may be employed in the kitchens. All collective disciplinary measures affecting food are prohibited.
The Allied soldiers who found themselves in prisoner of war camps in Europe lived through generally acceptable conditions, the experience being one of extreme boredom and constant anxiety compared to torture and abuses found in civilian concentration camps. The treatment of prisoners of war was a worry for families back home, as there was “no single office or institution that was solely in charge of seeing these things through.”

In accordance with Article 11 of the 1929 Geneva Convention, the Allied POWs received parcels from the Canadian Red Cross which were distributed through the groups of soldiers, giving them access to food and supplies. These parcels also showed them that their families and fellow Canadians were thinking of them, and were doing their best to help them from home. These parcels were prepared by volunteers, including the Junior Red Cross volunteer association which accounted for 842,000 young Canadians between 5-19 years old in 29,000 branches in schools. The parcels were quite large and would supply prisoners with the basic nutrients they needed to stay alive and (somewhat) healthy. Each cardboard box was about 11lbs, and contained basic foods like powdered milk, butter, cheese, dried and canned meats and fish, dried biscuits, tea, dried fruits and vegetables, soap, and coffee. These items were usually in metal tins, which were then re-used by the soldiers to make utensils, to store goods, etc.

The arrival of these packages would have elated the prisoners, reminding them of the support at home and the appreciation from their families. For many prisoners of war, these packages would be “their first tangible link with home”, many men had been gone from home since late 1939. The Red Cross Parcels were especially fawned over when the volunteers in Canada added cigarettes to the contents. Cigarettes, chocolate, sets of cards and notebooks were very sought after, as they helped the days pass quicker and gave them a small taste of normalcy. Notebooks especially allowed them to escape mentally, giving them a private space to let out their emotions, their thoughts and their fears.
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Marian Currens, “The Prisoner of War Experience of U.S. Airman Ralph Currens in Germany during WWII.” HIST 470, Hood College, Frederick, Maryland. 2011. https://api.mdsoar.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/49f1c09d-e69d-464d-9a65-b74ed39d2f2c/content
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Pagnotta “Curating Community behind Barbed Wire”, Genealogy, 2024. 4 .https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy8020054
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Sarafina Pagnotta “Curating Community behind Barbed Wire: Canadian Prisoner of War art from the Second World War” Genealogy, 8(2), 54. 2024. 6. https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy8020054
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Canadian Red Cross “Junior Red Cross Projects, WWII” https://www.redcross.ca/history/artifacts/junior-red-cross-wwii-projects
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Canadian Red Cross Blog “Remembering Canadian Red Cross Volunteers in WWII” 2013. https://www.redcross.ca/blog/2013/11/remembering-canadian-red-cross-volunteers-in-wwii#:~:text=Each%20food%20parcel%20weighed%2011lbs,to%20maintaining%20basic%20nutrition%20levels.
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Pagnotta “Curating Community behind Barbed Wire”, Genealogy, 2024. 4 .https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy8020054