Camp Quedlinburg Explained

Camp Quedlinburg was a POW camp built in September 1914 located 2 kilometers north of Quedlinburg, Germany, during the First World War. From 1914 to 1922, the camp housed 12,000 to 18,000 prisoners of war on average.[1] Around 27,000 people lived in the neighbouring city of Quedlinburg at that time. There were three official branch offices in Staßfurt, and Aschersleben[2] as well as other unofficial offices in Egeln, Halberstadt, Schönebeck, Groß Rodensleben, Schadeleben and Hedersleben.

Camp

The camp was built on 104 hectares of land with 48 barracks for the prisoners. Barbed wire fences were erected to prevent escape attempts. In eight double rows, there were three barracks on each side of the gable. To the northeast, there were eight barracks for the guards, and on the western side of Ditfurter Weg, a number of large administrative buildings. At the northwest of the camp were three isolated sick shelters. Guard towers with machine guns stood in the middle of each long side and at strategically important points. The wooden barracks were about 52 meters long and 12 to 15 meters wide. The interior of the barracks was sparsely furnished. Each prisoner slept in an approximately 80 cm wide, 2 metre long wooden bed on straw sacks covered with woollen blankets. The barracks were divided into halves by transverse walls, each heated by an oven in the middle. At the southwest end of a block of six barracks was a kitchen building.[3]

During the war, mainly Russian, French, Belgian and English, and also Italian soldiers were interned since 1917. From the beginning they were used to build up the camp and later as workers in labour detachments, especially in agriculture.[4] On 9 December 1918, Theodor Cizeck Zeilau (1884-1970), a Captain in the Danish Army, made an inspection visit of the camp at Quedlinburg.[5]

Even after the war it was used as a transit camp. It was not until 1921 that the last Russian prisoners left the camp, whereupon it was burned down. 703 prisoners of war were buried on a special part of the Quedlinburg central cemetery.[6]

Notable prisoners

See also

Bibliography

Photographs

Memoirs

Secondary works

External links

Notes and References

  1. Wozniak, Thomas (2011): „... das Lager ist in jeder Beziehung musterhaft ...“ Kriegsgefangene des Ersten Weltkriegs in Quedlinburg (1914–1922). Jahrbuch für die Geschichte Mittel- und Ostdeutschlands (57): 125–154, here p. 125.
  2. Rapports des délégués du gouvernement espagnol sur leurs visites dans les camps de prisonniers français en Allemagne 1914–1917. Paris 1918, pp. 291-293.
  3. Volker . Demuth . 'Those Who Survived the Battlefields' Archaeological Investigations in a Prisoner of War Camp Near Quedlinburg (Harz / Germany) from the First World War. . Journal of Conflict Archaeology . 1 . 5 . 2009 . 163–181 . 10.1163/157407709X12634580640452 . 161594046 .
  4. Dienemann, Martina; Wozniak, Thomas (2009): Das Quedlinburger Kriegsgefangenenlager des Ersten Weltkrieges in französischsprachigen Quellen. Quedlinburger Annalen (12): 139–148.
  5. Dorothy Jones (2018): Quedlinburg men’s camp – Christmas in Denmark, revised 16.1.2018, p. 2, 11.6.2018.
  6. Wozniak, Thomas (2008): Militärseelsorge für ausländische Soldaten von 1914 bis 1919. Tretschock, Christoph; Wozniak, Matthias; Wozniak, Thomas (Ed.): 150 Jahre Katholische Kirche Sankt Mathilde Quedlinburg 1858–2008. Quedlinburg, pp. 73–80.
  7. W. K. Beaman (1915): Some Experiences of a Prisoner of War in Germany, with remarks on four Prisoners' Camps. JR Army Med Corps: first published as 10.1136/jramc-25-05-02 on 1 November 1915, pp. 490–493.
  8. https://www.badseysociety.uk/sladden-archive/places/germany-prisoner-war-camp-quedlinburg Germany - Prisoner of War Camp: Quedlinburg
  9. https://www.badseysociety.uk/sladden-archive/letters/rpwb19161120 November 20th 1916 - Postcard from Sergeant W E Burrows to Ethel Sladden
  10. Web site: World War 1 (A-C) | Prisoner of War Memorial Ballarat. www.powmemorialballarat.com.au. 19 December 2018. 19 December 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181219182511/http://www.powmemorialballarat.com.au/world-war-1-a.php. dead.
  11. Richard van Emden (2000): Prisoners of the Kaiser. The last POWs of the Great War. Barnsley, p. 185.
  12. Web site: World War 1 (D-F) | Prisoner of War Memorial Ballarat. www.powmemorialballarat.com.au. 19 December 2018. 19 December 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181219182644/http://www.powmemorialballarat.com.au/world-war-1-d-f.php. dead.
  13. David G Scott: A Minute's Peace tells wartime story, in: John O'Groat-Journal from 29 March 2020.
  14. Peter Cox: Arthur Henry Fitt (1890 -1954) and his war (pdf, 2018, 19 December)
  15. Web site: World War 1 (G-I) | Prisoner of War Memorial Ballarat. www.powmemorialballarat.com.au. 19 December 2018. 4 December 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181204075011/http://www.powmemorialballarat.com.au/world-war-1-g-i.php. dead.
  16. Web site: World War 1 (J-L) | Prisoner of War Memorial Ballarat. www.powmemorialballarat.com.au. 19 December 2018. 29 November 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181129042049/http://www.powmemorialballarat.com.au/world-war-1-j-l.php. dead.
  17. http://www.leatherheadweb.org.uk/warmemorials/lavender-fr-121018.htm LEATHERHEAD WAR MEMORIALS - WWI
  18. Jacques Messiant: Le prisonnier flamand: Le roman d'une vie pendant la Grande Guerre. Éditions Ravet-Anceau 2013.
  19. Web site: World War 1 (P-R) | Prisoner of War Memorial Ballarat. www.powmemorialballarat.com.au. 19 December 2018. 29 January 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190129152302/http://www.powmemorialballarat.com.au/world-war-1-p-r.php. dead.
  20. https://thefallenservicemenofsouthwestcountydurham.com/purvis-f/ The Gaunless Valley in World War 1
  21. Thomas Wozniak (2011): „… das Lager ist in jeder Beziehung musterhaft …“. Kriegsgefangene des Ersten Weltkriegs in Quedlinburg (1914–1922), Jahrbuch für die Geschichte Mittel- und Ostdeutschlands 57 (2011), pp. 125–154, here p. 125.
  22. Web site: SOUVENIRS DE GUERRE. souvenirsdeguerre.pagesperso-orange.fr. 2020-01-13.
  23. Web site: World War 1 (S-U) Prisoner of War Memorial Ballarat. www.powmemorialballarat.com.au. 2020-01-13. 19 December 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181219182514/http://www.powmemorialballarat.com.au/world-war-1-s-u.php. dead.
  24. http://prisonniers.camp-de-quedlinburg.fr/strachan.html Henry Strachan
  25. Web site: QUEDLINBURG, rencontre improbable d'un poilu français et d'un piou-piou belge. 2021-02-16.

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