A M E R I C A N R E D C R O S S NAT IONAL HEADQUARTERS Washington 13, D. C. Advance and Su 9lementcl Handbook Inf ormati on Letter No. 148 F (Vol.II) TO : Home Service Workers DATE : September 8, 1944 and Field Direct ors FRO Edi th Spr ay, Chief SUBJ.ECT : Pr e sent Conditions in Re sources Informati on Unit Prisoner of War Cams Services to t he Ar med Forces in Germany Subject Par agr aph Subject Paragr a12h Dul g Luft .... f; • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • .. • 8 Stalag Luft I ••• •••••••••• •. • . • • 4 I t al i ~n Camps . 9 St al ag Luft III •••••••••••• •••• •• 5 Pres ent Conditions •••••••••••••••••• 1 Stalag Luft IV . ............• . .•. 6 St al ag II- B .................. .. ..... 2 Stal ag Luft VI •••••••• • ••• • •••••. 7 Stal g VII-A ••••••••••• • •••••••••••• 10 Supplies for Tr ansit Camps •• . .•••11 St l g XVII- B . ... ................ 3 1. PRESENT CONDITIONS The increas ed tem o o t he war i s having its inevitabl e effect on the s i tuati on of American s ervicemen in German pr isoner of war camp s . The i nflux of new pr isoner s ha s r esulted i n crowded quarters, interruption s of i ncoming and outgoi ng mai l , occasional short­ ages of Red Cross supplies and all t he inconveniences connected wi t h t r ansf er s from camp t o camp and the openin of new camps . The flow of supplies f rom Geneva may be i nterrupted in days t o come . Casualty r eports and trru1sf er s with new cam addr esses will poss i bl y be delayed . As has already h ppened i n many cases , German camps will r un out of l et t er f orms for di tribution to prisoner s of war and new mail del ays will occur. The f ~ct that these conditi ons will increase i n European camps with the progr ess of the war must be f ced in the knowl edge t hat ever y eff ort will be made t o provide f or t he emergencies ~nich are bound to ar ise . I t should l so be remembered that possibl y 2,000,_000 prisoners of war from t he ar mi es of the United Nat i on s ar e at pr esent in German camps , and that camps for f oreign worker s and concentrati on camps have t hei r milli ons in population also. Camps most s everel y affected by res ent war conditi ons re list ed bel ow. Many have more t han doubled in size within t he past year, others suffer f rom a shortage of water . Many of the pri soner s have been t r ansferred from camp to camp with th r esult that their mail and supplies ar e sl ow to 11 Catch up wi th them. 11 CAMP POPULATION AS OF DEC . 31, 191}3 POPUU.TION AS OF M.AY 31, 1944 St al ag II-B 2515 5282 St al ag XVII-B 22.3Li- 4.300 St al ag Lust I 124 2867 Stal ag Luft III 2048 2837 St al g Luft IV 0 950 St al ag Luft VI 1 2411 A&S 148 F - 2 - (It will be noticed t hat all of the cam s exce t St al ag II- B ar e for membe so the Army Air Forces and that since all mail mus t be censored at Stalag Luft III, i t will be further delayed) 2. ST.A.LAG II- B This r eassi gnment camp for U. S . Privat es has more t han doubled in size . The m in C a.LT\ i s over­ crowded in spi te of the f a ct that men are s ent to work camps (KDOS) as soon af3 possi ble. Men captured in Ital y are sent here after many t r anRf er s . Ot her s have been transferred f r om one hospi t al to another before reaching the camp . Some of t he work c m~s h ve very poor delivery service from the main c mp . All this r esuits in 'elayed mail . J . STALAG XV II-B Non-commis si oned officer s of the Ar my Ai r Forces at St al g XVII- Bar e livin in a v er y unsatisfac­ tory camp . It i s badly overcrowded and a serious water shortage, due t o local droughts adds to the gener cl di s comfort. A German r est r iction l i mi tin the suppl y of f ood par cels which inay be stored in the camp coi ncided w~ th a new influx of risoner s and resulted in a temporar y shortage of Red Cr oss supplies . At one time Germ n l et ter f orms gave out and the men could not w-.c ite home unt il a new suppl y rrived . Some of the men captured in North Africa and during t he early days of t he Itali an campai gn were transferred t o as many a s five German camps befor e r eaching St al g :X:VIII- B. Mail i s censor ed t Stalag Luft I II and must t r avel to Aust ria befor e being deliver ed at camp . Large shipments of supplies from Geneva wer e for war ded to this camp in My and J une . 4 . STALAG LUFT I St al g Luft I, f ormerly a s tisf actory camp f or Br itish tj.on- commissioned airmen, has been ch 1ged into an officers ' camp for Amer ican and Bri tish avi tors . Tr ansfers began i n December, 1943 and i has grown r i dly in popula tion, wit' the r esult that it i s overcrowded, suffer s from a water shortage and a l a ck of ess ential camp equipment . The deliver y of German Letter forms to the Trisoner s has been del yed . Both i ncomi ng and outgoing m il are slow and uncertai n . STALAG LUFT III As of May 31 the increase in camp popul tion here wa s r elatively smal l, but t her e s eems to have been a number of transfers with men pass ing through this cam to ot hers . However , Provost Mar shal lists r eceived in J uly , 1944 indicate a rapi d grm1rt h in cam popula­ tion, but we do not lmow if these men will be t r ansferred or r eruain i n camp . Mail i s censored here and delivered wi thin t he camp . As Luft III i s an 11 old 11 American camp a very good stud' and r ecreati on pro~r am has been worked out. 6. STALAG LUFT IV This i s a new camp f or tj.on-commi ssi oned officers of the Army Air Forces , f rom which only a small amount of l etter mail has been r eceived s o th t it i s not possible to check on the deliver y of incomi ng and outgoing mail. The camp wa s still under constr uction as of August 1, 1944, and t he barracks were new and promi s ed to be satisf act ory . As the camp population i s ma e up f or the most part of transf er s from other camps , it i s probably i nev itable t hat all mail will be delayed . 7. STALAG LUFT VI Thi s camp was opened to non- commissi oned officers of t he U.S . Army Air Force in the spr ing of 1944 and t he popul ation as of May 31st was 2411. Luft VI was formerly made up of Brit i sh and Canadi an air men al though a few U. S . non-commis sioned officer s wer e s ent here beBore going t o St al ag XVII-B. I n J une , 1944 the bar r a cks were full and t wo tents had been pi t ched i n t he compound but were not occupied . Mai l i s slow and irregular. 8 . DULAG LUFT Air men who make f orced l andings in Germany or German occupied t errit ory ar e fir st s ent t o a special camp call an "Interrogation Center11 where t hey are questi oned . Next thay - 3 - to to Dulag Luft , which was t r anferred f r om Oberursel t o Fr ankf ort-on-the- Ma in, and now has been moved to Wetzlar, Kloster wald. A correspondence car d i s usually pro­ vided each prisoner at Dulag Luft so t hat t hey may wr ite, t heir f ami lies from t here. However r el atives must be pr e_ared for delays in receiving t he permanent camp ad "r esses for t hese men . Every effort i s made to keep a l arge suppl y of capture parcels, cl oth­ ing, standard food packages and med ical supplies at Dul g Luft so t hat the men will reach their per manent camps in som degr ee of comfort. A man of confidence and a per­ manent st aff of a s sistants stay with t he camp to di stribut e supplies and organize such r ecreation as t he men needc#uring their short st ay.