Gminny Ośrodek Kultury Oleśnica Community Culture Center of Oleśnica POLAND “POW Camps and former Army Airport – Landscapes of Community of Oleśnica during the WWII” Piotr Michałowski GOK Oleśnica Community Culture Center of Oleśnica Luftwaffe Airport Oels (Oleśnica) http://www.wwii-photos- maps.com/targetrussia/citynamesbegi nningo/citynames-ogle- olkh/slides/Olesnica%20Poland%20%2 0022.html In Oels (Oleśnica) was located an Airport of Luftwaffe Fliegerhorst Kommandantur (Air Force Headquarters). On September 1st, 1939 two squadrons of the 4th Aircraft Regiment Bombers Kampfgeschwader 4, "General Wever" (stationed in Oleśnica from 25.08.1939 to 22.09.1939), were bombing Poland. Led by Lieutenant Colonel Erdmann, groups of Heinkel He 111 airplanes, after a flight of around 500 km, were bombing the airport of Lviv, dropping 22 tons of bombs. Afterwards, these planes were bombing Dęblin, Kraków, Lublin, Radom and other cities. http://olesnica.vot.pl/oels-nest/Rozne/Album/26.jpg http://oels-nest.prv.pl/Rozne/Album/28.jpg Entrance to a Lutfwaffe Base – department in Oels (Oleśnica) view before 1945 nowadays Kampfgeschwader 4 "General Wever" (KG 4) (Battle Wing 4) was a Luftwaffe bomber unit during World War II. The unit was formed in May 1939. The unit operated the Dornier Do 17, Junkers Ju 88 and Heinkel He 111medium bombers, with later service on the Heinkel He 177 heavy bomber. The wing was named after General Walther Wever, the prime pre-war proponent for a strategic bombing capability for the Luftwaffe, who was killed in an aircraft accident in 1936. http://olesnica.nienaltowski.net/Wojsko/Biale_koszary45D.jpg http://www.polot.net/lotniska/1olesnica_pliki/image012.jpg Army ID of Alois Naleppa from Fliegerhorst-Kommandantur A (o) 7/VIII, Oels (Oleśnica) Luftwaffe Airport http://oels-nest.prv.pl/Rozne/Soldbuch/616405623_1.jpg Unknown Unteroffizier / N.C.O., Gunner and Radio Operator Legion Condor Veteran, Oberleutnant Ulrich Knauth Aviators of Kampfgeschwader 4th Squadron „General Wever” in Oels (Oleśnica). Stab/KG 4 and I./KG 4 were formed on 1 May 1939 at Erfurt and was initially equipped with the He 111 Ps, borrowed from KG 253. The unit spent most of the summer training and recruiting personnel from the flight schools. http://oels-nest.prv.pl/index.php?strona=armelband Text on the bomb stand for „Night edition” of 4th Squadron http://olesnica.vot.pl/oels-nest/Rozne/Album/34.jpg Text on the bomb stand for „Greeting to Beck” (Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1939th, Józef Beck) http://oels-nest.prv.pl/Rozne/Album/13.jpg 4th Aircraft Regiment of Bombers (Battle Wing), a Luftwaffe Squadron at the leisure time, Oels (Oleśnica) http://olesnica.vot.pl/oels-nest/Rozne/Album/26.jpg 4th Aircraft Regiment Bombers, a Luftwaffe Squadron posing with Heinkel He111, Oels (Oleśnica) http://oels-nest.prv.pl/Rozne/Album/12.jpg http://oels-nest.prv.pl/Rozne/Album/24.jpg Nazi Luftwaffe Squadron has destroyed its own airplanes before escaping the Oleśnica’s Airport, 1945th http://oels-nest.prv.pl/index.php?strona=lotniska http://oels-nest.prv.pl/index.php?strona=lotniska POW camps in Oels (Oleśnica), camp near Buselwitz (Bogusławice), Kitchen barrack In Oleśnica, during World War II, were where no concentration camps (branch of „camp” had only KL Gross-Rosen in Lower Silesia). However there was located a large camp for forced labourers. Alfred Konieczny, reported that “Reichsbahnausbeserungswerk-Lager Oels was composed of 17 barracks, where there were about 2,000 people. They were workers, Polish, French, Serbian, Slovak, Soviet and Italian workers. The camp operated from July, 1943 until mid-January, 1945. Workers from the camp were employed in the railway workshops. In Dobroszyce community - there was a sub-POW camp ‘VIII C’ existing during the period of 20th of May, 1940 and July, 1941. In the camp were imprisoned approximately 650 Belgian and 70 Dutch people were imprisoned. http://oels-nest.prv.pl/index.php?strona=plan POW Camp in Oels (Oleśnica), near Buselwitz (Bogusławice), Appell Space http://oels-nest.prv.pl/index.php?strona=plan Testimonies of first settlers after 1945, Municipality and Community of Oleśnica archives Archives of Biblioteka i Forum Kultury in Oleśnica http://www.biblio.olesnica.pl/strona POW Camp in Oels (Oleśnica), Buselwitz (Bogusławice) In Oleśnica and its surroundings (Community of Oleśnica, Dobroszyce community) there were located numerous POW camps and the former horticulture station was constituted as a residential area of about 500 Poles and 300 Russian civilians. In addition to the barracks there was a small camp (one barrack) where about 100 Poles lived - generally employed in the barracks (horse hospital services) and military magazines, in front of the former dogcatcher’s magazines. At the edge of the airport, near the railway track to Kępno, there was a camp inhabited only by Poles employed of various establishments and in commercial and construction companies in Oleśnica. The camp also housed Italian prisoners in the barracks between warehouses and the former railway roundhouse. There were about 800 people. http://oels-nest.prv.pl/index.php?strona=plan Testimonies of first settlers after 1945, Municipality and Community of Oleśnica archives Archives of Biblioteka i Forum Kultury in Oleśnica http://www.biblio.olesnica.pl/strona POW Camp in Oels (Oleśnica), Buselwitz (Bogusławice) The largest camp for foreigners was located at the current plant of railway repair warehouses (ZNTK). In total, there lived around 7-8 thousand people. In this camp there were two separate and closely guarded satellite camps for about 250 French slaves and 500 Russian ones. In addition, the population numbered around 800 Poles, 2,500 Russian civilians, 300 French civilians, 200 Spaniards, 200 Lithuanians, 500 Czechs, 200 Romanians and 400 Silesians. About 80 people were Polish Volksdeutsche (German minority), mostly from Kępno and the surrounding area. The Silesians, Czechs, Romanians, Lithuanians and Volksdeutsche lived separately and were treated like Germans. http://oels-nest.prv.pl/index.php?strona=plan Anti-tank entanglements near Luftwaffe Airport in Oels (Oleśnica) The Berthold Line (defense line) had an antitank ditch with a width of approximately 4 m and a depth of approximately 3 m, and trenches for infantry positions, machine guns, barbed wire and minefields, which started being built, amongst others, by German children from Hitler’s Youth, aged 14-16 years, as part of their holidays in 1944. In autumn and winter the building was constructed by prisoners and forced labourers. At the same time, Germans were holding managerial positions. http://oels-nest.prv.pl/Rozne/Album/33.jpg Polish POWs in Oels (Oleśnica) The construction of the fortifications lasted until the 15th of January, 1945. Till that date the Soviet troops were attacking Lower Silesia. Traces of antitank trenches can be found in the forest near Sokołowice (community of Oleśnica). Traces of trenches and artillery positions are still visible at the entrance of other community of the Oleśnica villages. Wherever the road enters the forest and the foreground is clean for at least 500 m there are traces of antitank artillery positions. Operation Vistula-Oder started on the 12th of January, 1945 (Soviet Army invasion). An increased number of prisoners from Oleśnica was sent to Wroclaw for the construction of fortifications. http://oels-nest.prv.pl/Rozne/Album/40.jpg Fictive / Decoy Airport near Boguszyce and Smardzów http://oels-nest.prv.pl/index.php?strona=pozorowane Map showing the location of the Decoy Airport (on the left side from the Municipality of Oleśnica) http://oels-nest.prv.pl/Lotniska/pozorowane.jpg Plywood Airplanes Fictive / Decoy Airport in Oels (Oleśnica) During the war there was created a glider landing airport in Sokołowice (Community of Oleśnica) the gliding school was in the barracks at the fork of the road to nowadays villages of Boguszyce, Dąbrowa and Smardzów. In addition to the existing (real) airport, in the field realm between Dąbrowa and Smardzów, there was a fictive, false decoy airport on which there were located planes made by flywood, that had been collocated from one place to another, by the prisoners. http://oels-nest.prv.pl/index.php?strona=pozorowane Plywood Airplanes, Fictive / Decoy Airport in Oels (Oleśnica) http://oels-nest.prv.pl/index.php?strona=pozorowane Plywood Airplanes, Fictive / Decoy Airport in Oels (Oleśnica) http://oels-nest.prv.pl/index.php?strona=pozorowane Oleśnica after a siege in 1945th Oleśnica was the last bastion, a big town on the route to Wroclaw. The fact of winning this point of resistance would allow the development of a direct assault on Fortress Breslau, which had not yet completed its defensive preparations. Oleśnica, together with other cities was an important defensive belt around Wrocław. However, the information published on Wrocław’s (Breslau’s) newspapers as "Fortress Oels" - was highly exaggerated. http://www.olesnica.nienaltowski.net/Zniszczenia/Postrzelany-dom.jpg Soviet Army after conquering Oleśnica, started a Siege of Breslau which was a fortress... Breslau (Wrocław) was liberated on 06th of May 1945, just before the end of WWII. In August 1945th, the city had a German population of 189,500, and a Polish population of 17,000; that was soon about to change... http://oels-nest.prv.pl/index.php?strona=pozorowane Thank you for your attention! Piotr Michałowski GOK Oleśnica Community Culture Center of Oleśnica mob. +48 663 419 119 e-mail: [email protected] Special thanks for the research done by: Paweł Szczegodziński: http://oels-nest.prv.pl/index.php?strona=glowna Marek Nienałtowski: http://olesnica.nienaltowski.net/ .