prisoners

May

21

1943

A short spell in the ‘Cooler’

Everyday Life At Stalag Luft Iii Prisoner Of War Camp, Sagan, Germany . British prisoners of war tend their garden at Stalag Luft III.

I hated the solitude — I cannot begin to describe how much — with nothing to read, nothing to look at, nobody to talk to. Even the food was punitive: a thin round of black bread for breakfast, thin ‘soup’ and a few potatoes for lunch, and another piece of bread in the evening. One lunchtime I had a bit of extra protein in the shape of grubs in the soup. Although very hungry, I passed that one up.

May

12

1943

The Germans surrender in North Africa

German troops surrender to the crew of a Stuart tank near Frendj, 6 May 1943.

At the end the battlefield fell to pieces and lost all pattern and design, and those who had fought hardest on both sides found they had nothing to say, nothing to feel beyond an enveloping sense of gratitude and rest. The anger subsided at the surrender, and for the first time the German and Allied soldiers stood together looking at one another with listless and passionless curiosity.

Apr

13

1943

Nazis announce Katyn massacre of Polish officers

A German poster purporting to show the murder of the Polish officers in 1940 by the Soviet NKVD. The Soviet union had invaded half of Poland in 1939 with the agreement of the Germans. Now the Germans tried to distract attention from their own crimes by publicising the massacre.

He told me that he had proofs that the Soviet Government had murdered the 15,000 Polish officers and other prisoners in their hands, and that they had been buried in vast graves in the forests, mainly around Katyn. He had a wealth of evidence. I said, “If they are dead nothing you can do will bring them back.”

Apr

9

1943

Welcome to Gros Rosen – “ARBEIT MACHT FREI”

The entrance to Gros Rosen of the 120, 000 who passed through these gates 40, 000 would die.

My work assignment was in the stone quarry. My first job was to load stones into carts. We had to work in the open air, whatever the weather, from dawn to dusk. We worked without a break, under the watchful eyes and the brutal clubs of the “Kapos.” The Kapos were the concentration camp’s gang foremen. They were usually German, and had criminal records and sadistic inclinations. They held absolute power of life and death over their gangs. It seemed that the more cruelty they exhibited, and the greater the pain they inflicted, the greater they were esteemed by the camp administration.

Apr

1

1943

Death railway bridge built like ‘a pack of cards’

Bridge over the River Kwai, 1943. L Rawlings.

As we sang these numbers, we’d pull on the rope. This huge great lump of steel would rise up. On the last ’nisio’ we would all let go. Down would come the pile-driver and the pole would sink another inch. All day seven days a week, for weeks on end, with not a single day off, we drove these bloody things into the ground.

Mar

24

1943

Horror of journey to the Railway of Death

Typical labouring scene. Shows Hammer and Tap, Embankment labouring, Timber felling and an excavated cutting. Lt Fred "Smudger" Smith (Ransome Smith)

It was baking hot during the day and bitterly cold by night, and by now dysentery had got a grip on many of the lads. As each day in those horrific wagons passed we prayed that it was the end of the line and I said a silent prayer when the guards finally shoved us out of the trucks for the last time at Pan Pong, about forty miles west of Bangkok.

Mar

18

1943

The Akikaze Atrocity

The Japanese destroyer Akikaze 'Autumn Wid' - nearly 60 civilians were killed on board on 18th March 1943.

Each internee passed beneath the forward bridge on the starboard side and came upon two waiting escorts. Here they were blindfolded with a white cloth and supported by each arm. By this time the interrogation of the second person was begun. Meanwhile, beneath the bridge of the quarter-deck on the starboard side, both wrists of the first person were firmly tied and he was again escorted to the execution platform.

Mar

2

1943

The Rose Street protest in central Berlin

The Nazi propaganda Minister Goebbels visiting the burnt out remains of Hedwigs cathedral, hit by the bombing raid of 1st March 1943.

When the officials said that the people could not yet be released, the women suggested that they wanted to stay with their husbands in jail. The officials answered that it was not allowed because the men are under arrest. The women replied that Rose Street was not a prison, and they had the right to enter the building. The Fuhrer would certainly not approve of such an unlawful practice …

Feb

13

1943

Working on the Railway of Death – Hellfire Pass

Prisoners of War Working on Thai-Burma Railway at Kanu Camp, Thailand 1943. The John Mennie can be viewed online.

It was the beginning for us of what would become the most notorious railway construction that the world had ever seen. The japanese engineer came over to inspect our work. He studied the clearing from several angles, using various surveying instruments, before declaring, ‘No gooda! Do again! Deeper!’

Feb

5

1943

The death camps begin burning the evidence

Human Wreckage at Belsen Concentration Camp, 1945 A work by British War artist Eric Taylor who was present at the time of the liberation. IWM ART LD 5588

In this way some twenty-five hundred corpses are piled on. Then the specialist orders dry twigs placed underneath and lights them with a match. After a few minutes the fire flares up so strongly that it is difficult to get any closer to the oven than 50 metres. The first fire is lit, and the test is successful. The camp administration show up, and all of them shake the hand of the inventor.

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