Camp Roosevelt
The Camp Roosevelt (translated German: Warehouse Roosevelt) was an internment camp , which the British Army of the Rhine from November 1945 to September 1946 in Hemer operation. Officially named Civilian Internment Camp No. 7 camp was located on the site of the former VI A main camp . Up to 3,600 internees were quartered in Hemer.
The name Camp Roosevelt goes back to the US Army , which renamed the former Stalag immediately after the liberation. During this time, displaced persons were housed in the camp .
history
| month | Internment number |
|---|---|
| December 1945 | 2448 |
| January 1946 | 2115 |
| February 1946 | 2469 |
| March 1946 | 3330 |
| April 1946 | 3176 |
| May 1946 | 2793 |
| June 1946 | 3627 |
| July 1946 | 3548 |
| August 1946 | 3366 |
After the liberation of the main camp VI A in May 1945, the British occupiers set up an internment camp there for alleged National Socialists. The first internees were transferred to Hemer in November after all previous prisoners of war had been returned to their homeland. In the winter months that followed, the internees suffered from insufficient supplies, as the camp was rarely delivered. Since the spring of 1946 the occupiers allowed the internees to receive food packages. The British improved the hygienic conditions considerably compared to the main camp, so that there were hardly any cases of illness. Cultural events such as concerts and readings without political reference were part of the re-education program of the occupying power and were also organized in the winter of 1945/46.
The Hemer internment camp was designed for 3,118 prisoners and was approximately 13,000 square meters, making it one of the smaller camps in the British zone . In 1946, living conditions at Camp Roosevelt were relatively good, as the stone buildings had central heating . Newspapers and books from neighboring libraries were distributed in the camp. A Franciscan took over the religious care . The proportion of war criminals in the Hemeraner camp was initially low; after many war criminals had been transferred from the Recklinghausen camp in August 1946, it was higher than in any other camp. At this point, 650 of the 3,477 were classified as war criminals.
The camp management announced dismissals to the administration of the Office Hemer , which as a result had to send a representative to lead the freedmen to the train station. On May 8, 1946, the British decided to close the Hemer camp and to merge the internees from Hemer and Neumünster in the newly created Eselheide internment camp . In September 1946 the camp was closed. Belgian troops then took over the area and set up the Casernes Ardennes .
literature
- Eberhard Thomas: The use of the former camp site after the Second World War. in: Hans-Hermann Stopsack and Eberhard Thomas (eds.): Stalag VI A Hemer. POW camp 1939–1945. A documentation. 2nd Edition. Hemer 1995. pp. 173-176
- Hans-Hermann Stopsack: Denazification and internment. in: Hemer 1944-1949. Memories, eyewitness reports and documents from a time of upheaval. Hemer 2004. pp. 116-125