Zittau war and civil prisoner camp
The war and civil prisoner camp for members of the German Wehrmacht and German civilians in the Großporitsch district of Zittau was built in mid-May 1945 on the barracks in Großporitsch that had previously belonged to the Zittwerke .
After the city of Zittau was occupied by the Red Army , it confiscated the former restricted military area around the Junkers production facilities . The living quarters for the employees of the Zittwerke, including the eastern workers' and the concentration camp subcamps, were set up as prisoner-of-war camps for the 4th German Panzer Army and the 5th German Army Corps, whose attempt to break through the Elbe into the American zone of occupation had failed.
About 20,000 prisoners arrived at the camp after a walk from Bohemia, which was not set up for such an occupancy, so that stairwells, cellars, attics and workshops had to be used for accommodation. For the internal order of the camp, a German officer and knight's cross bearer was appointed to the German camp commandant, who also monitored compliance with the military rules. The camp was led by a captain of the Red Army.
In addition to separate accommodation for the German officers, there was initially a block for Austrian soldiers who were provided with red and white armbands. In June 1945 the Austrians were transferred to another camp.
At the same time, the camp served to accommodate civilians who were often arbitrarily interned by the occupying forces in search of Wehrmacht members who had fled or Nazis who had gone into hiding. In particular, people wearing uniforms, such as police officers and railway workers, got into the camp very quickly. In July 1945 some members of the Grenzlandtheater Zittau ensemble, including the conductor Guido Masanetz, were released after lengthy negotiations with the city of Zittau. The former concentration camp inmate Mortka Schwarz was also picked up in the city and released in July 1945.
Local NSDAP functionaries and senior cadres from business and organizations of the Third Reich were interned in the “farm building”, the former satellite camp. This camp, separated from the rest of the site by a barbed wire fence, was closed in September 1945. The prisoners were transferred to the “Seifertshöhe” camp near Hirschfelde or to special camp No. 1 near Mühlberg.
The camp had been on Polish-occupied territory since June 22, 1945 and the German residents were expelled. On September 10, 1945, the Red Army handed the camp over to the Polish Army, which dissolved the camp on October 14. The prisoners had to walk to the former Neuhammer military training area in Świętoszów in the Melbitzer Heide, from where they were distributed to various parts of Poland by train; most of them were relocated to the Upper Silesian coal field.
From 1959, the barracks buildings were used briefly as accommodation for workers employed in the opencast mine and in the construction of the Turów power station .
Today some buildings are used as a voivodeship psychiatric hospital.
Coordinates: 50 ° 53 ′ 25 ″ N , 14 ° 50 ′ 32 ″ E