Meschede prisoner of war camp

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Partial plan of the Meschede prisoner of war camp from 1914. You can see the plan of the “parcel barracks”.

The Meschede prisoner of war camp was a large camp for the accommodation of prisoners of war of the Entente in Meschede in the Sauerland during the First World War .

history

Immediately after the beginning of the First World War, a large prisoner of war camp was set up in the north of the district town of Meschede. The original plans from 1914 envisaged a total area of ​​200 × 500 m. There should be space for 102 buildings.

The land belonged to the Count of Westphalen , who leased it to the German military. The city of Meschede provided roads, water and electricity supplies. The camp was under the XVIII. Army Corps . The guards were about 500 men.

Watchtowers were used for guarding . The whole thing was surrounded by a wooden fence and barbed wire. There were positions of howitzers around the camp, and strong lamps lit the camp at night.

Prisoners of war

In October 1918, over 12,000 French and over 15,000 Italian soldiers were held in the camp. There were also soldiers from other nations. At times more than 28,000 people were registered there. This was significantly more than Meschede's population (3000 at the time). However, the majority of them were on work detachments in other places, so that the occupancy of the camp itself was significantly lower.

Overall, the prisoners were treated according to the rules of the Hague Land Warfare Regulations . The conditions of detention were monitored by representatives of neutral states, among others. However, contemporary reports from the early days of the camp speak of poor hygienic conditions. The supplies were also poor and there were deaths among prisoners. The work was also hard and was sometimes compared to forced labor . Prisoners of war reported blows with rifle butts and the use of bayonets by the guards.

The situation changed for the better with the further expansion and control by foreign commissions. The camp had numerous facilities from the post office to workshops, entertainment facilities, a hospital and a chapel . A French aid committee took care of the French prisoners.

A total of 935 men died during the war. They were buried in a specially created cemetery, which is still known today as the French Cemetery .

The prisoners of war were divided into commandos and used in industry, in mining, for example in Ramsbeck, and above all in agriculture .

Despite the guard, there were numerous escape attempts, especially by digging tunnels. These attempts were always discovered by the Germans. On the other hand, the escape from the external commandos was more promising. In October 1918 there was a mutiny among the prisoners.

Belgian forced laborers

With the start of the levy of Belgian forced laborers in October 1916, the Meschede POW camp became one of the distribution centers. The majority of the prisoners of war were relocated to make room for the transports with several thousand Belgian forced laborers. The pastor of the camp Ferdinand Wagener estimated their number at around 8,000. The forced laborers were restless and mostly refused to work. Because of the refusal to work and the indignation of the Belgians employed there, the company management of the Hüsten trade union applied for the establishment of an "education commando" in order to break the resistance. The German industrial office entrusted with the application only managed to get a small part of them to sign an employment contract. As a result, they received significantly less food than the other prisoners. Mortality, particularly from pneumonia, was also high because of the cold winter of 1916/17. Aid packages from an international support committee arrived only gradually. In Meschede, too, the means of forced labor had proven to be pointless from the point of view of the war economy, so that it was discontinued in March 1917.

After the war

The camp was one of the starting points for the revolution of 1918/19 in the more rural Sauerland. It was one of the largest military facilities with numerous non-local soldiers on the guards. The inmates of the military arrest were released and a soldiers' council was formed. The revolutionary soldiers organized a security service which, among other things, controlled the local train station. The soldiers 'council also gave impetus to found a workers' council in the city of Meschede.

After the prison camp was closed, soldiers returning from the front and homeless families were temporarily housed there. A new district of Meschedes was created from the storage area. The name Lagerstraße is still a reminder of the past today .

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Werner Neuhaus (ed.): Belgian forced laborers in the Meschede prisoner of war camp during the First World War. Münster, 2020 pp. 15–18
  2. ↑ Werner Neuhaus (ed.): Belgian forced laborers in the Meschede prisoner of war camp during the First World War. Münster, 2020 pp. 21–33
  3. ↑ Jens Hahnwald: "We are currently seeing the dawn of a better time rise ..." Revolution and workers' councils 1918/19 in the Sauerland in Cologne. In: Frank Bischoff, Guido Wärme, Wilfried Reininghaus (eds.): Departure into democracy. The revolution of 1918/19 in Rhineland and Westphalia. Münster, 2020 p. 569

literature

  • Josef Georg Pollmann: The Meschede prisoner of war camp 1914–1918. In: Sauerland 4/2007, p. 196 f.
  • Josef Georg Pollmann: POWs of the First World War 1914-1918 in the old districts of Arnsberg, Brilon, Meschede and Olpe. In: Südwestfalenarchiv 8/2008, v. a. Pp. 255-279
  • Jens Hahnwald: The "Home Front of the First World War in the Sauerland. In: Südwestfalenarchiv 15/2015, pp. 286–290
  • Werner Neuhaus: The notes of the prison chaplain Ferdinand Wagener as a cultural historical source for the history of the prison camp and the city of Meschede 1914-1919. In: Südwestfalenarchiv 16/2016, pp. 280–337
  • Werner Neuhaus (ed.): Belgian forced laborers in the Meschede prisoner of war camp during the First World War. Münster, 2020

Web links

Coordinates: 51 ° 21 ′ 11.5 "  N , 8 ° 16 ′ 14.9"  E