Main camp VI K (326)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Obelisk in the cemetery of honor

The main camp VI K (326) (often also: main camp 326 (VI K) Senne , short: Stalag 326 VI K ) was a German prisoner of war camp in the Senne near Stukenbrock from 1941 to 1945 .

history

Entrance to the cemetery of honor, designed by Josef Rikus
Cross group designed by Josef Rikus

In addition to the Staumühle camp , the camp was one of the large POW camps in the Senne. The main camp served from 1941 interned Soviet prisoners of war, from 1942 also interned Polish, Serbian and French prisoners, from 1943 also by Italians. The soldiers had to do forced labor in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe area and were sent to the camp for the Ruhr mining industry .

In particular, the Soviet soldiers were imprisoned in the camp under very poor conditions. For example, they had to live in caves they dug themselves. The hygienic conditions were devastating. Definite numbers of victims are not known, but it is assumed that 15,000 to 70,000 people died while in custody. The camp served primarily as a recruitment and transit camp for more than 300,000 Soviet prisoners of war .

After the camp fell into the hands of American troops at the beginning of April 1945, the camp was also used for German prisoners of war, while in another part (such as in the Hutted Camp near Augustdorf) the former Soviet prisoners of war were waiting to be repatriated, which then began in the summer 1945 took place. As in the Staumühle camp , the British military authorities ran an internment camp in the former Stalag from autumn 1946 to the beginning of 1948 for leading National Socialists in their zone of occupation. This camp was called Eselheide Civil Internment Camp (CIC) No. 7 .

After the Civil Internment Camp was dissolved, displaced persons from the former East German territories moved into the area now known as the Stukenbrock social work . The last of these refugees did not leave the camp until 1977. Since 1970 the former police training institute and today's police training center " Erich Klausener " of the state office for training, further education and personnel matters of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia has been located in the former Stalag .

A memorial plaque was placed at the Hövelhof train station . An anti-war day of the working group “Flowers for Stukenbrock” takes place regularly in September at the former Stalag in memory of the victims of the camp. In Stukenbrock, the Stalag 326 (VI K) Senne documentation center recalls the history of the place.

Soviet cemetery of honor

In Stukenbrock the Soviet cemetery of honor commemorates the victims of the Stalag. Thousands of dead were buried in 36 mass graves here.

Federal President Joachim Gauck visited the memorial on May 6, 2015 . He called for greater appreciation of the suffering of Soviet prisoners of war and unveiled a memorial stele with around 900 names of victims of the Stalag.

Memorial ceremony flowers for Stukenbrock

Memorial ceremony flowers for Stukenbrock 2015

In 1967, as part of Anti-War Day (September 1) , the annual commemorative event was held for the first time at the Soviet Cemetery of Honor by the Young Social Democrats , trade unionists , peace activists and members of the German Communist Party . A flower was placed on each gravestone, which is why the name Flowers for Stukenbrock was chosen for the memorial event. The commemorative event is organized today by the Working Group Flowers for Stukenbrock.

The event aroused massive criticism during the Cold War . Critics included officials from Schloß Holte-Stukenbrock , who feared that the community would get a bad reputation if it were associated with the POW camp. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution also observed the memorial event.

obelisk

Flag of the Soviet Union
Orthodox cross

An obelisk bears the inscription:

“HERE REST THE 65,000 RUSSIAN SOLDIERS, PORTRAITED TO DEATH IN FASCIST PRISONING. REST IN PEACE 1941–1945 "

The obelisk in the Ehrenfriedhof has already been the subject of discussions several times. When it was completed in May 1945, former prisoners of war had attached the flag of the Soviet Union made of glass to the top . This was removed in 1956 and an orthodox cross was placed on the top of the obelisk in its place . In 1988 the cemetery and obelisk were placed under monument protection.

In 2004 the “Flowers for Stukenbrock” working group asked the State Chancellery of North Rhine-Westphalia to restore the obelisk to its original condition. This was approved by a resolution of the state government in 2005.

A corresponding measure was announced by State Minister Oliver Wittke in a letter to the Russian ambassador in 2006 , but was not implemented. The Detmold district government had a decree from the building ministry , but a consensus with the Orthodox Church failed when, in response to a letter from the district government in August 2007, asking for assistance in choosing a new location for the cross to be removed, the church gave no support .

In a resolution of November 6, 2007, the City Council of Schloß Holte-Stukenbrock advocated the preservation of the cross on the listed obelisk. After another reminder of the “Flowers for Stukenbrock” working group to the newly elected state government in November 2010, a letter dated March 8, 2011 promised to implement the 2005 resolution, with the announcement that the cross would first be stored. According to press reports, this was countered by concerns of the district government, which feared that a change to the obelisk would distort the listed status of 1988 (with cross).

The Orthodox Bishops in Germany made by April 8, 2011 Nikolaus Thon tell you did not want to replace it with a symbol of the persecution of the Church, it was a fitting symbol to commemorate the Russian Nazi victims the cross.

literature

  • Karl Hüser , Reinhard Otto: The main camp 326 (VI K) Senne. 1941-1945. Soviet prisoners of war as victims of the National Socialist Weltanschauung war. Verlag für Regionalgeschichte, Bielefeld 1992, ISBN 3-927085-50-2 (A well-founded review of the history of the camp in Stukenbrock , backed up with photos and documents).
  • Volker Pieper, Michael Siedenhans: The forgotten of Stukenbrock. The history of the camp in Stukenbrock-Senne from 1941 to the present. Publishing house for regional history, Bielefeld 1988, ISBN 3-927085-04-9 .
  • Alexander Wassiljew: Return to Stukenbrock. Memories of a Russian prisoner of war. Röderberg im Pahl-Rugenstein-Verlag, Cologne 1989, ISBN 3-87682-856-2 .
  • Heinrich Albertz : Flowers for Stukenbrock , 1989.

Web links

Commons : Ehrenfriedhof Stukenbrock-Senne  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ https://www.hsozkult.de/event/id/termine-40535
  2. ^ "We remember barbaric injustice". Federal President commemorates Soviet prisoners of war in the "Stalag 326 Senne" documentation center , Westfalen-Blatt , May 6, 2015; Frankfurter Rundschau No. 105, May 7, 2015, p. 5.
  3. ↑ For 50 years the working group "Flowers for Stukenbrock" , Neue Westfälische , 29 August 2017 has been warning
  4. ↑ Sabine Kubendorff: Klönne wants the red flag. Neue Westfälische , April 14, 2011, accessed April 27, 2011 .
  5. ↑ a b unknown: Soviet military cemetery Stukenbrock: Obelisk regains its original form after 55 years. Working group “Flowers for Stukenbrock”, March 17, 2011, accessed on April 27, 2011 .
  6. ↑ The Neverending Story of the Red Flag ( Memento from December 4, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  7. ↑ a b Cross or Soviet flag. Chairman of the documentation center, Oliver Nickel, is looking for a differentiated discussion (newspaper article by Monika Schönfeld)
  8. ↑ Klaus Dirks: The Red Flag - a symbol for Stalinist crimes against humanity, oppression, arbitrariness and brutality - on the soil of the town of Schloß Holte-Stukenbrock !? CDU Stadtverband Schloß Holte - Stukenbrock, April 21, 2011, accessed on April 27, 2011 .
  9. ^ Sabine Kubendorff: Krafts power word. Neue Westfälische , March 18, 2011, accessed April 27, 2011 .

Coordinates: 51 ° 51 ′ 51.6 "  N , 8 ° 40 ′ 37.6"  E