Main camp XVIII C (317)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The STALAG XVIII C (317) , one of the two large POW camps of military district XVIII in World War II , was located in Reinbach near Sankt Johann im Pongau from 1941 (in the Nazi era Markt Pongau ). Around 4,000 mostly Soviet prisoners of war died here.

history

The camp for prisoners of war was located below today's federal road. The prison camp was planned for 8,000 to a maximum of 10,000 men, as can be seen from a document from March 1941. The first prisoners probably came to St. Johann in August 1940. They were French and they were used to work in the community and with farmers. The camp was operated by the Wehrmacht until September 1944 , and the SS guarded the transports by rail.

At that time it was divided into a north camp ("Russenlager"; Bahnhofsstrasse to Schörgbrücke) and a south camp ("Franzosenlager"; up to today's Speedwaybahn) - one camp, two systems: the prisoners of war of the western powers, such as the French, were according to the Geneva Convention treated. The Soviet prisoners of war housed in the north camp, however, vegetated under unimaginable conditions. Initially there were around 40 deaths a day. From 1941 up to 30,000 prisoners were in the camps at the same time. Many prisoners died of exhaustion, epidemics, frozen to death, starved to death or were executed. The increase in the demand for labor in the German Reich in 1943/1944 then led to increased forced labor and better nutrition for the prisoners of war.

The inmates came from a total of nine nations. Although the Soviet prisoners of war only made up about a quarter to a third of the total number of prisoners of war, the fatalities are almost exclusively to be found among them. As a rule, prisoners of war from other nations survived the camp. By the end of the war, around 4,000 Soviet prisoners of war were killed there. The space at the local cemetery was soon no longer sufficient to bury one's own dead and prisoners. A mass grave was therefore dug near the camp.

Documents show that eight hectares of land were reserved for the construction of the camp. The National Socialist Mayor Hans Kappacher did not try in any way to prevent the construction. Hans Kappacher was again elected mayor of St. Johann in 1949 as a candidate of the ÖVP. Today a street is named after him and he is an honorary citizen of the city of St. Johann.

Camp management

The camp management included:

  • Camp Commandant : Colonel Ried; later replaced by Colonel Behrens (Ried moved to Oflag VII B in Eichstätt); replaced by Colonel Kadelke
  • Deputy camp commandant : Major Trieschmann
  • Defense officer : Captain Storch
  • Doctor : Senior doctor Dr. Gebhard
  • Supervisor : Special Leader Drohla
  • Liaison officer of the Supreme Army Command : Hptm. Schaefer
  • Head of the prisoner-of-war system (chief KGW) Gottlob Berger

Current condition

Russian memorial

Today no remains of the wall can be seen from the camp. Only a well-tended garden with memorials for the prisoners, the Russian cemetery , still reminds of the camp today. The cemetery is east of the Pinzgauer Bundesstrasse  B311 and west of Industriestrasse and the railroad tracks. The Salzburger Straße  B163 leads over a bridge over the Salzach. It delimits the former camp area to the south.

In St. Johann, around 4,000 soldiers from the USSR (3709), from Yugoslavia (51) and from France (15) are “buried” (in mass graves, or somewhere else buried or cremated) in the Russian cemetery. Seven people who are in St. Johann are known, but no more precise records have been found, so they are considered to be nationless . The cemetery is maintained by the Austrian Black Cross , and since August 2009 it has been accessible via a new junction from Pinzgauer Straße.

A memorial column is located near the district administration, near the forest swimming pool. An annual commemoration is held at the Russian Cemetery at the end of June. Well-known St. Johann writers (e.g. OP Zier ) also take up the topic. The memorial column is located at the St. Johann local cemetery.

A survey of students of the BORG in St. Johann showed that the majority of the population living in this city know little about the history of the camp even today.

Literature and media

  • Hubert Speckner: ... under the power of the enemy. The prisoner-of-war system of the German Wehrmacht 1939-45 (general article, on bmlv.gv.at ).
  • Michael Mooslechner: The prisoner of war camp STALAG XVIII C. “Markt Pongau”. Death camp for Soviet soldiers, history and background of a National Socialist crime in St. Johann / Pongau during the Second World War. Renner Institute Salzburg, Salzburg 2005 (brochure, available at the Renner Institute and in St. Johann).
  • Michael Mooslechner, Robert Stadler: St. Johann im Pongau 1938–1945. The National Socialist Market in Pongau. July 2, 1944 in Goldegg, resistance and persecution. Self-published by the authors, Salzburg 1986 - Historical study on St. Johann during the Nazi era.
  • Michael Mooslechner: The POW camp “Stalag Markt Pongau” . In: Christa Mitterrutzner, Gerhard Ungar (ed.): Resistance and persecution in Salzburg 1934–1945. A documentation. Volume 2. Österreichischer Bundesverlag u. a., Vienna a. a. 1991, ISBN 3-215-06566-5 , pp. 528-555.
  • Educational medium STALAG XVIII C Markt Pongau. POW camp and forced labor in Austria from 1939 to 1945 in the province of Salzburg - film and accompanying material
  • Released to kill. in ECHO ( on echoonline.at ; link no longer available).
  • The prisoner of war camp STALAG XVIIIC Markt-Pongau ( online brochure , at youblisher.com).

Evidence and Notes

  1. ↑ Prisoners from: France (11,311), England (1,255), Belgium (293), Poland (997), Serbia (6119), USSR (7,009), Italy (2,754), USA (967), Netherlands (200); - in brackets: highest number of prisoners.
  2. ↑ Our own dead: St. Johann im Pongau complains of over 200 dead (more precisely 122 dead and 80 missing) from the Second World War. A memorial is located in the center of the village in front of the post office (war memorial).
  3. ^ Based on reports by Rudolf E. Denzler, Swiss Legation / Dept. for protecting power matters, Berlin.
  4. ↑ markt-pongau.at

Coordinates: 47 ° 21 '27 "  N , 13 ° 12' 3.4"  E