OFLAG VI B

Visited December 9th, 1941.

Camp Leader: Brigadier General Somerset.

CAMP STRENGTH  2470 Officers, 473 Orderlies

        We arrived at the Camp, which is situated in the midst of hills and forests, in heavy rain and a cold wind. For far off we could see the haphazardly distributed buildings, surrounded with the traditional barbed wire.

        We were received first by the German Camp Officers, but before talking with them, I requested that I should carry out my visit. The Abwehroffizier was therefore attached to me and ordered to pilot me round the Camp.

        The houses for the personnel of the guard are built of bricks and those of the officers are remarkably comfortable and well arranged. Before arriving at the British Camp we passed on our right some buildings where about 300 Russian prisoners of war are interned, all wearing a medley of different uniforms - French, Belgian and Serbian.

        We then arrived at the British Camp, which is composed of a very large number of hutments scattered over a vast stretch of ground. One can count about 29 inhabited hutments, a recreation hutment, 2 for meals, one used as a cobbler's shop, another as a barber's shop, another as a Tailor's shop and finally 3 hutments used for mails and parcels. They are all constructed in wood except one which is built of bricks and is very much larger than the others but the building of which does not appear to have been completed. The prisoners who live in it are nevertheless better protected against the weather than they are in the other buildings.

        In the centre of the Camp is a vast space which serves as a football ground and for games generally, its muddy soil having been transformed into a dryer consistency by the addition of clinkers and other materials.

        After this brief general glance at the Camp, I was introduced to the Camp Leaders' room, where I was received by Brigadier General Somerset. He presented me to his assistant, Captain Wilk, and to the other British officers in charge of the direction of the Camp.

        I requested the Abwehroffizier to leave me alone with the Camp Leaders, and I walked with General Somerset and his little Staff Officer without witnesses for about an hour. At the end of my Report I will come back to the requests and complaints made to me by the British Camp Leaders. As soon as our conversation had finished, I visited the Camp in a detailed manner, accompanied by General Somerset, Captain Wilk, the Abwehroffizier and his assistant.

QUARTERS

        Directly I looked inside the living quarters of the officers, I could see that the space was too restricted and that the prisoners did not have the adequate space which should be provided for an officers camp, where the latter are called on to live for months or perhaps [years?]. No improvements in this respect have been made since the first visit by the International Red Cross Committee Delegate. In one room which is about 6 or 7 metres long and 4 metres wide, one saw easily 12 or 14 or even 16 officers. They sleep on two or three-tiered bunks and have sheets made of a sort of sack, two blankets per man, one from the German Administration and the other from the British Red Cross.

        More than anything else, the prisoners complain that they have nowhere to put their belongings. In fact there are very few or no cupboards and each man is forced to pile his effects on the ground where there is very little space. Only two-fifths of the Camp is lit by electricity. Many of the buildings are only lit by petrol or carbon lamps whose light is far too feeble for all the inhabitants of the room to profit by it. In the same way the tables are often too small for all to be able to sit at them.

        The danger of fire has been foreseen and every precaution has been taken.

        Heating is inadequate in many of the hutments. The British officers have themselves enlarged the iron stoves by brick constructions which give a larger surface. In this way they can cook the things which they receive in their parcels, but only extremely slowly. At the time of my visit many Heads of Rooms complained that the quality of the coal was very poor.

FOOD

        The food is normal, according to General Somerset, although there were certain difficulties when the Camp was first opened. The officers are anxious to have a little more sugar.

        Another inconvenience is the lack of space in the two reception rooms provided for meals. These two hutments can only hold 300 people so that the officers are either obliged to have their meals in shifts or else to carry their food to their rooms, which is very awkward because of the scanty space in the quarters.

        The British Red Cross parcels arrive regularly in the Camp and there is a reserve of 18,000. The following incident took place just before my arrival: The Abwehroffizier, on his own authority and without consulting the Central Agency at Geneva or the British Camp Leader in the Camp, took it upon himself to send a first wagon of parcels, containing 2034 foot parcels and 90 tobacco parcels, to Stalag VIII B and a second containing 2906 parcels, 87 tobacco parcels and 5 parcels of toothbrushes to Stalag XX B. I will return to this question at the end of my Report.

CLOTHING

        The officers are well clad, but the orderlies complain that they have not received all the underclothing to which they are entitled and which is still in the stores.

CANTEEN

        The Canteen is extremely poor and contains nothing except writing paper and a few notebooks. There are no toothbrushes, nor is there any wine or beer.

        At the time of my visit, a discussion took place between the Camp Leaders and the German Camp Authorities to know whether the profits of the Canteens which existed in the Camps of British Officers before they were interned in Oflag VI B should be put to the credit of the officers in Oflag VI B. I replied in the affirmative and the Camp Commandant will be good enough to place them to the credit of these British officers.

HYGIENE

        All the hutments are infested with fleas. General Somerset told me that the other day he killed his hundredth flea since his arrival in the Camp. There are also some lice, but these are very rare.

        There are 23 showers and the room which leads to them has a cement floor and is extremely cold. It is badly equipped and the men do not know where to put their clothes before having their showers. Several of them bring with them their chair in order to put on it their clothes when they take them off. These twenty-three hot and cold showers are good but inadequate for 2400 officers. The latter have the right to a bath every nine days. Water is brought to the hutments by means of a pump but it is insufficient in quantity because its flow is frequently arrested for several hours. The washrooms for the orderlies are completely inadequate. There are only 2 taps for about 500 men.

        Games can be played in the Camp. There is a vast exercise ground which is well arranged and the officers are in the middle of constructing an emplacement for this winter in order to make a swimming bath there.

        The latrines are installed in small scattered hutments in several localities in the Camp and have seats for 10 or 12. The drainage system is by means of a dingy septic ditch which is emptied irregularly by means of a pump. These septic ditches are either open or else merely covered with planks, and they smell badly especially in the warm weather. This system is quite inadmissible in an officers' camp. At night officers who previously had no permission to leave their barracks after 7 p.m. are now permitted to go out up to 10 p.m. There are no W.Cs. in the hutments. There is simple a commode for the night which is emptied every morning. This primitive arrangement is not at all liked.

INFIRMARY

        The Infirmary, a large enough hutment, houses 60 patients. The Doctor Major with whom I spike is satisfied on the whole with the state of health in the Camp.

        There wee some cases of diphtheria at the beginning but they were not serious. The prisoners from Crete showed very clearly the signs of pre-avitaminosis, but are now in good health. Nevertheless one can recognise these men from far off amongst the groups of officers because they still have the tired air of those who have suffered in the war.

        In the Infirmary there is also a Dental Surgery with two chairs.

        The medical staff is composed of 20 British Doctors and Dentists and 1 German Doctor. The Medical Comforts from the British Red Cross are greatly appreciated by the Camp Medical personnel and are, according to the latter, indispensable. Indeed the Doctors continue to treat many small wounds in the Camp and also sprains, etc.

INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL NEEDS

        Roman Catholic, Anglican and Protestant religious Services are held regularly in the Camp. Unfortunately there is no room large enough to hold all the congregations at once.

        The Camp has a magnificent Library of about 4,000 books. General Somerset complains that the censorship of books is rather severe, but after discussion I succeeded in getting to the bottom of things and the Abwehroffizier promised me to do all that he could. It is necessary to ensure that the Abwehroffizier, who formerly condemned en bloc all the works of an author if the latter had written any book of propaganda against Germany, should agree to authorise the reading of works by the same author which contain no anti-German propaganda.

        Study Classes have been organised, but for these too there is not enough adequate space for all to join the Classes. There is a wireless and a loud-speaker. Many of the prisoners have gramophones and a large number of records.

INTERNAL DISCIPLINE IN THE CAMP

        Discipline is very good. The Commandant of the Camp is appreciated by all the British officers for his very correct attitude and for his understanding spirit. There have been no punishments so far.

INTERROGATION OF PRISONERS.

        Many prisoners have been confined elsewhere for purposes of interrogation and have then returned to Camp. There have been no special complaints on this matter except that during the time that they were thus isolated, they did not receive their correspondence.

FINANCIAL RESOURCES.

        The officers are paid regularly but occasionally rather late. Many officers are anxious to send some part of their pay to their families but are unable to do this in the present circumstances.

        The canteens have benefitted enormously from this and they don't really know what to do with all this money.

CORRESPONDENCE.

        Correspondence suffered considerable delay at the time of all the change of Camps and therefore at the time of the opening of Oflag VI B. At the moment 30 German censors have succeeded in almost catching up with all the arrears.

        Many South Africans and Australians complain that they only receive very little news from their families. According to my information, however, direct communication between Germany and Australia via Turkey and India now seems to have been established in both directions.

COMPLAINTS AND REQUESTS.

        In the course of our conversation, which took place without witnesses, the British Camp Leaders made the following remarks to me:

        1. The Abwehroffizier does not speak English and this is often the cause of misunderstandings between him and the Camp officers.

        2. The British officers praise the correct attitude of the Commandant of the Camp, but it seems that his authority is sometimes overridden by that of the Abwehroffizier.

        3. There is not enough space in the hutments in the Camp, and the only way to remedy this would be to diminish the number of prisoners by about 1,000.

        4. The heating is inadequate in many buildings and in many of the officers' rooms the lighting is lacking.

        5. The delay between the arrival of a letter in the Camp and its receipt by the prisoner is too long because of the censorship.

        6. There is practically nothing to be bought in the Canteen, except for some small note pads and toothpaste, and for a few similar articles in very small quantities.

        7. The German Authorities now control the British Red Cross parcels addressed to the Senior British Officer. General Somerset quite accepts that those parcels must be censored, but he requests that the control of their reception and distribution should be entirely in his hands. Also every time he asks the German Camp Authorities for linen or underclothes sent by the British Red Cross, there is a long delay before he can get them.

        8. Many objects which are not on the list of forbidden objects have been confiscated by the German Authorities, such, for example, as blankets, pullovers and trench-coats. These trench-coats are nevertheless recognised as being part of military clothing. Also when any such objects have been confiscated, no receipt has ever been given to the owners.

        9. Sanitary arrangements and bath. The latrines which have been installed in the Camp are altogether deplorable.

        10. Classes and Studies. Studies have had to be interrupted because of the lack of space in the study room, which cannot hold all the pupils.

CONCLUSION AND REMARKS.

        At the time of my visit to Oflag VI B, I was accompanied by one of the senior officers of the Prisoners of War Bureau in Berlin. This officer was able to confirm the conditions in the Camp. While accepting the majority of my criticisms, he felt it useful to point out to me that in view of the present situation, that is to say the very large number of prisoners of war now in the hands of the German Government, it was very difficult to find desirable quarters for each one of them. Also the personnel attached to the prisoners of war camps was overburdened with work.

        It is therefore for the following reasons that the German Authorities have grouped together practically all the British officer prisoners of war in Oflag VI B.

                1. Simplification of the personnel of the guard who will only have one Camp to look after instead of having to guard several Camps.

                2. The extremely large number of prisoners of war in Germany, from which comes the lack of space.

                3. The difficulty in finding material and workmen for camp construction.

                4. The request presented by the Delegates of the Y.M.C.A. to the German Authorities to group together all the British officers in one Camp in order to facilitate their Study Classes and Instruction Courses.

        It should be pointed out that Oflag VI B was not ready to receive such a large number of officers and orderlies at the beginning of November 1941, and that the sanitary arrangements in the Camp were not in focus at that time. It should be noted too, that for reasons advanced above, few improvements have been carried out at Oflag VI B between the visit of Dr. Exchaquet, the Delegate of the International Red Cross Committee, on October 15th 1941 and my visit on December 19th, 1941.

        Nevertheless following on the precise representations which the Committee made in writing to the German Authorities in Berlin, and following the steps taken by our Delegate both at the time of his visit to Oflag VI B and with the Head of the Prisoners of War Bureau in Berlin, it has resulted that:

                a. 10 new brick buildings are in course of construction at the Camp and this construction should in all probability, be completed by the end of January 1942.

                b. Orders have been given for the immediate improvement of the installation of latrines.

                c. The 200 oldest British officers are in process of being evacuated to another Camp.

                d. About the middle of January, 400 British Air Force Officers who are now at Oflag VI B are to be evacuated to another Camp. This evacuation of 600 people will immediately give much more space to the prisoners remaining in the Camp.

                e. No new British officer will be interned in Oflag VI B, unless the number of British prisoners is suddenly augmented.

                f. The dogs belonging to the guards in the camp will not be led only at nights, but will always be kept on a lead.

                g. The hutments will not be locked at night and access to the latrines will be available day and night.

                h. Food parcels now at Oflag VI B will not be transferred to another Camp.

                i. The 130 Red Cross clothing parcels now stored in the Camp will be put at the disposal of the Camp Leader. Furthermore the next clothing parcels from the Red Cross will be given to those British orderlies who have the most urgent need of them.

        The International Red Cross Committee Delegate has the impression that at the end of January, the Camp at Doessel will be already much improved and that it will correspond more to what an officers' camp should be.

        As to the question of relief, it must be stated with regret that the buildings where the food and clothing parcels are stored after their number has been checked by the British Camp Leader, are outside the confines of the Camp. I asked, as General Somerset had already asked himself in his requests, that these buildings should be situated in the interior of the Camp. To do this it only needs the barbed wire entanglements to be moved to the other side of the hutments. We also asked that the custody and the keys of the stores should be given to the Senior British Officer in the Camp as well as to the Commandant of the Camp.

        It is also necessary that the Senior British Officer should be at liberty to distribute the food and underclothing as he thinks best and not according to the orders of the Camp Authorities, because these clothes and food parcels are the property of the British prisoners.

(Signed) DR. JUNOD.