PURPOSE

The aim of this blog is to provide a focus for interest in and information on Stalag IVA in Saxony and its many work camps. There is already a website www.burg.hohnstein.info for the town of Hohnstein, which is dominated by the medieval castle in which the POWs of several Allied nations were imprisoned, and this does give something of an idea of what it looked like. The castle itself has a small museum open to the public. The web has a lot of information on the Stalag but, with the exception of a brief and inaccurate item on Wikipedia,  it is not brought together anywhere as far as I can discover and much of it is unreliable. 
The blog will help to contextualise and support work I am doing on aspects of the life of British POWs held in the Stalag and its work camps, but focussing in particular on the role and responsibilities of a Man of Confidence. This will centre on one of their number who was in an arbeitskommando in Dresden, K1326, whose camp diary and correspondence I have inherited.
The blog covers the history of the Stalag and its work camps. Although most of the information available to me is now in the pages already published, I shall be looking to add more detail and, subject to copyright issues, photographs. I am interested in the bombing of Dresden in February 1945 only in respect of its impact on the work of the Stalag, its work camps and the lives of POWs.
I would be grateful for information and queries from readers of this blog on the Stalag and its work camps, particularly K1326. Of particular relevance will be the memoirs of former Stalag staff or prisoners or those of the representatives of the American and then Swiss Protecting Powers and of the ICRC and suggestions as to literature and websites related to the subject. In return the blog may assist the researches of people whose relatives may have been in the Stalag or its work camps, those looking at the POW experience more generally and students of the history of the area, especially during the Second World War. Although my work centres on British POWs (which at the time meant those from the four Dominions, India, the Colonies, as well as from the United Kingdom and citizens of the Irish Republic who joined the British armed services), I am interested in the stories of all those involved in the Stalag and its camps.
Finally, several people who have contacted me providing or requesting information about their POW relatives have assumed, because they mentioned that they were held in Stalag IVA or possess documentation stamped with that Stalag's name and number, that they were in the Stalag HQ at the castle in Hohnstein. In most cases this is not the case. All POWs under the control of the Kommandantur at Hohnstein would have been told that they were in Stalag IVA, whether they were in a work camp (as the great majority were) or actually in the castle. For British and American POWs, unless there is clear proof of incarceration in the castle, it is best to assume that they were in a work camp.
Revised: July 2020

22 comments:

  1. Hi Peter, keep up the great work! My late dad was in Stalag IV A (one of 10 000 South Africans taken at Tobruk) and was in Arb. 508. Your site helped me locate where they worked, and I am deeply grateful for that.

    I AM interested to find out whether the camp was affected by the marches of 45, but haven't had much success in that area.
    Cheers,
    Neil

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    1. Neil. Did you ever get a reply to this? If not, my apologies and I am happy to pick up the thread again if you wish. But please contact me on: petergregory999@gmail.com
      Thanks
      Peter

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  2. My father was the man of confidence in Stalag IVA, ARB-KDO, 1325, one of his nicknames was 'the bishop'. he described the men of this small satellite camp being marched out one freezing morning in March. they were marched south towards Czechoslovakia. he looked back and saw hundreds of men from other camps join the march.

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    1. Was your Father's last name Schack? Email. dmaviation@gmail.com

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  3. My grandfather was in Stalag IV A in Arb. 1032. He worked in Dresden and Radeberg. He witnessed the bombardement of Dresden from up close from a nearby hill.
    From Radeberg a unit of Dutch marched towards Czechoslovakia where they stayed in Eiland for a while (currently Ostrov in the Decin area).

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    1. Thanks for this. Do you have any more details/photographs? If so, please get in touch via petergregory999@gmail.com
      Peter Gregory

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    2. My late grandfather was in Stalag IV A in Arb. 1032 as well. In our family we do not know much, because he never wanted to talk about it, but he must have been among the Dutch in this march to Ostrov as well, after having witnessed the Dresden bombardement.

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  4. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  5. Hi Peter, I'd welcome a chat. I am researching the German management of Arnhem POWs, many of whom passed through IVB. I am peter.castra(at)gmail.com and you can find my book about Oflag IX A/H and A/Z at The History Press.

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  6. My father, Clinton Haynes Hutton, was an American POW in Germany during WW2. He was captured at Normandy on July 4, 1944. A letter sent to his mother by the U.S. Government in January, 1945 says he was in Stalag 4B and his prisoner number was 81592. However current U.S. Government Archives list him as being in Stalag 4A Hohnstein. Do you have access to records that would clear up this confusion? My father passed away in 2014 at age 95. Thank you for any information.

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    1. I can help you with that as i am researching my dad's POW trail. Stalag 4b was at Muhlburg and a huge collection point where POWs were first documented. Many did not stay there but where sent to other smaller camps. Stalag 4a Hohnstein was the main camp but there were several other 4a camps in the area. My dad was at 4a in Lillienstein with about 1,000 others.

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    2. Thanks for this. Can you let me know on the email address on this blog what else you know about your father's time as a PoW, please? I'm particularly interested in what documentation you may have. In the meantime, thanks for making contact.
      Peter Gregory
      petergregory999@gmail.com

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  7. Hallo. My name is Brunello Mantelli, I am an historian and Full Professor on Late Modern European History. A focus of my research is the nazi concentration camps and so on. In this case I beg you to help me in order to give to a family of an old italian POW, one of the so colled by nazis Italien Military Prisoners (IMIs), some news about its father: Umberto Barone, who was prisoner in the Stalag IV A Hohnstein, Saxony, after the armistice of 8th September 1943. The son Umbertos hat a Red Cross letter written by his dad at 21th December 1943 from Stalag IVA. Is it possible, that someone met Umberto Barone there? Thanks for every news about his destiny. Best regards, Brunello Mantelli

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  8. My email: prof.brunello.mantelli@gmail.com

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  9. Hi, my name is Nicola and I am looking into my Great uncle William Edward Jones 2621669 on his letter it states arb 1182 would I be right in saying this was Radebeul Dresden? He never made it home dying in Dresden from pneumonia. But his name is on the Italian war memorial.

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    1. Thanks, Nicola. Yes he was in the Keyl's shoe factory in Radebeul, Dresden. If you have any further information please contact me on petergregory999@gmail.com
      Peter Gregory

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  10. Hello Peter, I am an American whose mother was born to a German woman and a French POW in Forst, Germany. The details of their relationship are lost to history, but before my mom dies, I want to find out more information about her father. Through "Filae" (French ancestry site), I found a man with my grandfather's name who was a POW at Hohenstein. Here is the info that gave for him. Name: Henri Six
    Grade: 2e cl.
    Unit: 5e R.I.
    Camp: Stalag IV A.
    Country: Germany
    Place: Hohenstein
    List: Official list No95 of French poisoners

    I have one photo of him (almost all our genetics come from this man!) and believe he was a watchmaker (or perhaps some related profession). How do I find more info about him? Are there photo archives that would help me compare the photo that we have with photos from the camp? The town of Forst was very near an ammunitions factory and I wonder if he worked there. Any help would be SO appreciated. Thank you.

    Rachel
    From Paris May 5 1941

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    1. Opps, the "From Paris May 5th 1941" was part of his record (not my location or date :).

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  11. My email is hill.rachel@gmail.com

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  12. Hello,
    My father was checked in at Muhlberg IVB a month after capture during The Bulge. They marched for a month before reaching here. He only stayed there a week and was railed to IVA, but not the Hohnstein location. He was on the west side of the Elbe river between Konigstein and Bad Schandua. Does anyone know the specific location of this small satellite camp that held 800 Americans and 200 British POWs? They marched out on May 5th, 1945 and dad and his buddy abandoned the column on Day Two. They found the Americans eight days later. I am writing his book and would love to find the exact location of the camp. It sat on a hill above the Elbe but on the west side of it. I think I have found "the area", but I am planning a trip and would love to stand on the grounds were the camp was located.

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    1. Also, was there ever a roster for all these satellite camps or where they just all logged as being at Hohnstein? Dad said this camp was brand new and only existed from January 45 to May 45. The never even had running water or a well installed.

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  13. My father said they could hear the bombs and see the glow of the fire from Dresden. His camp was only 20 miles south of Dresden. The following morning at roll call, the Commandant was livid and preached propaganda for an hour. Dad recalls it being a very cold morning and some guys tried to walk away from the speech. The Commandant pulled his sidearm and fired over their heads as a warning to return.

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