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Death March Across Germany

Discussion in 'Western Europe 1943 - 1945' started by JCFalkenbergIII, Apr 6, 2008.

  1. jemimas_special2

    jemimas_special2 Shepherd

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    As many others have expressed... I had no idea of this march. To read of the soldiers torture and disease is very unfortunate. Thanks JC

    Jem
     
  2. Totenkopf

    Totenkopf אוּרִיאֵל

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    There is a little humor to be found in attempting to secure the prisoners to a different location only to have that location overrun before you arrive.


    On a serious note though I was not aware of this either. Im curious why this didnt get as much attention.
     
  3. Triple C

    Triple C Ace

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    Did not get as much press because it was overshadowed by the deathmarch of concentration camp prisoners, who were intentionally marched to death so that plausible deniability about the camps can be made. Don't know what they were thinking.
     
  4. Zwingli

    Zwingli Member

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    There were an estimated 250,000 Allied POWs who were forced to march west across Germany in the dead of winter in temperatures of minus 30 centigrade. Of the 250,000 and estimated 25,000 perished on the March.
    Leslie
     
  5. jemimas_special2

    jemimas_special2 Shepherd

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    Leslie,

    Good morning to you Miss... this number baffles me. Absolutely tragic... White flight posted a thread yesterday on the Baatan Death March, similar situation, only tropical conditions... no water and food to effectively endure the trek.... not to mention the brutality and mistreatment that happened along the way. I won't mention them here, but you get my drift. Bushido code???? Yeah right!

    Hey, I read the sysnopsis yesterday.... how can obtain a copy ;) Amazon??

    all the best Leslie

    Mark
     
  6. Zwingli

    Zwingli Member

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    Hi Mark
    You can obtain a copy directly through Self Publishing Bookstore - AuthorHouse.
    If you do read the book, let me know what you think of the story. I am rather biased of course, so independent reviews are important to me.

    Title: Against the Odds Author: Trotter- Trotter-Zwingli.

    Leslie
     
  7. jemimas_special2

    jemimas_special2 Shepherd

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    Leslie thank you... just visted AuthorHouse and made my purchase! Look forward to the read ;):)

    Mark
     
  8. OperationDOGFACE

    OperationDOGFACE recruit

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    Lets not forget OFLAG 64.


    OFLAG 64 http://www.oflag64.us/Oflag64/Oflag_64_Association_homepage.html

    [​IMG]

    Oflag (Offizierslager) 64 was in Szubin, (or the German spelling - Schubin) Poland. OFLAG 64 was "home" to my father between 31 December 1944 and 21 January 1945.

    As Soviet Marshall Zukov closed-in on nearby Bydgoszcz in Pomorze, - a few miles away from OFLAG 64 - the Germans prepared to move the “Kriegies” (short for Kriegsgefangenen or "prisoners of war") back to Germany. There were approximately 1,400 American officers encarcerated there.

    On 21 January some 1400 American officers commenced a six-week, 350 mile, forced march in sub-zero temoperatures. My father was one of 450 who arived at STALAG III-a near Luckenwalde, Germany, some 35 miles south of Berlin. The larger number of kreggies from OFLAG 64 arrived at OFLAG XIII-b, near Hammelburg (check-out Patton's Task Force Baum - The Hammelburg Raid ( Task Force Baum and the Hammelburg Raid ).

    [​IMG]
    OFLAG XIII-b Hammelburg

    Dad escaped from STALAG III-a on 22 April 1945. He and five other men made their way to the Elbe...and the American sector.

    [​IMG]
    STALAG III-a Lukenwalde
    [​IMG]
    STALAG III-a Lukenwalde
     
  9. alieneyes

    alieneyes Member

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    Hi Op DF,

    Have a gander here:

    http://www.ww2f.com/information-requests/39385-where-begin-possible-pow-camp-records.html

    Stalag IIIA, Luckenwalde holds a great fascination to me. I would love to hear how you dad and his buddies made their way to the Elbe. It wasn't the Russian troops thinking they were Germans, they also had to take into account the bands of die hard SS or Hitler Youth, making their way that more treacherous.

    Things got really hairy at IIIA after the end of April.

    Looking forward to what you have to share.
     
  10. bretweller

    bretweller recruit

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    I was discussing the Death March that my Grandfather experienced during WWII in Germany with a retired detective/military trainer and he scoffed at the idea that there was a death march anywhere other than by the Japanese.

    I never met my Grandfater, he left my mother when she was very young. 50 some odd years later she went and visited him. They gave her a copy of his story and she passed it along to me.

    I figured yall would like to read it. He was an RAF tail gunner during WWII and was a POW in Stalag Luft 4-A..

    here is his story..

    Death March

    Let me know what you think..

    Thanks,
     
  11. David Layne

    David Layne Member

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    Bretweller your link would not open for me.
     
  12. LRusso216

    LRusso216 Graybeard Staff Member

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    The link is two years old. It wouldn't open for me, either. I suspect it is no longer available.
     
  13. bronk7

    bronk7 Well-Known Member

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    and people complain when it's 25 degrees and they have to walk from their house to their car!!! or they can't get milk that day !! or the heater went out!! I bike to work every day, if it snows I walk, in any weather...my Dad was at the Chosin Korean war where it was 30 BELOW!..stories like this are why I've always relished food/hot water/showers/ home/etc
     
  14. lwd

    lwd Ace

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    You might want to consider creating a thread over on the information request subforum. Your querry might get lost in this thread (or not). Good luck in any case.
     
  15. Pat Lettieri

    Pat Lettieri New Member

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    My father was on this Death March, and a prisoner of Stalag IV, Rolla Kilgore. He was shot down 8-4-1944, his 5th mission over Germany. Although he came back, married my wonderful mother, he did suffer from what is now called PTSD. He did not speak of the hardships a lot, but laughed when he talked about stealing a chicken and cooking it over firewood they had stolen.
    He persevered, and I believe in my heart of hearts had a wonderful life. I know myself and my 3 siblings miss him and my mom every minute.
    He laughed, he cried, he touched everyone's life he came in contact with. He never met a stranger, which is carried on thru his children and his grandchildren. There is now what would be his Great Grandchildren, not surprisingly, they have the same gene, lucky for us, and those that will come to know each and everyone of them.
    Thank you so very much. Pat Lettieri
     
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  16. Rebecca Murray

    Rebecca Murray New Member

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    My grandfather was a POW who was in this awful march!! His stories still bring tears to my eyes.


     
  17. Jba45ww2

    Jba45ww2 Well-Known Member

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    I have the honor of acquiring a large grouping that belonged to Lt. J. B. Muise who was a navigator on a B17. He was part of the 493rd Bomb Group and he became a POW on November 5,1944 after bombing a chemical factory at Ludwigshafen Germany. He spent considerable time in Belaria compound of Stalag lll and also was part of the "Long March" in January 45 and then later in Stalag Vll. Part of the grouping includes a diary that he made drawings of the camp, favorite recipes and restuaruants and names of fellow POWs. It also included his Stalag ID card and Dog Tag. There stories must be remembered because of the hardships they faced and how they came home and continued to raise families and build our country.
    JM3.JPG pow1.jpg
    pow2.jpg
     
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  18. wm.

    wm. Well-Known Member

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    "250,000 Allied POWs"

    Is the number of evacuated POWs correct?
    It's rather the total number of all American and British POWs. As far as I know, only some of the camps were evacuated and only some (those in Eastern Europe) during winter.

    It's should be remembered German civilians suffered the same fate, for example from Breslau 60,000 people fled on foot to Dresden (where they were bombed in the famous attack) during literally Siberian conditions. The road from Breslau was littered with frozen babies and old people.

    In similar conditions a half a million Germans crossed the frozen Vistula Lagoon - being constantly strafed by Soviet planes, nobody really knows how many of them didn't make it. Later almost 10,000 of them died when MV Wilhelm Gustloff was sunk by a Soviet submarine.
     
    Last edited: Oct 26, 2019
  19. harolds

    harolds Member

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    My late uncle's best friend was a part of this. His B-17 went down over Holland. He was turned in to the Germans by a "friendly" farmer and spent the rest of the war as a POW. Later in life he suffered from PTSD and acute alcoholism. He finally got help and then we found out why. As noted above, they moved the POWs back and forth to keep them from the advancing Allied armies. Food was almost non-existent, except for what they could scrounge. The guards were insane asylum inmates given guns and uniforms. Because of their mental conditions they were quite dangerous. Gene said that several POWs died in that forced march. He thought he was going to be one of them. One night, just before they were liberated, they were in an open field, it was snowing and there was no food. He realized that he probably could make perhaps one more day before he fell by the wayside. So he took out the only food he had-a small moldy potato. He said he cried as he ate it because he thought this would be his last meal. The next morning the guards were gone and they were rescued by (I think) American troops.
     
  20. Jba45ww2

    Jba45ww2 Well-Known Member

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    I came upon a small piece of paper with the following - "The Russian offensive on the Eastern Front was closing in on the Silesia area in January ,1945. On January 28,1945 we were ordered to march to the center camp at Sagan and from there began a five-man wide endless column of POW's and guards trekking West. Salvaged possessions and food were dragged on makeshift sledges. Under advice of Senior Allied Officers and constant threat of shooting by S.S and Wehrmacht, we marched about 20 KM per day. On February 2nd, we reached Moskau." Trying to understand now if the marches were being forced/initiated by the SS? My understanding was that the Luftwaffe had controlled the POW camps. Obviously "harolds" your late Uncle's friend seems to have had a different experience with who was guarding them. I also understand that we are talking about a time period at the end of the War when anything and everything could happen.

    As I go through this massive groupings it opens up so many questions on a subject that honestly I have not spent much time researching.
     

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