P.O.W. Camp 78 Zuffenhausen, Germany
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This is the story of one of several German prisoner of war Camps established by the Americans immediately following World War II. Each of the American prisoner of war Camps was designated by a number. There were many such Camps established by the Americans, particularly in the area of Stuttgart, Germany. Internment Camp 78 began receiving prisoners in the early summer of 1945. The Camp was located in Zuffenhausen, a small town on the outskirts of Stuttgart. The Camp’s population, originally scheduled to house only military and civilians accused of war crimes, eventually also consisted of captured German Wehrmacht (Army), SS (Schutz Staffel, Hitler’s elite troops), Gestapo officials (Secret State Police), political prisoners consisting of Government officials during the NAZI era, a few witnesses to war crimes, and some German military and civilians who were imprisoned due to false arrests. All of the prisoners received the same treatment irrespective of the reason for their confinement. They shared the same food rations, medical treatment, and room accommodations including access to hot showers, and personal hygiene items such as facial and shaving soaps. German military personnel, prisoners of war, numbering in the hundreds of thousands were being gathered and placed into prisoner of war camps throughout Germany in the spring and summer of 1945. Due to the chaos that existed, the American military took into custody many German military and civilian persons who had names similar in spelling or pronunciation to reported war criminals. These persons were also detained in prisoner of war camps, former German military barracks, until they could be cleared by the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division (CID). In early 1946, Camp 78 had a population in excess of 7,000 prisoners of all the various categories. In order to accommodate this number, the Army erected several tents to house the late comers. The area was referred to as " tent city". This book could have been just as easily titled, "The 633rd Medical Clearing Company". It was this United States Army organization that was given the distinct mission in the spring of 1945, as opposed to its war-time mission, to oversee and administer medical aspects within several of the American prisoner of war (P.O.W.) camps and a few compounds occupied by foreign displaced persons (DP’s) within the American Zone of Occupation at the war’s end. The support of the DP camps was a humanitarian action by the Americans to assist the hundreds of thousands of foreign displaced persons in Germany. At the end of WW II, the DP’s were totally dependent on the Americans for logistical support, including food and medications. They were housed in apartment buildings and, in some instances, in former German Army barracks that were still standing at the war’s end. The majority of these DPs were forced labor transported to Germany by the Germans from occupied countries to offset the German manpower losses of both men and women to the German draft. The draft assigned women not only to one of the armed forces but also to various areas of labor shortages within Germany. Many women were drafted to work in defense industries. They were required to report to specific locations and on certain dates as though they would report to a military assignment. One of the more unusual assignments was as a domestic helper to a military family that needed that type of assistance. The draftee would assist in housework including taking care of the children. The Germans used the DP’s to fill the manpower gap that was created in every facet of the German economy. Camp 78 was very special. It was originally intended for German civilian prisoners and military persons accused of war crimes. In this matter it was unique. However, the 633rd Medical Clearing Company had the responsibility for the administration and oversight of hospitals in other P.O.W. Camps that were also special in some respects. For example, one Camp was totally occupied by females. These were women who served in the German military and also civilian women who were accused of committing war crimes. It was the only Camp in the entire United States Zone of occupied Germany that was solely for women. If by whatever means any female prisoners were received by P.O.W. camps that contained only males, the women were transferred within hours to the camp for women. This situation occurred on occasion when a camp would receive female stragglers in isolated instances. Another Camp was primarily for men who were deported from the United States following the end of WW II. The make up of these deportees included American citizens of German ancestry and German nationals residing in the United States during the war years. All were involved with the German-American Bund (German-American Federation) or other suspected anti-American activities. Eventually, by far the greatest number of prisoners in the Camps under the medical supervision of the 633rd Medical Clearing Company, were the average Wermacht or German Army personnel. Thus, the mission of the 633rd Medical Clearing Company was diverse in respect to the nature of the P.O.W. camps’ populations. It was soon after Camp 78 was opened in mid-1945 that the mix of prisoners changed from only war criminals and civilians to every variety of prisoners of war (P.O.W.s) including members of the SS, Wehrmacht (German Army), Gestapo, among others.
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P.O.W Camp
The book describes the author's military experiences from his induction as a draftee into the United States Army in May, 1945; his travels and assignment to the 633rd Medical Clearing Company located in Ludwigsburg, Germany, plus his duties as the American in charge of the hospital in P.O.W. Camp 78. The book details the living conditions of the prisoners in Camp 78, the author's interface with the Camp's German hospital staff and particularly the doctors. The special mission, organization and personnel of the 633rd Medical Clearing Company are also addressed.
The allied Armies had hundreds of thousands of war prisoners at the end of the hostilities in May, 1945. The Americans shared the problems of housing, logistics, and the denazification of the prisoners with its major WW II allies, the Russians, British, and French.
The Americans established numerous prisoner of war camps throughout its assigned military Zone of Occupation in Germany. Many of these camps were located in the Stuttgart area of Germany. In the spring of 1945, the 633rd Medical Clearing Company, with its Headquarters in Ludwigsburg, was assigned the responsibility for the oversight of the medical aspects within several P.O.W. camps in the Stuttgart area. This was a dramatic change in its war time mission. As a result, the Company experienced a radical change in the type of its personnel requirements. The need for medically trained men was replaced with the requirement for administrative type individuals. The Company also faced the problem of a shortage of qualified personnel to support its new mission. This later problem was due in part to the rapid redeployment of the United States troops following the end of the war in Europe. In order to assume its new roll, the Company resorted to using enlisted men to function as the hospital administrators in the P.O.W. Camps. This strategy proved successful.
Camp 78, located in Zuffenhausen, Germany, a suburb of Stuttgart, was unique in the sense that it was originally destined to house civilian prisoners accused of war crimes. The majority of the internees would be Germans but there were other foreign nationals also imprisoned for war crimes. This other group of war criminals, albeit small in numbers, consisted of persons from the German occupied countries in Eastern Europe who voluntarily relocated to Germany to take advantage of what they presumed to be a "winning team". Many of these civilians were placed in charge of workers consisting of other displaced persons (DP's) forcibly relocated to Germany from the German occupied countries and, in some instances, physically abused the workers.
Eventually, Camp 78 received thousands of other prisoners including civilian members of the German wartime NAZI Government and various military members of the German armed forces. This latter group consisted mainly of the normal Wehrmacht soldiers captured in battle or who surrendered to the allies concurrent with the unconditional surrender of Germany in May 1945.
The conditions in the American P.O.W. camps, including Camp 78, were the equivalent of "luxury" in relation to the conditions outside of the Camps. In May 1945, the German nation was in ruins. Its economy collapsed. There was no civilian law and order. There was no Government functioning at any level. The food distribution system was non-existent. The German people faced starvation. Conditions could be described as chaotic at best.
No doubt many of the prisoners in Camp 78 during the years of 1945, 1946, and 1947 were probably enjoying the best years of their lives since Germany started WW II in September 1939. With the war's end, they were in no danger of being killed or wounded. They had very good medical care, had plenty to eat, and outstanding shelter. Of course, the things they missed were freedom and seeing their families. But, at least that would come to pass in time. The conditions were so good in the Camp that some prisoners preferred to remain in the Camp when offered their freedom. They were fully aware, news filtered in and out of the camps, of the difficult conditions the general population was facing on the outside. Conversely, the general population became aware of the relatively "good" conditions in the prisoner of war camps under the control of the American military. They were especially envious of the food and living conditions the prisoners had access to in the camps.
There were tens of thousands of German and Italian prisoners of war, primarily from the allied campaign in North Africa, transported to the United States. These prisoners were interned in various camps throughout the United States. This book makes a passing reference to the P.O.W.'s and their living conditions in the United States.
No doubt the memories of the American prisoners of war of the Germans would not be as painful if they were treated half as well as the German prisoners in Camp 78 and in all of the other P.O.W. camps in Germany and in the United States in 1945 and 1946.
About the Author
Melvin R. Bielawski is a World War II veteran. After his induction into the Army, Mr. Bielawski received infantry training at Ft. McClellan, Alabama. Subsequent to his basic infantry training, he was ordered to Germany, in November 1945, and was assigned to the 633rd Medical Clearing Company located in Ludwigsburg, Germany. He was given a medical MOS (military occupation specialty) and placed in charge of the hospital in the Prisoner of War (P.O.W.) Camp 78, in Zuffenhausen, Germany. While on leave in Berchtesgaden, Germany, in July 1946, he met his future wife, Frances, at Koenigsee a mountain lake in Bavaria. They were one of the first American/German couples to be married in Germany after General Eisenhower lifted the non-fraternization and wedding bans on January 1, 1947. Following his military discharge in 1947, Mr. Bielawski attended the University of Toledo (UT) under the G.I. Bill of Rights. While employed by the Department of Defense in the Washington area, he attended George Washington University and received his M.S. in Public and Government Administration. He retired from the Department of Defense in 1982. He and his wife reside in Alexandria, Virginia. He is currently active in writing both fiction and nonfiction, fishing, golf, and traveling with his wife, Frances. He is the author of The Corner, a documentary about his neighborhood in Toledo during the late 1930’s, through WW II, and the early 1950’s. He has donated the publication rights to The Institute on World War II & the Human Experience, Florida State University. A copy of the documentary is also on file in the Lucas County/Toledo Main Library. His book, Secession, a thrilling novel that deals with a special group of Americans who plot successfully to select one of the United States for secession from the nation, was recently published by 1st Books Library.