About our database
The database is a result of the research project "The labour deployment of Soviet prisoners of war in the Wehrmacht camp system on the territory of what is now Lower Saxony (1941-1945)", funded by the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture. For the first time, the estimated 2,000 work details in Lower Saxony and Bremen were identified and the specific working and living conditions of the prisoners at their place of deployment were researched.
The project's area of investigation geographically covered the area of responsibility of the former State Labor Office of Lower Saxony (based in Hanover). The labour deployment of prisoners of war in this area was organised from the POW main camps (Stalags) in Bathorn, Fallingbostel, Neu Versen, Nienburg, Oerbke, Wietzendorf and Sandbostel. Up to 65,000 Soviet prisoners of war were deployed in their work details at any one time. The surviving, very disparate sources on the labour deployment of prisoners of war were examined in various archives and collections and made accessible via a database. At the same time, a documentary collection on the labour deployment of Soviet prisoners of war was established. On this basis, fundamental findings on the organisation and practice of labour deployment were compiled. Since 2012, the information on the work details has been made available to the public in the form of a database on the website of the Lower Saxony Memorials Foundation. Another result of the project was the publication of an annotated source edition at the end of 2012.
We are happy to provide further information on individual work details and the respective sources. Please support further research: information, suggestions and additions to already known or previously undocumented work details are welcome! The database is constantly being expanded and updated. So far, around 1680 work details involving Soviet prisoners of war have been identified.
Notes on the database
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In the internet version of the database it is possible to search according to the following criteria:
- Camp location (town and district - as of 1941-1945)
- POW main camps responsible or Einsatz Kriegsmarine (KM) or Einsatz Luftwaffe (LW)
- Number of the work detail
Please note: The database is currently not available on the Internet.
As part of the project, the labour deployment of Soviet prisoners of war in the district of the former State Labor Office of Lower Saxony, based in Hanover, was researched. This was largely identical to the area of today's federal states of Bremen and Lower Saxony and covered parts of military districts VI (based in Münster), X (based in Hamburg) and XI (based in Hanover) of the Wehrmacht administration.
Until November 1941, the labour deployment of Soviet prisoners of war in military districts X and XI was organised exclusively by the "Russian camps" X D (310) Wietzendorf and XI D (321) Oerbke. Their work details were taken over by the POW base camps X B Sandbostel, X C Nienburg and XI B Fallingbostel.
Stalags VI B Neu Versen (dissolved in 1942) and VI C Bathorn were responsible for "Russian deployment" in the area of military districts VI, which was assigned to LAA Lower Saxony.
A work detail was an organisational unit with a fixed command number to which a certain number of prisoners were assigned, although the camp location or accommodation could change. The work details were assigned to the POW main camps responsible for the region. The placement of prisoner labourers with employers was carried out by the employment offices. Different organisational regulations applied for deployment in the navy and the air force. From April 1943, the Kriegsmarine carried out the deployment of prisoners in naval flak and construction projects under its own direction and responsibility. The Luftwaffe also received Soviet prisoners for its own use from April 1943. These were transferred to Stalag Luft 5 in Wolfen near Halle, which took over the administration of all prisoners of war in the Luftwaffe's labour deployment throughout the German territory.
The reconstruction of the work details may show duplications in terms of the number of camps and detachments in one place. It is not always possible to determine whether information from different sources refers to one and the same commando.
Information on the number of prisoners in the work details is only fragmentary. There were often large fluctuations due to transfers, illnesses and deaths. The information in the Occupancy field shows the known minimum and maximum number of prisoners in the respective commando.
Other fields provide information on the number of deaths in the respective work detail as well as the cemetery where the dead were buried. The remarks field contains additional information, for example about the prisoners' accommodation.
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So far, the database has mainly included information from the following archives:
- International Tracing Service (ITS), Bad Arolsen: holdings from former Soviet archives; results of various Allied searches for foreigners who were employed in German factories during the war
- Bundesarchiv Abt. Militärarchiv, Freiburg: files of a general nature on the prisoner of war system of the "Wehrmacht" (German armed forces) and the labour deployment of prisoners
- German Office, Berlin: documents from the holdings of the former Wehrmacht Information Centre and individual camps
- Central Archives of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (CAMO), Podolsk: files of Soviet prisoners of war from Wehrmacht provenance
- Regional archives of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB): Index files of Soviet prisoners of war from Wehrmacht provenance
- Lower Saxony State Archives - locations Hanover, Aurich, Bückeburg, Oldenburg, Osnabrück, Stade and Wolfenbüttel: records of the state governments, provincial administrations, municipalities, labour administration, etc.; Belgian government survey on forced labour camps in Germany
- Braunschweig Economic Archive (NWA) in the Wolfenbüttel State Archive: records of industrial companies, e.g. Ilseder Hütte and "Reichswerke Hermann Göring" in Salzgitter
- Various municipal archives in Lower Saxony
Database
Unfortunately, the database is currently not available online. However, you can still access all the information in our Collection in Celle. Please feel free to contact us.