Stalag VI-K

Stalag VI-K (326)
Senne, North Rhine-Westphalia
Stalag VI-K (326) is located in Germany
Stalag VI-K (326)
Stalag VI-K (326)
Coordinates51°51′54″N 8°40′38″E / 51.86491°N 8.67709°E / 51.86491; 8.67709
TypePrisoner-of-war camp
Site information
Controlled by Nazi Germany
Site history
In use1941–1945
Garrison information
OccupantsSoviet POW

Stalag VI-K Senne (also known as Stalag 326)[1] was a German World War II prisoner-of-war (POW) camp. It was named after the natural region Senne, mainly a heath landscape, where the camp was located, near to the town of Schloß Holte-Stukenbrock, in today North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

During the war the camp held mostly Soviet prisoners of war, but also some French, Polish and Italians.[2]

The camp was overrun by the rapidly-advancing 2nd Armored Division on 2 April 1945, with troops of the U.S. 117th Infantry Regiment, 30th Division, subsequently taking control.[3]

Close to the camp there are 36 mass graves of Soviet POW, and in addition around 400 graves of other men who died in the camp. In the mid-1960s a monument was erected to commemorate the approximately 65,000 men interred there.[4]

From October 1946 to December 1947 the camp was operated by the British occupation authorities as Civil Internment Camp No. 7 [de], holding party and government officials. Early the following year the camp became Sozialwerk Stukenbrock [de] - a camp through which 150,000 refugees and displaced persons passed before it was closed in 1969.[5]

A police training institute has occupied the camp administration blocks since 1970, and there is a permanent exhibition of articles, photographs and documents pertaining to the camp in the "Documentation Centre" there.[2]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "List of prisoner-of-war camps ("Kriegsgefangenenlager")". Moosburg Online (in German). 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
  2. ^ a b "Dokumentationsstätte Stalag 326 (VI K) Senne". stalag326.de (in German). 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
  3. ^ Culp, Wayne (XO 3rd Bn., 117th Inf.) (6 April 1945). "Notes on Stalag 326". oldhickory30th.com. Retrieved 16 May 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ "Ehrenfriedhof sowjetischer Kriegstoter ("Memorial Cemetery of Soviet War Dead")". stalag326.de (in German). 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
  5. ^ Plückelmann, Gerd; Weidner, Marcus (2012). "Sozialwerk Stukenbrock". Westfälische Geschichte ("Westphalian history portal") (in German). Retrieved 17 May 2012.