Type Prisoner-of-war camp Occupants Norwegian officers | In use 1942 – 1945 Controlled by Nazi Germany | |
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Oflag XXI-C was a German Army World War II prisoner-of-war camp for officers (Offizierlager) located in Warthegau, a western province of Poland that had been incorporated into the German Reich in 1939. It held Norwegian officers arrested in 1942 and 1943. Originally most soldiers and officers had been released after the end of the Norwegian campaign, but as resistance activities increased, the officers were rearrested and sent to POW camps.
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Camp history
The camp was originally established in June 1942 near Schokken (now Skoki) 30 km (19 mi) north of Poznań, in what had previously been Oflag XXI-A, opened in September 1940 as a camp for Polish officers.
In March 1943 it was moved to Schildberg (now Ostrzeszów) 29 km (18 mi) south of Ostrów, taking over buildings previously used as a camp for wounded and sick British non-commissioned officers and designated Stalag XXI-A. This camp was unique in that it comprised several buildings in the centre of the small town, from which the remaining Polish inhabitants had been removed. These buildings were not adjacent to each other and were surrounded by barbed-wire fences.
In 1944 the Norwegian officers were located as follows: 630 in the Seminary; 290 in the high-school; 100 in the primary school; 80 in the Richter house; 30 in hospital.
There was also a sub-camp (Zweiglager), designated Oflag XXI-C/Z established at Grune bei Lissa (now Gronówko, nr. Leszno), between September 1943 and January 1945.
Liberation
In January 1945 the officers are marched out westward, finally arriving at Oflag III-A in Luckenwalde, south of Berlin. On 21 April 1945 the Red Army liberated the camp. On 5 May 1945 the Norwegians were transported east to a camp near Lignica in Silesia, then travelled for several days by train to Hamburg and Aarhus, Denmark, finally arriving in Oslo on 28 May 1945.
A Norwegian POW Museum was established in 1996 within the regional museum in the town-hall of Ostrzeszów.