Lithuanians in the Polish Armed Forces and German Captivity, 1939-1945

Игорь Н. Петренко,
руководитель проекта «Uniting Generations»

В конце ноября я познакомился с замечательными историками из “Центра исследований геноцида и сопротивления населения Литвы”. Директор этого центра д-р Арунас Бубнис на мой вопрос “Что можно оцифровать о самом начале Второй Мировой войны?” подарил мне свою книгу “Литовцы в польских вооружённых силах и немецком плену, 1939-1945 гг.”, которая была издана совсем недавно в Вильнюсе тиражом всего 200 экз. Это малоизвестная история о том, как литовцы наряду с поляками, белорусами и представителями других национальностей, были мобилизованы в Польские вооружённые силы и сражались в боях против вермахта. Некоторые из них погибли на фронте, но большинство попали в немецкие концлагеря. Автор подробно описывает участие литовских солдат в важных сражениях, таких как оборона Варшавы и Модлинской крепости, а также условия их жизни в немецком плену. Этот польский период практически неизвестен российскому читателю. Теперь после оцифровки книга доступна всем пользователям интернета на 150 языках.

This book uncovers the little-known history of Lithuanians from the Vilnius Region who were mobilized into the Polish Armed Forces in 1939. Dr Arūnas Bubnys conducts an exhaustive examination of the fate of Lithuanian soldiers during World War II, based on documents from the Lithuanian Special Archives and other historical sources. The book discusses how Lithuanians from the Vilnius Region, along with Poles, Belarusians and people of other nationalities, were mobilised into the Polish Armed Forces and fought in battles against the Wehrmacht. Some of them died at the front, but the majority were captured by the Germans, put in prisoner-of-war camps, and forced to do manual labour until their liberation in 1945. The author provides a detailed account of the participation of Lithuanian soldiers in important battles, such as the defence of Warsaw and the Modlin Fortress, as well as their living conditions in German captivity. The book also examines how prisoners of war were assigned to work for German farmers and how they returned to Lithuania after the war. This is an important contribution to the historiography of World War II and Lithuania, uncovering a thus far relatively under-explored topic. The book is designed for anyone interested in Lithuanian history, military history and people’s destinies during wartime.

Dr. Arūnas Bubnys
Lithuanians in the Polish Armed Forces and German Captivity, 1939-1945
Vilnius 2025, © Genocide and Resistance Research Centre of Lithuania. 2025, ISBN 978-609-8298-71-0. Bibliographic information is available on the Lithuanian Integrated Library Information System (LIBIS) website – ibiblioteka.lt

Download original Polish German Russian

Contents
Introductory remarks
Lithuanians in battles with the Wehrmacht
The German prisoner-of-war camp system
Camp system, types
Prisoner-of-war main camps in Wehrkreis I
Closing remarks
Footnotes

Introductory remarks

This paper examines the fate of Lithuanians from the Vilnius Region who were mobilised into the Polish Armed Forces in 1939, during World War II. Many residents of the Vilnius Region were conscripted into the Polish Armed Forces, including Poles, Lithuanians, Belarusians (Ruthenians), Russians and people of other nationalities. Due to the limited scope of the article, only the situation and fate of Lithuanian soldiers will be examined here. Some of the men who were mobilised died at the front or were wounded, but the majority were captured by the Germans, put in prisoner-of- war camps, and later handed over to German farmers, where they were forced to do manual labour until their liberation in 1945. The article is primarily based on documents from Inventory No 59 of the К-l Fonds of the Lithuanian Special Archives (hereinafter – LSA). This inventory contains over 32,000 filtration dossiers.

Soviet security services kept filtration dossiers for people who, for whatever reason, ended up in Germany or German-occupied countries during World War II (such as prisoners of war, people in Nazi concentration camps and prisons, people who were taken to Germany for forced labour, and so on). The author of the article reviewed all of the dossiers in Inventory No 59 and found several hundred about individuals who fought in the Polish Defensive War of 1939 and were taken prisoner by the Germans. Much of this previously unknown information was used in this article. To the best of the author’s knowledge, the topic under consideration has not been the subject of any Polish or Lithuanian historical work, so it is important to supplement the historiography of World War II and Lithuania with research on this topic. If we were to expand the topic under consideration in the future to include Vilnius Region residents of all of the other nationalities who fought in the Polish Defensive War and ended up in prisoner-of-war camps, it might be possible to prepare a monographic work. This paper also draws on the limited historical literature on the topic (mainly Polish).

In preparation for war with Nazi Germany, the Polish military command planned to mobilise about 1.5 million soldiers. Approximately 70 per cent of the existing military forces were to be concentrated in the first echelon. However, there were delays with the mobilisation of the Polish Armed Forces and the deployment of military units, and at the beginning of the war, the Polish Land Forces had about one million soldiers (39 divisions), 4,300 artillery guns, 220 light tanks and 650 tankettes. The Polish Air Force had 824 aircraft, but only half of them (407) were fit for combat, since the others were outdated and significantly inferior in quality to that of the Luftwaffe (Germany’s aerial­warfare branch). When Germany attacked Poland on 1 September 1939, it had 1.6 million soldiers in a total of 62 divisions, including seven tank divisions (with a total of 2,800 tanks), 6,000 artillery guns and mortars, and 2,000 aircraft.[1] The Wehrmacht (the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany) had a large quantitative and qualitative advantage, and rapidly advanced into Polish territory using lightning warfare (German: Blitzkrieg) tactics, with two tank divisions already reaching Warsaw on 8 September. The Wehrmacht’s Army Group South occupied Krakow on 6 September. It took a month for Germany to defeat Poland (after fierce battles, Warsaw was occupied on 28 September 1939). The last battle between German and Polish troops took place on 5 October near the town of Kock. In the war with Germany, the Polish Armed Forces suffered heavy losses from 1 September to 6 October 1939 – 66,000 soldiers were killed, 133,700 were wounded, and roughly 400,000 were taken prisoner by the Germans.[2]

Lithuanians in battles with the Wehrmacht

Many of the men who had been conscripted into the Polish Armed Forces from the Vilnius Region in 1939 served in the 13th Infantry Regiment (in Naujoji Vilnia). This regiment was already involved in battles with the advancing German troops in the very first days of the war, defending Warsaw from the north. On 1-4 September 1939, intense battles took place around the town of Mlawa. The stubborn resistance of the Polish troops slowed down the Wehrmacht’s offensive towards Warsaw, and the Pomeranian Army (Polish: Armia Pomorze) managed to escape encirclement.[3] The fighting took place in the lower reaches of the Narew on 5-7 September. The 13th Regiment defended the town of Pultusk. After fierce fighting, the Polish troops left the town on 7 September and retreated towards the Vistula River.[4] From 5 to 28 September, there were battles over the Modlin Fortress, which was very important for the Poles. The 13th Infantry Regiment was also involved in the defence of this fortress. In mid-September, there were about 20,000 Polish soldiers defending Modlin. Starting on 17 September, the Modlin Fortress was systematically bombarded by German aircraft and shelled by artillery. The 13th Regiment defended its position between the 7th and 8th forts of the fortress, and then later in the villages of Dębina and Nowolçczna. After brutal fighting, the Polish troops who were defending the Modlin Fortress finally surrendered on 29 September (Warsaw was occupied on 28 September) and were taken prisoner by the Germans.[5]

Nikodem Stukaniec (b. 1915, SventsyanyUezd; listed himself as a Lithuanian on the questionnaire form) was drafted into the Polish Armed Forces in March 1938 and served in the 65th Infantry Regiment of the 16th Division. When the war began with Germany, he fought in battles near Grudziądz, Toruh and other cities. On 9 September 1939, the Poznan Army (Polish: Armia Poznan), under the command of Major General Tadeusz Kutrzeba, launched a counterattack in the area of the Bzura River (a tributary of the Vistula) in an attempt to stop the advancing German forces. The Poznan Army was assisted by the Pomeranian Army. Fierce fighting went on for several days. Initially, the Polish counterattack was quite successful. The 16th Infantry Division was moving towards the town of Lowicz. However, the Germans brought in additional units and the Polish offensive was halted on 12 September. The 16th Division continued to fight actively in the streets of Lowicz. On 16 September, the Wehrmacht managed to break through the Polish defence lines. Pressed by more numerous German units and constantly bombarded by aircraft, the Polish units suffered heavy losses. The 16th Division retreated towards the town of Dowa, but on 18 September it was surrounded and crushed. Stukaniecas was wounded and taken prisoner by the Germans. At first he was put in a prisoner-of-war camp in the city of Ostrôw, and was later handed over to a German farmer in November 1939. Stukaniecas worked for farmers and in a factory until the end of March 1945. He only returned to Lithuania in 1946.[6]

At the end of August 1939, Juozas Verseckas (b. 1909, Kuršiai Village, Olkenikskaya Volost) was mobilised into the 1st Infantry Regiment of the Polish Armed Forces in Vilnius as a private. He fought in battles against the Wehrmacht and was ultimately taken captive by the Germans. The 1st Infantry Regiment is known to have participated in the defence of Warsaw. It took up positions in the city’s Praga district. The battles for Warsaw began on the evening of 8 September 1939. Fierce fighting continued for several weeks. The city was heavily shelled by German artillery and bombed by aircraft. The general assault took place on 25-27 September, but the Poles managed to repel it. The city’s residents were in a catastrophic situation due to the lack of food, water and electricity, and epidemics were a threat. As a result, the Warsaw defence command began ceasefire negotiations with the Wehrmacht commanders. On 28 September, representatives of the Polish Armed Forces signed an act of capitulation. In defending Warsaw, approximately 5,000 Polish soldiers were killed and another 16,000 were wounded. Roughly 5,000 Polish officers and 97,000 non-commissioned officers and privates were taken prisoner by the Germans.[7]

After being captured by the Germans, Verseckas spent a few months in a prisoner-of- war camp in East Prussia before being transferred to work in a sugar factory. In the spring of 1940, he was handed over to a German landowner near the town of Haldensleben in Saxony-Anhalt. This German landowner (Graf von Gneisenau – ?) had 12,000 morgens of land and about 200 workers working at his estate. The working conditions were difficult – they had to work 12-14 hours a day and earned just 30-40 marks per month; they were not fed well, and the Germans hated foreign workers and often beat them. In April 1945, the workers were liberated by American troops. Juozas Verseckas returned home that summer through the Grodno screening and filtration checkpoint.[8]

Some of the prisoners were quickly set free, while others were sent to prisoner-of-war camps. Based on Hitler’s decision of 22 May 1940, many Polish prisoners of war were released from the prison camps, but they were immediately turned into forced labourers. This decision by Hitler contradicted the Geneva Convention and other international law, and further aggravated the plight of former prisoners of war. Polish prisoners were turned into “civilian workers” (German: Zivilarbeiter) and handed over to German civil authorities, police, and business and farm owners.[9]

In some areas of occupied Poland, Wehrmacht soldiers committed war crimes against captured Polish soldiers. This was especially common with Polish soldiers who had fought fiercely against the Germans and caused them considerable losses. A particularly bloody act of revenge was carried out in the town of Ciepielow, southeast of Radom, where the Germans took 450 Polish soldiers prisoner. Oberst Walter Wessel, who was commander of the Wehrmacht’s 15th Motorised Infantry Regiment, ordered approximately 300 Polish prisoners to be shot. Before the execution, the Polish soldiers were told to take off their military uniforms so that the Germans could later explain that it was not soldiers who had been shot there, but “partisans”, who were not protected by the laws of war.[10] German aircraft bombed Polish military hospitals, even though they were flying Red Cross flags.

On 17 September 1939, slews of Red Army forces invaded Poland, occupying Western Ukraine, Western Belarus and the Vilnius Region in just a week and a half. That same day, the XIX Army Corps under the command of General Heinz Guderian captured Brest, even though the city had been allotted to the Soviet sphere of influence under the secret protocol to the Hitler-Stalin Pact.

Guderian was informed that on 22 September, he had to surrender the city to the Soviets – to the approaching 29th Light Tank Brigade under the command of Brigadier General Semyon Krivoshein. When the day arrived, a joint parade of German and Soviet troops was held in Brest. During the parade, the anthems of Germany and the Soviet Union were played, and German and Soviet soldiers interacted in a friendly manner and saluted each other.[11]

Lithuanians captured by the Germans were typically not held in prisoner-of-war camps for the entire duration of the war – they were released in two to three years to work, usually for German farmers.

The government of the Republic of Lithuania took care of the residents of the Vilnius Region who lived in the areas that were annexed to Lithuania in October 1939. A 10 February 1940 letter from the Government Commissioner for the Vilnius Region to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania states:

Residents of the city and region of Vilnius are submitting requests to my institution for the Lithuanian government to liberate their relatives, former Polish soldiers, interned in the neighbouring countries of the former Poland. To date, cases have been compiled regarding internees and prisoners of war in:

Germany – 929 people
Soviet Russia – 374
Latvia -11
Romania -14
Hungary -19
Unknown – 53
Total -1,400

The requests are accompanied by documents proving citizenship.

Regarding the cases of prisoners in Germany, instructions have been received from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and are now being carried out.[12]

However, Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union soon after (on 15 June 1940) and lost the ability to arrange for the liberation of its citizens who had been captured by the Nazis or the Soviets.

The German prisoner-of-war camp system

There is never a war without prisoners. Civilian refu­gees and prisoners of war are the ones who have known and paid the true price of war. Perhaps this is why both scholars and amateur researchers often try to avoid these topics, which are painful and have left deep scars in all warring societies. One of the consequences of World War II was that as many as 35 million people be­came prisoners of war.[13] International legal regulation of the care and protection of prisoners of war essen­tially began during the Crimean War (1853-1856), when international law codified some methods for their treat­ment. The main aim was to protect prisoners of war from repression and unjustified acts of violence on the part of the country of captivity.

There were already large numbers of prisoners during World War I. This led to significant unplanned losses and casualties. As a result, international organisations were forced to adopt the Geneva Convention, which regulated the treatment of prisoners of war taken during battle by the warring parties. During World War II, the main provisions regarding the treatment of prisoners of war and their protection were based on the Third Geneva Convention (27 July 1929), to which Germany was also a signatory. The Geneva Convention was ratified by as many as 41 heads of state. The Soviet Union was the only major power to not ratify the convention, and this had tragic consequences for the fate of Soviet prisoners of war during the German-Soviet War of 1941-1945. The Third Geneva Convention consisted of 97 articles.[14]

The main provisions of the convention were to significantly improve the conditions and measures of protection and supervision compared to what was in place during World War I. After all, this convention placed prisoners of war on the same level as the soldiers of the country that had captured them. Article 2 stated:

Prisoners of war are in the power of the hostile Government, but not of the individuals or formation which captured them. They shall at all times be humanely treated and protected, particularly against acts of violence, from insults and from public curiosity. Measures of reprisal against them are forbidden.[15]

In particular, the convention emphasised that the detaining Power is required to provide for the maintenance of prisoners of war in its charge. Differences of treatment between prisoners are permissible only if such differences are based on the military rank, the state of physical or mental health, the professional abilities, or the sex of those who benefit from them. (Article 4)[16]

Article 10 required that prisoners of war must be lodged in premises that are adequately heated and lighted….the conditions shall be the same as for the depot troops of the detaining Power.[17]

Articles 27-32 specified in detail the conditions for the work and employment of prisoners of war, in­cluding the industrial and economic sectors they could be used in for labour, the permissible degree of occu­pational risk, working hour restrictions, and whether the work performed by prisoners of war increased the capacity of the occupying power. Senior officers were not to be subject to compulsory labour unless they vol­unteered. The main work permitted for prisoners of war was in agriculture and the following industrial sectors: coal or salt mines, stone quarries, factories, sawmills, breweries, railway construction and forestry. Prisoners of war could be hired by private individuals or legal en­tities for a fee. These workers were required to be given at least one day off per week. Article 76 ensured that prisoners of war who die in captivity are honourably buried in a marked grave.[18]

The prisoners of war were at the disposal of the Wehrmacht (the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany). Institutional responsibility was divided be­tween the Armed Forces High Command (German: Oberkommando der Wehrmacht; OKW) and the Upper Command of the Army (German: Oberkommando des Heeres; OKH). The Prisoner of War Department of the OKW General Office of the Armed Forces (German: Allgemeines Wehrmachtamt; AWA, headed by General Hermann Reinecke), and from 1 January 1942 – the Chief of Prisoner-of-War Affairs, was responsible for the German Reich, the General Government (occupied Poland) and the areas of German civil administration in the occupied countries (except Ukraine and Norway). The chiefs of the prisoner-of-war departments in the 17 military districts were subordinate to the Chief of Prisoner-of-War Affairs.[19] As of 25 September 1944, prisoner-of-war affairs passed into the hands of Heinrich Himmler, who was the Reichsfuhrer of the Protection Squadron (German: Schutzstaffel; SS) and the Chief of the German Police. Himmler put SS- Obergruppenfiihrer Gottlob Berger in charge of prisoner- of-war affairs.

As mentioned, during World War II, the ter­ritory of Germany (and later – the occupied territories as well) was divided into military districts, known as Wehrkreis. There were 17 of them. Of particular impor­tance for the issue we are examining was Wehrkreis I, since many of the residents of the Vilnius Region who were captured by the Germans in 1939 were held in the prisoner-of-war camps located within its borders. Wehrkreis I contained East Prussia, and later – part of occupied Poland and the territory of the Royal District of Tilsit-Gumbinnen. The supreme command of the terri­tory was in Kbnigsberg (German: Wehrkreiskommando I Ostpreussen).

The Wehrmacht’s prisoner-of-war camps dif­fered in terms of their functionality and subordination. It is important to understand it, because those charac­teristics were incorporated in the name and numbering of the prisoner-of-war camps. The specific geographical location of the camp was not usually reflected in the numbering.

Camp system, types

Dulags (abbrev. of the German Durchgangslager) – these were Nazi transit camps. Prisoners of war were held at Dulags until it was decided which stationary camp to send them to. There were not many requirements for these camps – they could even be open fields or other areas that were enclosed with a barbed wire fence and equipped with a watchtower. There were also no special requirements for the food, sanitary conditions or medical care provided to the prisoners of war who were held there.[20] Only the most basic information was collected at the Dulags – the person’s name, surname, military rank, military unit.

Oflags (abbrev. of the German Offizierslager) – these were camps exclusively for prisoners of war who were officers (above non-commissioned officers).

Stalags (abbrev. of the German Stammlager) – these were the main stationary camps (for all other enlisted prisoners of war). Each camp naturally became “overgrown” with various auxiliary and management structures. The names of these relatively independent departments ended with the letter “Z”, which stood for Zweiglager – branch/sub-camp. In this case, the main camp was also given the letter “H”, which stood for Hauptlager – main camp.

Arbeitskommandos – these were work details that were designated by Arabic numerals. This was also the way temporary groups of prisoners of war that formed naturally during the course of war were numbered. Later, Arabic numerals were used for prisoner-of-war camps established in occupied territories.[21] A total of 222 Stalags were established in Germany and German-occupied countries during World War II. Typically, a Stalag could hold between 7,000 and 70,000 prisoners. According to 1 January 1944 data, a total of 2,200,000 prisoners were being held in the Stalags.[22]

Other departments:

3B – the censorship office, where all correspondence was checked;
4A – the management department;
4B – the sanitation section.[23]

Prisoner-of-war main camps in Wehrkreis I

The first prisoner-of-war camps – although it would be more accurate to call them concentration camps – appeared with the outbreak of World War II. The first camps established in East Prussia received their first prisoners as early as September 1939. Later, new prisoner-of-war camps were also established or liquidated, depending on the course of military operations.

The names of the camps reflect the nature and order of their establishment. First come a Roman numeral, which denotes the district, then comes a capital letter of the Latin alphabet, which denotes the order (or number) of establishment, and then comes the geographical location of the camp. The main Stalags in the territory of East Prussia, which were subordinate to the Kbnigsberg administration department and the Tilsit Gestapo, were the following:

Stalag I-A Stablack (present-day Stablawki, Poland). This was the joint name for two camps – in Kamihsk and Stablawki. The camp was located about 8 km northwest of Preussisch Eylau (present-day Bagrationovsk, Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia). It was the largest prisoner-of-war camp in East Prussia. Even before the war, the settlement of Stablawki was being developed as a garrison town – only military personnel lived there, and it had many barracks. This formed favourable circumstances for creating the central East Prussian prisoner-of-war main camp. Stalag I-A had over 20 work details (sub-camps, including E12, Memel (Klaipėda)). The sub-camps were formed based on professional compatibility. El was the number for the central camp. The first prisoners of war at this camp were Polish soldiers, who began to be transported to Stablack in the first days of September 1939. Later, Belgians, French, Russians and even Italians and other foreign nationals were imprisoned there. In 1940­1941, this camp had over 100,000 prisoners. In the first half of 1940, 178 Lithuanian residents who had been captured as Polish soldiers in 1939 were released from this camp.[24] On 25 January 1945, Stalag I-A was evacuated – it is believed that there were approximately 50,000 prisoners of war in the camp at that time.

Viktoras Jurga (b. 1916, Jančiūnai Village, Eyshishskaya Volost) was a Lithuanian who was captured by the Germans in 1939 and imprisoned in the Stablack prisoner-of-war camp in East Prussia (Stalag I-A). There were tens of thousands of prisoners there. The camp initially held Polish prisoners of war, but starting in 1940, it also housed POWs from France (37,000) and Belgium (23,000). The prisoners were distributed throughout the northern part of East Prussia to work on farms and at various businesses. Approximately 50,000 Polish prisoners of war were held in Stablack in 1939­1940. Their status was later changed to that of civilian workers. The number of prisoners of war who died in this camp is unknown. In early 1945, the camp was occupied by the Red Army. Some of the prisoners of war were evacuated deep into Germany before the Soviet Army came in. Viktoras Jurga was only imprisoned in Stalag I-A for about a month before being transferred to work for a German farmer in the district of Osterode. He later worked for a landowner in Rastenburg (present-day Kętrzyn, Poland) and in other areas of East Prussia until April 1945. Jurga returned to Lithuania in the summer of 1945 through the NKVD screening and filtration checkpoint in Vawkavysk (Belarus).[25]

Alfonsas Pipiras (b. 1909, Novosiolkos Village, Sventsyany Uezd), a Lithuanian was mobilised into the Polish Armed Forces in 1939, fought in battles against the Wehrmacht and was eventually captured by the Germans near the town of Grajewo. He was originally imprisoned in Stalag I-A (POW No 8561), but in 1942 he was transferred to Stalag XI-A near the village of Altengrabow. The prisoners at this camp were liberated by American troops in April 1945. Pipiras returned to Lithuania in August 1945 through the Grodno screening and filtration checkpoint.[26]

Alfonsas Krūminis (b. 1913, Prisieginė Village, Sventsyany Uezd) was drafted into the Polish Armed Forces in 1939. He served as a private in the 13th Infantry Regiment and fought in battles against the Wehrmacht. On 27 September, Krūminis was captured by the Germans near Warsaw and imprisoned in Stalag I-A Stablack. Later, he did various jobs for farmers, and also worked at a paper factory in East Prussia. Krūminis was liberated by the Soviet Army on 9 May 1945. He returned to Lithuania in 1945 through the Grodno screening and filtration checkpoint.[27]

Pranas Kašėta (b. 1913, Kašėtos Village, Marcinkonys Township) was mobilised into the Polish Armed Forces in 1939, where he fought in battles against the Wehrmacht and was ultimately taken captive by the Germans. He was imprisoned in Stalag I-A Stablack, where he remained until the end of the German-Soviet War. Pranas Kašėta returned to Lithuania in June 1945.[28]

Petras Kašėta (b. 1912, Kašėtos Village, Marcin­konys Township) was mobilised into the 81st Infantry Regiment of the Polish Armed Forces in 1939, where he fought in battles against the Wehrmacht and was cap­tured by the Germans. He was in a prisoner-of-war camp in East Prussia (the exact location was not given) from 1939 to 1941, and then did agricultural work for a land­owner until his liberation in April 1945. Petras Kašėta returned to Lithuania in the summer of 1945 through the Grodno screening and filtration checkpoint.[29]

Stanislovas Vaitkevičius (b. 1910, Šakališkė Village, Sventsyany Uezd) was mobilised into the 15th Infantry Regiment of the Polish Armed Forces as a private in 1939. He fought in battles and was eventually captured by the Germans. Vaitkevičius was initially given over to a German farmer in the district of Tilsit before being transferred to Stalag I-A in 1940. However, at the end of that same year, he was again handed over to a German farmer near the town of Bartenstein in East Prussia (present-day Bartoszyce, Poland), where he worked until his liberation in April 1945. Vaitkevičius returned to Lithuania in 1945 through the Grodno screening and filtration checkpoint.[30]

Nikodemas Tabéra (b. 1913, Kelpučiai Village, Sventsyany Uezd) was mobilised into the 85th Infantry Regiment of the Polish Armed Forces in Naujoji Vilnia in 1939. His regiment fought in battles against the Wehrmacht, and on 9 September, Tabéra was captured by the Germans and put in the prisoner-of-war camp in Stablack. A few months later, he was handed over to a German farmer near the town of Bartenstein. He worked there as an agricultural labourer until the Red Army came. Tabéra returned to Lithuania in the summer of 1945 through the Grodno screening and filtration checkpoint.[31]

Valentas Petrulėnas (b. 1909, Bernotai Village, Sventsyany Uezd) was mobilised into the 13th Infantry Regiment of the Polish Armed Forces as a private at the end of August 1939. His regiment fought in battles against the Wehrmacht near the cities of Wyszkow and Sielce. Petrulėnas was captured by the Germans on 14 September. At first, he worked for a German landowner near the town of Riesenburg (present-day Prabuty, Poland). Later, he did manual labour at a sugar factory in the city of Magdeburg as well as agricultural labour in other areas. Petrulėnas was liberated in early May 1945 and returned home through the Grodno screening and filtration checkpoint.[32]

Stalag I-B Hohenstein (present-day Olsztynek, Poland) was a camp in East Prussia that was the first to receive prisoners of war from the Polish Armed Forces (in September 1939). They were housed in the RAD (Reich Labour Service) camp in Hohenstein.[33] The camp was partially located on the grounds of the Tannenberg Memorial. In early February 1941, the number of prisoners had increased to 50,000 (46,000 French, 4,000 Poles).[34] Belgian, Italian, Serbian and Soviet prisoners of war were also held in the Hohenstein camp. The conditions were very harsh, leading to typhus epidemics that took many lives. Roughly 25,000 prisoners of war (most of whom were Soviet soldiers) died in the winter of 1941/1942. The prisoners who died at this camp – some 50,000-55,000 in all – were buried in huge ditches. On the site of the former camp, there is now a memorial with a small exhibition.[35] Lithuanians were imprisoned at Stalag I-B as well. Dominykas Tolvaišą (b. 1909, Olkenikskaya Volost) was mobilised into the Polish Armed Forces in 1939 and ultimately fell into German captivity. After being released from the camp in 1941, he worked for farmers in various locations until the Red Army came on 9 February 1945.[36] According to his filtration dossier, Jokimas Faraponis (b. 1915, Daugėliškis, Sventsyany Uezd) was a Lithuanian from Vilnius. Faraponis was mobilised into the Polish Armed Forces in 1938, where he served as a private in the 13th Infantry Regiment. In 1939, he fought in battles against the Wehrmacht near Warsaw and was captured by the Germans on 27 September. In October 1939, he was sent to Stalag I-B. Faraponis was at this camp until March 1941, when he was transferred to work at the estate of a large German landowner in the district of Magdeburg. In April 1945, Faraponis was liberated by American troops. He returned to Lithuania in June 1945 through the Grodno screening and filtration camp.[37] Quite a few Lithuanian prisoners of war went on to work for a farmer named Gustav Rolle in the village of Cobbel in Saxony-Anhalt, 14 km north of the city of Magdeburg.[38]

Vilhelmas Čepulis (b. 1913, Riga) was mobilised into the 5th Infantry Regiment of the Polish Armed Forces in Vilnius at the end of August 1939. Čepulis fought in battles against the Wehrmacht near the towns of Pultusk and Wyszkôw, and was eventually captured by the Germans near Sielce. He was held in Stalags I-A and I В in East Prussia before being transferred to the prisoner-of-war camp in Altengrabow in the spring of 1941. Čepulis later worked for a German farmer in the village of Elversdorf in the district of Stendal until he was liberated by American troops in April 1945. Čepulis returned to Lithuania at the end of 1945 through the Brest screening and filtration camp.[39]

Stasys Petruškevičius, a Lithuanian born in 1916 in the village of Marynowo (Gmina Krasnopol, Sejny County), was drafted into the Polish Armed Forces in 1939. He fought in battles and was eventually captured by the Germans. Petruškevičius was put in the Hohenstein camp, where he worked in a sawmill and did various other jobs. In April 1940, he was sent to Bremen along with 200 other prisoners. He did hard labour there as well. Petruškevičius was transferred to a camp in Hamburg where Lithuanians worked in September 1941. In 1942, he wrote to the chairman of the Lithuanian Union in Berlin, asking to be released from the prisoner- of-war camp and allowed to return to his homeland. Petruškevičius was released from the prisoner-of-war camp in 1943, but without the right to leave Hamburg. In December 1943, he received 14 days of leave with permission to go to Suwalki to visit his sister. Afterwards, Petruškevičius decided not to return to Hamburg. He illegally crossed the former German-Lithuanian border and went to stay with his older brother in the village of Šulneliai in Lazdijai (Sejny) County. He later went to live with his mother in the village of Ragaliai in Panemunė Township. When the Soviets occupied Lithuania for the second time in 1944, the mobilisation of men into the Red Army was announced. Petruškevičius did not register with the conscription commission, and as a result, the NKVD arrested him on 15 December 1944 for evading mobilisation and sent him to serve as a private in the 3rd Battalion of the 202nd Reserve Rifle Regiment. On 5 January 1945, he was taken by train to Marijampolė along with a group of other soldiers. The train stopped at the Jūrė railway station. To escape being taken to the front, Petruškevičius got off the train at night and went to the nearest village to get something to eat. A local man fed him and let him rest. Petruškevičius left the village on the evening of 6 January 1945 and headed towards Kaunas. However, he was detained by Soviet soldiers near a barbed wire fence (there was a military facility there).[40]

Povilas Čibiras (b. 1909, Senasis Daugėliškis Village, Sventsyany Uezd) was mobilised in August 1939 into the pioneer squadron of the Polish Armed Forces. He fought in battles against the Wehrmacht, but was wounded and taken prisoner near Warsaw on 14 September. First he spent about a month in a prisoner- of-war camp near the city of Tilsit. Then he was moved to a POW camp in Hamburg, where he built bunkers un­til October 1941. After that, he was moved to a prisoner- of-war camp in Bremen, where he was held until he was liberated by British troops on 26 April 1945. Čibiras re­turned to Lithuania in the autumn of 1945 through the Vawkavysk screening and filtration checkpoint.[41]

Stalag III-A was located outside the town of Luckenwalde, in the state of Brandenburg, 52 km south of Berlin. This prisoner-of-war camp housed Polish, Dutch, Belgian, French, Yugoslav, Russian, Italian, American, Romanian, British and other POWs. Planning for the camp began even before the German invasion of Poland. It was designed to hold 10,000 men – mak­ing it the largest in Wehrkreis III – and was considered a model for other camps. In mid-September 1939, the first Polish prisoners of war arrived and were housed in large 12 m x 35 m tents. The prisoners immediate­ly set to work building barracks before winter began. Once that was done, the Poles were relocated, and Dutch and Belgian prisoners were brought in. They only stayed there for a short time before being replaced by 43,000 French POWs, who arrived in mid-1940 and re­mained the largest group of prisoners until the end of the war. Among them were 4,000 Africans from French colonies. In 1941, the French were joined by prison­ers of war from Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union, and some 15,000 Italian military internees were brought in at the end of 1943, though most of them were quick­ly dispersed to other camps. In late 1944, small num­bers of American, Romanian, British and Polish prison­ers were brought in, including Warsaw Uprising insur­gents aged 14-17. More than 200,000 prisoners passed through Stalag III-A, with a total of 48,600 POWs reg­istered there in May 1944. No more than 8,000 pris­oners were ever housed at the main camp, with the rest sent out to work in forestry and industry in more than 1,000 work details (German: Arbeitskommando) spread out over the entire state of Brandenburg. As of 1 January 1945, the camp housed 45,942 POWs – 24,996 French, 12,517 Soviet, 4,093 Serbian, 1,499 American, 1,433 British, 1,310 Italian, 86 Polish and 8 Romanian prisoners. In February 1945, prisoners from Stalag III-B Furstenberg were evacuated to Stalag III-A, adding to the already overcrowded and unhygienic conditions. In the end, the guards fled the camp as the Soviets approached, leaving the prisoners to be liberated by the Red Army on 22 April 1945. The living conditions at Stalag III-A were better than in other prisoner-of-war camps.

As for the Poles, the Germans violated the Geneva Conventions by forcing them to abandon their prisoner-of-war status and become civilian forced la­bourers. The Germans attempted to achieve this by deporting Poles to stricter forced labour camps or by threatening deportation to Nazi concentration camps. It is estimated that between 4,000 and 5,000 prisoners died in this camp. The typhus epidemic in the winter of 1941/1942 killed 2,000-2,500 Soviet prisoners, who had a much higher mortality rate than the POWs from other countries. The dead were honourably buried in individ­ual graves in the camp cemetery, except for the Soviets, who were buried anonymously in mass graves.[42]

There were Lithuanians at the Luckenwalde POW camp as well. Jeronimas Rapnikas (b. 1913, Dūkštas Township) was drafted into the 85th Infantry Regiment of the Polish Armed Forces in Naujoji Vilnia in August 1939. When the war broke out, the regiment was sent to the front, where it fought in battles in the districts of Lôdz, Tomaszow and Piotrkôw; on 10 September, the men were captured by the Germans near the town of Kozienice. Rapnikas was taken to the Luckenwalde POW camp along with the other prisoners (125 soldiers). Rapnikas was officially released from the prisoner-of- war camp on 24 September 1940, after which he worked for different businesses and farmers doing a variety of jobs until the Red Army came in late April 1945. Rapnikas returned to his native village of Koloniškės in Dūkštas Township on 22 June 1945, through the Grodno screening and filtration checkpoint.[43] Motiejus Antulis (b. 1913, Butvydonys Village, Olkenikskaya Volost), a Lithuanian who served in the 85th Infantry Regiment, was taken prisoner by the Germans on 20 September 1939. He worked for a farmer until his liberation on 3 May 1945 and then returned to Lithuania later that same year[44] Another Lithuanian who was in the Luckenwalde prisoner-of-war camp was Zigmas Baublys (b. 1911, Perloja Village, Oranskaya Volost) In 1939, as a private in the Polish Armed Forces, he was captured by the Germans and held in this POW camp until his liberation in the spring of 1945.[45]

Stalag I-D Ebenrode (present-day Nesterov (Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia); until 1938 known by its German name: Stallupônen). A camp about which little information has survived. At the end of September 1941, this camp housed 4,990 Soviet prisoners of war who had been brought in from the districts of Smolensk and Vyazma. Due to mass executions and disease, the number of prisoners decreased significantly, and by June 1942 there were only 900 left. In total, somewhere between 5,000 and 7,000 Soviet prisoners of war died in this camp. The camp in Ebenrode was liquidated at the end of June 1942.[46]

The Lithuanians from the Vilnius Region who were captured by the Germans were held in various prisoner-of-war camps. The following prisoner-of-war camps and locations in Germany were specified in letters prepared by the Lithuanian authorities: Silvestras Glebus, b. 1914, was imprisoned in the Schilsbruch camp in the district of Ebenrode (present-day Nesterov (Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia); Leonardas Burokas (Burak), aged 25, was held in Lazdėnai Village, Tilsit District; Bernardas Varnas-Voroneckis, aged 30, was held in the Menzen area (Menzen über Angerbürg and Mehl)[47]

Stalag II-B Hammerstein-Schlochau (present­day Czarne, Poland) operated as a prisoner-of- war camp in this town in the state of Mecklenburg- Western Pomerania during World War II. It is known that residents of Lithuania were also imprisoned in this camp. One of them was Aleksandras Steponėnas (b. 1915, Mykoliškė (?) Village, Sventsyany Uezd). In 1939, Steponėnas was drafted into the Polish Armed Forces, where he served as a private in the 67th Infantry Regiment and fought in battles near Toruh, Kutno and other cities before being taken prisoner. He was held at Stalag II-B until the end of June 1940, after which he worked in various jobs at companies and for a farmer in the district of Barth. Steponėnas returned to Lithuania in the summer of 1945.[48] A Lithuanian named Juozas Bižokas (b. 1913, Pašalčis Village, Olkenikskaya Volost) was most likely also imprisoned in this camp. Bižokas was captured by the Germans in 1939 as a soldier in the Polish Armed Forces and put in a POW camp. In June 1940, he was released and handed over to a German farmer, whom he worked for until his liberation in May 1945. Bižokas returned to Lithuania in December 1945.[49]

Stalag IV-D was a prisoner-of-war camp in the town of Torgau, Saxony, about 50 km northeast of Leipzig. The camp comprised two buildings located in the town. The main camp was on Naundorfer Strasse, about 275 metres southwest of the railway station. Originally a small factory, it was requisitioned for use as a prisoner-of-war camp in May 1941. For most of the war, only about 800 POWs were held in the camp, as most of them were assigned to labour camps (German: Arbeitslager) in factories, mines, railway yards and farms up to 160 kilometres away.

In May 1942, a sub-camp, Stalag IV D/Z, was opened in Annaburg, about 20 km north of Torgau. From March 1944, it was designated as a Heilag (abbreviation of the German Heimkehrerlager) – a repatriation camp for POWs waiting to be either exchanged or returned home on medical grounds. The camps were liberated in late April 1945, when US and Soviet forces met on the Elbe at Torgau. There were Lithuanians at Stalag IV-D as well. Boleslovas Telyčėnas (b. 1910, Kelpučiai Village, Sventsyany Uezd) was mobilised into the 5th Infantry Regiment of the Polish Armed Forces in Vilnius in 1939. He fought against the Germans, and was taken prisoner on 23 September. Telyčėnas was put in a prisoner-of-war camp (POW No 12143) until 9 October 1941, when he was released from the camp by order of the commandant of Stalag IV-D and handed over to Adolf Reinsch, a German farmer who lived in the village of Globig in the district of Wittenberg. Telyčėnas worked there until his liberation in April 1945. He returned to Lithuania in the summer of 1945.[50] Kazimieras Cijūnėlis (b. 1910, Sventsyany Uezd) was drafted into the Polish Armed Forces in 1939. He fought in battles with the Germans and was taken prisoner on 23 September. Cijūnėlis was held in a prisoner-of-war camp until January 1941, after which, like Boleslovas Telyčėnas, he worked for a German farmer in the village of Globig near Wittenberg until his liberation in April 1945. Cijūnėlis returned to Lithuania in the summer of 1945 through the Grodno screening and filtration checkpoint.[51] A Lithuanian named Gabrielius Lukšėnas (b. 1907, POW No 12142) was also held in Stalag IV-D. He was released from the camp on 9 October 1941 and handed over to Otto Karis, a German farmer living in the village of Globig.[52] Romualdas Stepanėnas (b. 1910, Lazinkai Village, Sventsyany Uezd) was mobilised into the Polish Armed Forces in 1939, where he served as a private in the 6th Infantry Regiment in Vilnius. Stepanėnas fought in battles against the Wehrmacht near the cities of Lublin and Tomaszdw before being taken prisoner by the Germans on 20 September. He was held in Stalag IV-D until 9 October 1941, when he was handed over to Erwin Heinrich, a farmer who lived in the village of Globig in the district of Wittenberg. He worked for Heinrich until his liberation in April 1945. Stepanėnas returned to Lithuania in the summer of 1945 through the Grodno screening and filtration checkpoint.[53]

Stalag VIII-A was a prisoner-of-war camp located just south of the town of Gdrlitz, in what is now the Polish town of Zgorzelec. At this camp, prisoners of war and non-commissioned officers were registered and divided into work details. Back in August 1939, the commandant’s office of the prisoner-of-war camp was formed in Gdrlitz. Originally a Dulag (transit camp) for the first Polish prisoners, the camp was situated on an 18-hectare field alongside Leopoldshainer StraBe (present­day Ulica Lubariska). The main task of the prisoners was to set up a real prisoner-of-war camp. At the end of 1939, the prisoners of war were transferred to the newly built Stalag on Seidenberger StraBe (present-day Ulica Lužycka) in the district of Moys. The official opening of the new prisoner-of-war camp was on 23 September 1939. On 16 July 1940, the Dulag was shut down.

Stalag VIII-A was the first prisoner-of-war camp in Wehrkreis VIII (Breslau). In October 1939, it was converted into a camp for 15,000 Polish prisoners. In June 1940, most of the Poles were transferred to oth­er prisons. Alois von Bielas was the commandant for Stalag VIII-A from August 1940 until 3 July 1943, when he was replaced by Colonel Rudolf Teichmann.

From 1940 onwards, the Gôrlitz Stalag mainly housed Belgian and French soldiers who had been taken prisoner on the Western Front. The camps had been designed for half the amount of POWs, and the barracks sometimes housed over 48,000 people. Some 120,000 prisoners of war passed through the main camp in total. As the war continued, soldiers of various nationalities were housed in the camp. The last remaining soldiers in the Stalag were liberated by Allied forces between February and May 1945.[54]

Lithuanian men were also imprisoned in this camp. Jonas Biveinis (b. 1910, Dovgelishskaya Volost) fought against the Germans in 1939 as part of the 19^th Division of the Polish Armed Forces. On 8 September, he was captured by the Germans, who held him in Stalag VIII-A until 28 April 1945 (POW No 10361). After the war, Biveinis was held at Polish Military Camp No 2 in Seesen in the British occupation zone until 29 May 1947.[55]

Stalag X-B was a prisoner-of-war camp located near Sandbostel in Lower Saxony in northwestern Germany. Between 1939 and 1945, several hundred thousand prisoners of war of 55 nations passed through the camp. Due to the poor conditions, thousands died of hunger and disease, or were killed by the guards. The village of Sandbostel is located 43 km northeast of Bremen.

Beginning in the autumn of 1941, sections of the camp were cleared or moved to make room for Soviet prisoners taken in the war with the Soviet Union. Since that time, the camp administered hun­dreds of Arbeitskommando, each made up of around 30 forced labourers. These work details were sent to local farmers and industry.

The camp was liberated on 29 April 1945 by the XXX Corps of the British Army following fighting with the Wehrmacht’s 15th Panzergrenadier Division. However, the camp commandant, realising that the end of the war was near, agreed to hand over control of the camp to the prisoners, led by a French colonel named Marcel Albert. The British found about 15,000 surviving prisoners of war in the camp, as well as about 8,000 concentration camp inmates. Estimates of the to­tal number of people who died in this camp between 1939 and 1945 range from 8,000 to 50,000.[56]

Prisoners from Lithuania were also held in the Sandbostel camp. For example, Petras Vilkamušys (b. 1917), a Lithuanian who served in the Polish Armed Forces in 1939 and was taken prisoner by the Germans, was released from Stalag X-B Sandbostel in late November 1942, but was required to register with the local police and find employment.[57] Another Lithuanian who was held in this camp was Adolfas Dubonis (b. 1909, Murmos Village, Sventsyany Uezd). Dubonis was mobilised into the Polish Armed Forces in 1939. He fought the Germans in battles near Pultusk and Ostrowiec, and was ultimately taken prisoner. Dubonis was held in the Sandbostel prisoner-of-war camp until 8 May 1942, when he was handed over to a German farmer named Christian Schmidt, who lived in the village of Buchholz in Bremervorde County.[58]  He worked for Schmidt until he was liberated by the British Army on 1 May 1945. After that, Dubonis worked for some time at the Schwerin screening and filtration checkpoint and in a Soviet military unit in Kdnigsberg, only returning to Lithuania in 1946.[59] Kostas Činčikas (b.1909, Kūčiai Village, Sventsyany Uezd) was mobilised into the 1st Infantry Division of the Polish Armed Forces in 1939. He fought in battles against the Wehrmacht and was captured by the Germans on 15 September. Činčikas was initially held in a prisoner-of-war camp in Konigsberg, and was at Stalag X-B Sandbostel from March 1941 to May 1943. He saw the end of the war and his release at the Gôrlitz prisoner-of-war camp on 9 May 1945. Činčikas returned to Lithuania in the summer of 1945 through the Grodno screening and filtration checkpoint.[60] Povilas Povilėnas (b. 1912, Davaisiai Village, Sventsyany Uezd) was mobilised into the 6th Infantry Regiment of the Polish Armed Forces as a private in 1939. On 14 September, he was captured by the Germans near the town of Mihsk Mazowiecki. Povilėnas was initially put in the Stablack POW camp in East Prussia, but was transferred to Stalag X-B in March 1941, and later to a camp in Hamburg, where he and the other prisoners were liberated by the British Army on 5 May 1945. It was only in late 1945 that Povilėnas returned to Lithuania through the Grodno screening and filtration checkpoint.[61]

Stalag XI-A. Some residents of Vilnius who had been captured were put in the 11th prisoner-of-war camp near the village of Altengrabow in Saxony-Anhalt, about 90 km southwest of Berlin. A prisoner-of-war camp had operated at this location during World War I as well. In September 1939, Stalag XI-A was established in Altengrabow to hold Polish prisoners of war. They were housed in stables. Starting in 1940, when Germany occupied France, the Netherlands and Belgium, Stalag XI-A was also used for prisoners of war from these countries. Later, the camp housed Croatian, Serbian and Soviet prisoners of war as well. Prisoners of war from a total of 13 different nations were held in Stalag XI-A. Stalag XI-A held an average of 55,000 prisoners of war, making it one of the largest prisoner-of-war camps in northern and central Germany. The camp had more than 1,700 work details in various locations, with prisoners working in agriculture and at weapons and ammunition factories. Due to hunger and the unsanitary conditions of detention, epidemics broke out frequently, claiming many lives. The Altengrabow prisoner-of-war camp was liberated by the US Army’s 83rd Infantry Division on 13 April 1945. In May 1945, the camp was handed over to the Soviet Army. The facility was in the possession of the Soviet Union until 1991, when it was handed over to the Bundeswehr (the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany).[62]

Quite a few people from Lithuania were held in this camp in 1939-1941. Kazys Navickas (b. 1913, Mardasavas Village (Marcinkonys)) was drafted into the 76th Infantry Regiment of the Polish Armed Forces in September 1939, where he fought in battles and was eventually captured by the Germans. He was held in Stalag XI-A Altengrabow until January 1942; after that, he worked for German farmers until the Red Army came on 26 April 1945. Navickas returned home through the Grodno screening and filtration checkpoint in the summer of 1945.[63] Met with the same fate was Vincentas Navickas (b. 1911, Mardasavas Village (Marcinkonys)), who, as a Polish soldier, was captured by the Germans in 1939. Navickas was held in a POW camp until 1941, and then worked for a farmer until his liberation in early April 1945. Navickas returned to Lithuania in 1945.[64]

Bernardas Rastenis (b. 1910, Žilėniškė Village, Sventsyany Uezd) was mobilised into the Polish Armed Forces in 1939, where he served in the 1st Regiment of the 2nd Infantry Division. Rastenis fought the Germans in battles and was ultimately taken prisoner. He was held in Stalag XI-A Altengrabow until May 1942, after which he worked for a farmer in the district of Calbe until he was liberated by American troops in May 1945. Rastenis returned to Lithuania in the summer of 1945 through the Grodno screening and filtration check-point.[65]

Konstantinas Bielinis (b. 1909, Kurtiškė Village, Tverechskaya Volost) was mobilised into the Polish Armed Forces on 24 August 1939, where he served in cavalry reconnaissance for the 6th Regiment of the 1st Division. He was wounded in battle near Warsaw and taken prisoner by the Germans. At first he worked for a farmer in a village near Magdeburg, but was moved to Stalag XI-B in 1940 and then later to Stalag XI-A. Bielinis also worked in various plac­es until May 1945, when he was liberated by the Red Army. In August-September 1945, he went through the Grodno filtration checkpoint, and only then returned to Lithuania.[66]

Kazimiras Lukša (b. 1910, Mediniai Village, Sventsyany Uezd) was mobilised into the Polish Armed Forces in 1939 and was eventually captured by the Germans (POW No 69787). He was put in Stalag XI-A, and worked for farmers and at an ammunition factory. Once the war ended, he returned to Lithuania in August 1945 through the Grodno screening and filtration checkpoint.[67]

Feliksas Mikulėnas (b. 1911, Stanioniai Village, Sventsyany Uezd) was mobilised into the 6th Infantry Regiment of the Polish Armed Forces in Vilnius as a private at the end of August 1939. He fought in battles against the Wehrmacht and was captured by the Germans on 14 September near the town of Sielce. Mikulėnas spent about six months at a POW camp in East Prussia before being transferred to Stalag XI-A Altengrabow. Later, he worked at a factory and for farmers doing manual labour. In early May 1945, he and the other prisoners were liberated by American troops. Mikulėnas returned to Lithuania that same year through the Grodno screen­ing and filtration checkpoint.[68]

Stalag XI-B and Stalag XI-D/357 were two German World War II prisoner-of-war camps located to the east of the town of Fallingbostel in Lower Saxony, in northwestern Germany. They were part of a vast system of camps run by the Wehrmacht. This system consisted of more than 200 main camps and thousands of work details and construction brigades. Right before the start of the war, a hut camp near Fallingbostel was designated Stalag XI-B. During the war, this became one of the Wehrmacht’s largest prisoner-of-war camps, at times holding as many as 95,000 prisoners from different countries. In June 1940, Belgian and French prisoners of war assigned to work detail 601 were housed in the former Bergen-Belsen construction workers’ camp.

There is information that there were Lithuanian residents at Stalag XI-B as well. Julius Spėčius (b. 1909, Novinkai (?) Village, Sventsyany Uezd) was a Lithuanian who was mobilised into the Polish Armed Forces at the end of August 1939. Serving as a private in the 6th Infantry Regiment in Vilnius, Spėčius was captured by the Germans on 14 September 1939. He was initially put in a prisoner-of-war camp in Marienburg (East Prussia), but he was moved to Stalag XI-B in November 1941. In August 1941, he was transferred to work on an estate as an unskilled labourer. This is where Spėčius worked until April 1945, when he was liberated by the British Army.[69]

Stalag XI-C (311) was dissolved in the summer of 1943, and Bergen-Belsen became a branch camp of Stalag XI-B in Fallingbostel. Up until January 1945, it operated as the central hospital for Soviet prisoners of war in the region. Starting in August 1944, interned Italian soldiers were also treated there. After the Warsaw Uprising was suppressed in October 1944, the camp also housed insurgents who had been taken prisoner.[70]

For some Lithuanians, a lack of documentation made it impossible to establish their places of imprisonment. One such Lithuanian was Aleksandras Tareilė (b. 1914, Dargužiai Village, Olkenikskaya Volost), who was mobilised into the 101st Rifle Regiment of the Polish Armed Forces in Trakai on 1 September 1939. A few days later, the regiment was sent to defend Warsaw. Roughly 80 km from Warsaw, the regiment encountered a German unit. The battle started around noon on 9 September and continued into the early morning of 10 September. The 101st Regiment was defeated by the Germans, and some of the Polish soldiers (about 300 people) were taken prisoner, including Tareilė. The prisoners were sent to a POW camp in Marienburg, where they were held for three weeks. Then, at the end of September, about 300 prisoners were transported to Insterburg in East Prussia (present-day Chernyakhovsk, Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia). The prisoners without any special skills were quickly handed over to German farmers to do agricultural work. Tareilė was given to Albert Vollmer, a large German farmer (he owned 50 hectares of land) who lived in the village of Shunker, Insterburg District. Tareilė worked for Vollmer until October 1940, after which, by decision of the Insterburg Labour Exchange, he was transferred to Albert’s brother, Richard Vollmer, who lived in the village of Birkenhof. The working conditions were difficult, with long hours that lasted from early morning until late at night. Tareilė lived in the stable on Albert Vollmer’s farm. In October 1943, Tareilė ran away, but the German border police detained him five days later and brought him back to Richard Vollmer. Before they did, though, he was interrogated by the Gestapo in Tilsit and severely beaten with rubber batons. As the Red Army approached in January 1945, the labourers were evacuated deep into Germany, but in March 1945 they found themselves in the zone occupied by the Soviet Army not far from the town of Shtoln.[71]

Danys Janutėnas (b. 1910) was a Lithuanian who was mobilised into the Polish Armed Forces in Vilnius at the end of August 1939. Janutėnas served in the 14th Infantry Regiment and fought the Germans in battles until he was taken prisoner near the town of Janowo on 14 September. Janutėnas was handed over to a German farmer near the town of Horn (?) and worked there until the end of the war. After that, he was transferred to a French camp, where he stayed un­til mid-December 1945. After going through the Soviet screening and filtration camp in Brest in January 1946, Janutėnas returned to Lithuania.[72]

Antanas Jeskelevičius (b. 1912) served in the Polish Armed Forces in 1939 and was captured by the Germans near Warsaw. He was held in a prisoner-of- war camp and later worked for a farmer in Holstein. He was liberated by the British Army on 5 May 1945. Jeskelevičius was handed over to the Soviets and returned to Lithuania via Krakôw and the Soviet filtration camp in Teterev.[73]

Stalag XVII-A Kaisersteinbruch was located in Wehrkreis XII (Vienna), in present-day Austria, which was annexed by Germany in 1938. This prisoner-of-war camp was first mentioned on 29 August 1939. The camp housed prisoners from various countries. According to 31 January 1941 data, there were 74,553 prisoners of war and 220 civilian internees in the camp: 970 French officers and 65,441 soldiers, 5,642 Belgians and 2,500 Poles. Stalag XVII-A was one of the largest prisoner-of- war camps in the Third Reich.[74]

One of the prisoners in this camp was a Lithuanian named Jonas Tamulevičius (b. 1916, Dainava Village, Oranskaya Volost). Tamulevičius was mobilised into the Polish Armed Forces in 1939 and served in L6dz. He fought in battles against the Wehrmacht and was ultimately taken prisoner by the Germans. He was put in Stalag XVII-A, where he remained until November 1943, doing various types of agricultural work. Tamulevičius fell ill and was given a month’s leave to go home and recover, but he stayed in Lithuania and never returned to the camp.[75]

Closing remarks

In August 1939, right before the beginning of World War II, hundreds of Lithuanians of conscription age living in the Polish-occupied Vilnius Region were mobilised into the Polish Armed Forces. Most of them were from the counties of Švenčionys, Vilnius and Trakai. People of other nationalities (Poles, Ruthenians, Russians, etc.) who were citizens of what was then Poland were mobilised as well. The majority of the Lithuanians who were mobilised were assigned to infantry regiments and served as privates. After the war with Germany began, Lithuanians fought the Germans in many battles, including fierce clashes over Warsaw and the Modlin Fortress. It is not known how many Lithuanian soldiers died during the German invasion of Poland – establishing this would require extensive research in Polish and German archives. However, based on the documents examined, it can be assumed that the majority of Lithuanians who were mobilised into the Polish Armed Forces did not die at the front, but were captured by the Germans. There were hundreds of such prisoners. A large part of the Lithuanian prisoners were held in POW camps in East Prussia – mainly Stalag I-A Stablack (present-day Stablawki, Poland). Other Lithuanian prisoners were scattered around various camps throughout the territory of the Third Reich. The majority of Lithuanian prisoners of war were held in POW camps in 1939-1940, and then handed over to German landowners and farmers to work in agriculture, which they did until their liberation. The prisoners on the Western Front were liberated in the spring of 1945 by US and British forces, and on the Eastern Front by the Red Army. Most Lithuanians who found themselves in the Soviet occupation zone after the war returned to Lithuania in 1945-1946 through Soviet screening and filtration camps and checkpoints. An unknown number of Lithuanian prisoners stayed in the West after the war and emigrated to different countries (mainly to the United States and Great Britain). The former prisoners of war who returned to Lithuania remained under the watchful eye of Soviet security forces and were repeatedly interrogated by county and township branches of the NKVD.

Footnotes

[1] Вторая мировая война. Полная иллюстрированная энциклопедия, Moscow. 2018, р. 17.
[2] Ibid, р. 19.
[3] Wojna obronna Polski 1939. Warszawa. 1995. p. 44.
[4] Ibid., pp. 74.75.
[5] Ibid. pp. 134,135.
[6] Ibid., pp. 98,106; N. Stukaniecas’s questionnaire. LSA, f. K-1, ap. 59, b. 6220, l. 2-7.
[7] Wojna obronna Polski 1939. Warsaw. 1995, p. 132.
[8] J. Verseckas’s 12 July 1945 questionnaire. LSA, f. K-1, ap. 59, b. 18943. l. 1-2 ap.
[9] Z. Lietz, Obozy jeniecke w Prusach Wschodnich 1939-1945.1982, p. 23.
[10] II Swiatowa. Tragiczny i heroiczny wrzesien 1939. 2019, № 7. p. 85.
[11] II Swiatowa. Tragiczny i heroiczny wrzesien 1939, 2019, № 7. p. 94.
[12] 10 February 1940 letter from the Government Commissioner for the Vilnius Region to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithu­ania. Lithuanian Central State Archives (hereinafter – LCSA), f. 317, ap. 1. b. 1. l. 156.
[13] S. Geek, Das deutsche Kriegsgefangenenwesen 1939-1945 (PDF). Master’s thesis, University of Mijnster. 1998, p. 1.
[14] /b/d. pp. 3.4.
[15] Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, Geneva. 27
[16] Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War. Geneva. 27 July 1929, www.icrc.org
[17] Ibid.
[18] Ibid.
[19] C. Dieckmann, „Karo belaisvių žudymas“. Totalitarinių režimų nusi­kaltimai Lietuvoje. Nacių okupacija. Vol. II, p. 10.
[20] According to the capabilities of the military unit that had the Dulag at its disposal.
[21] For example. Kaunas Stalag 336, Alytus Stalag 343, Vilnius Stalag 344, Šiauliai Stalag 361, Širvintos Oflag 60.
[22] S. Geek, Das deutsche Kriegsgefangenenwesen 1939-1945 (PDF). Master’s thesis. University of Munster, 1998, p. 41.
[23] Ibid., pp. 75.76.
[24] Z. Lietz, Obozy jeniecke w Prusach Wschodnich 1939-1945. Warsaw, 1982, pp. 78-79.
[25] V. Jurga’s 14 June 1945 questionnaire. LSA, f. K-1, ap. 59. b. 4407,1.1-2 ap.
[26] A. Pipiras’s 9 April 1949 investigation protocol. LSA. f. K-1. ap, 59. b. 30617.1. 31-32.
[27] A. Krūminis’s 1 September 1949 investigation protocol. LSA, f. K-1, ap. 59. b. 30682, l. 9-9 ap.
[28] P. Kašėta’s 5 May 1947 investigation protocol, LSA, f. K-1. ap. 59. b. 31297, l. 3-3 ap.
[29] P. Kašėta’s 26 July 1945 questionnaire, LSA, f. K-1, ap. 59, b. 1866, l. 1-2 ap.
[30] S. Vaitkevičius’s 18 April 1945 questionnaire. LSA, f. K-1, ap. 59. b. 12960, l. 1-2.
[31] N. Tabėra’s 12 March 1949 investigation protocol, LSA, f. K-1, ap. 59, b. 44942, l. 3-3 ap.
[32] V. Petrulenas’s 1 February 1947 questionnaire. LSA. f. K-1, ap. 59. b. 16359, l. 1-2 ap.
[33] RAD camps. These were camps that were run by the Reich Labour Service (German: Reichsarbeitsdienst. RAD) and were made up of young men and women who were of conscription age but who had not been called up for military service for justifiable reasons (e.g. religious beliefs, convictions, disability, etc). They lived in dormitories under a strict discipline regime and mainly did construction and infrastructure work.
[34] Z. Lietz, Obozyjeniecke w Prusach Wschodnich 1939-1945. pp. 90-92.
[35] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalag_l-B
[36] D. Tolvaiša’s 20 March 1946 questionnaire. LSA, f. K-1. ap. 59. b. 29380. l. 1-2 ap.
[37] J. Faraponis’s 12 June 1947 questionnaire. LSA f. K-1, ap. 59, b. 10678, l. 1-2.
[38] L. Potapovičius’s work card. LSA f К-l, ap. 59, b. 6245, l. 6 ap.
[39] V. Čepulis’s 9 October 1947 investigation protocol. LSA, f. К-l. ap. 59. b. 4053, l. 13.14.
[40] S. Petruškevičius’s 12 January 1945 investigation protocol. LSA, f. K-l, ap. 59. b. 52061, 1-4.
[41] P. Čibiras’s 5 September 1945 questionnaire, LSA, f. K-1, ap. 59. b. 30450. l. 1-2 ap.
[42] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalag_lll-A
[43] J. Rapnikas’s 23 July 1947 investigation protocol. LSA, f. K-1, ap. 59. b. 24693, l. 8-10.
[44] M. Antulis’s 26 May 1945 questionnaire. LSA, f. K-1, ap. 59, b. 33425, l. 1-2 ap.
[45] Z. Baublys’s 14 November 1947 questionnaire, LSA. f. K-1. ap. 59. b. 15863. l. 1-2 ap.
[46] Z. Lietz. Obozy jeniecke w Prusach Wschodnich 1939-1945, p. 116-117.
[47] List of Lithuanians and residents of Vilnius City and Region held in the prisoner-of-war camp by the German authorities, LCSA, f. 317, ap. 1. b. 1. l. 166.
[48] A. Steponėnas’s 20 June 1945 questionnaire; Document confirming A. Steponėnas’s release from the prisoner-of-war camp. 20 June 1940. LSA, f. K-1. ap. 59. b. 30501. l. 1-3.
[49] J. Bižokas’s 25 November 1945 questionnaire. LSA, f. K-1, ap. 59, b. 431. l. 2.
[50] B. Telyčėnas’s 2 July 1945 questionnaire, LSA, f. K-1. ap. 59. b. 29800, l. 1-3.
[51] K. Cijūnėlis’s 30 June 1945 questionnaire, LSA, f. K-1, ap. 59. b. 11207, l. 1-2 ap.
[52] Certificate issued to G. Lukšėnas by the commandant of Stalag IV-D on 9 October 1941, LSA. f. K-1, ap. 59. b. 12070, l. 7, 8.
[53] R. Stepanėnas’s 30 June 1945 questionnaire. LSA. f. K-1. ap. 59. b. 12173. l. 1-3.
[54] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stammlager_VIII_A
[55] J. Biveinis’s 29 May 1947 residence certificate, LSA, f. K-1, ap. 59. b. 4858, l. 4.
[56] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalag_X-B
[57] 27 November 1942 Sandbostel prisoner-of-war camp certificate of release from the prisoner-of-war camp, LSA, f. K-1. ap. 59. b. 7633, l. 3.
[58] A. Dubonis’s work card, LSA. f. K-1, ap. 59, b. 30802, l. 3.
[59] A. Dubonis’s 5 July 1946 questionnaire. LSA, f. K-1, ap. 59. b. 30802, l. 5-8 ap.
[60] K. Činčikas’s questionnaire. LSA f. K-1. ap. 59, b. 30445. l. 1-4.
[61] P. Povilėnas’s 29 November 1946 questionnaire. LSA f. K-1. ap. 59. b. 20311. l. 1-2-3 ap.
[62] Stalag XI-A. https://de.wikipedia.org
[63] K. Navickas’s 1 June 1945 questionnaire. LSA f. K-1, ap. 59. b. 35164, l. 8-9 ap.
[64] V. Navickas’s 25 August 1945 questionnaire. LSA. f. K-1. ap. 59. b. 31292, l. 1-3.
[65] B. Rastenis’s 28 June 1945 questionnaire, LSA. f. K-1. ap. 59. b. 30543, l. 1-3.
[66] K. Bielinis’s 8 October 1947 questionnaire, LSA, f. K-1, ap. 59. b. 6710. l. 4-5 ap.
[67] K. Lukša’s 13 August 1945 questionnaire. LSA. f. K-1. ap. 59. b. 30582, l. 1-2 ap.
[68] F. Mikulėnas’s 1 February 1947 questionnaire. LSA. f. К-l. ap. 59. b. 21457, l. 1-2 ap.
[69] J. Spėčius’s 8 January 1946 questionnaire. LSA, f. K-1, ap. 59. b. 21347, l. 1-2 ap.
[70] The POW Camp (1940-1945), https://bergen-belsen.stiftung-ng.de/ en/history/thepowcamp1940-1945/
[71] A. Tareilė’s 12 April 1945 investigation protocol. LSA, f. K-1. ap. 59, b. 29802. l. 5-7.
[72] D. Janutėnas’s 6 January 1947 questionnaire, LSA, f. K-1. ap. 59, b. 6155, l. 2-3.
[73] A. Jeskelevičius’s 28 November 1945 investigation protocol, LSA. f. K-1. ap. 59. b. 9095, l. 2.
[74] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kriegsgefangenenlager_Kaiserstein-bruch
[75] J. Tamulevičius’s 27 June 1947 investigation protocol. LSA, f. К-l, ap. 59. b. 45552, l. 3-3 ap.

Dr. Arūnas Bubnys
“Lietuviai Lenkijos kariuomenėje ir vokiečiu karo nelaisvėje 1939-1945 metais”

Genocide and Resistance Research Centre of Lithuania, 2025, Vilnius
Editor: Audronė Gečiauskienė
Layout Designer: Vitalijus Bilevičius
Translated by Metropolio vertimai UAB

27 July 2025 4 AS. Print run 200 copies
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