SHORT HISTORY: 1938-1940.



The history of Mannschafts-Stammlager (Stalag) IVA starts at 2 different locations, both in Military District (Wehrkreis) IV, Saxony. The original site was at Elsterhorst, formerly called Nardt, north of Dresden. Here, the German authorities appear to have anticipated the need to accommodate military prisoners, work starting on creating a PoW camp in 1938. The next year it was used to house PoWs captured during the Reich’s invasion of Czechoslovakia in March 1939. Around 350 Czech/Slovak PoWs were accommodated, initially in tents. At this stage the camp was called Stalag IV, which suggests that it was the precursor of the stalags created later in Wehrkreis IV.
The invasion and occupation of western Poland in September 1939 meant a substantial influx of Polish PoWs, some of whom were sent to Stalag IV, where they were put to work to build the permanent barracks for POWs, the huts for the Kommandatur and a military hospital and services. In 1940 the successful German campaign in Western Europe imposed significant additional pressure on the accommodation available for PoWs in the Reich, with the result that Stalag IV was expanded. In the process the camp’s name was changed to Stalag IVA, to distinguish it from the other stalags being opened at the same time.
The character of its PoW complement shifted over time. By July 1940 the Polish PoWs had been joined by over 600 French and over 800 Belgians. The defeat of France resulted in further arrivals, such that the following month the camp was holding 1,000 French, 1,300 Belgian and 1,100 Polish prisoners. Over the next few months the number of PoWs rose dramatically. In September there were 9,000 French and 377 Belgians held there. In addition, a network of arbeitskommando (work camps) had been set up, controlled from the Stalag, in which 7,000 French and 4,500 Belgian PoWs were housed. The increased development of work camps is reflected in the numbers of PoWs under Stalag IVA's control by the end of 1940. By then the camp itself held 2,456 French and  only 295 Belgians. At the same time numbers in the work camps had risen to 12,800 French and 2,800 Belgian PoWs. In total, then, in 1940 Stalag IVA's complement of PoWs had risen to a total of 18,400 French and Belgians. It is not clear how many Polish PoWs were still in the Stalag, if any.
For much of the year its commandant was a Major Sperl , though the Protecting Power report says that a Major Schoenberg was actually in charge, Sperl being "rather old and inactive". In September Schoenberg is described as the commanding officer, though it is clear that Sperl was still in the camp. Schoenberg transferred late in 1940, to be replaced by Major Moritz, under Major Sperl. The likelihood is that Major Moritz was posted to the camp in anticipation of its move to Hohnstein, since he went to be commandant there in 1941.
Late in 1940 the original site of the Stalag was physically split so that a camp could be established adjacently as Offizierlager (Oflag) IVD to accommodate officer PoWs arriving from the western front. This was predominantly for French officers. The hospital built earlier, though managed by German personnel, had a number of French military medical staff, officers and other ranks. It was intended as a facility for PoWs, and seems to have specialised to an extent in patients suffering from tuberculosis.  At the end of 1940 it had 86 patients.
Meanwhile, in the mountains south of Dresden, at the medieval Hohnstein Castle overlooking the town of the same name, another officer PoW camp had been set up as Oflag IVB-Z. Initially, this was a subsidiary camp to the main one at the castle at Konigstein, Oflag IVB, 12 km south east on the River Elbe. The castle had a long history as a prison for political prisoners and in 1933, after a period during the Weimar Republic when it was a youth hostel, it returned to its role as a political prison under the National Socialist Government. With the onset of war in 1939, the German authorities converted it for use as an Oflag to house first Polish and then French and other officers. By July 1940 the castle housed a substantial number of Polish, French and Dutch generals and other officers, plus soldiers from other ranks providing services for their superiors, probably over 500 PoWs in total. Its commandant at that stage was Rittmeister Menz.
Oflag IVB-Z at Hohnstein Castle seems to have retained its subordinate status to Konigstein for the rest of 1940, with Stalag IVA remaining at Elsterhorst.
Revised: June 2020

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