Oflag IX-C
| Oflag IX-C | |
|---|---|
| Molsdorf, Erfurt, Thuringia | |
 Oflag IX-C
|
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| Coordinates | 50°53′32″N 10°57′48″E / 50.89220°N 10.96322°E |
| Type | Prisoner-of-war camp |
| Site information | |
| Controlled by |
 Nazi Germany
|
| Site history | |
| In use | 1944–1945 |
| Garrison information | |
| Occupants | Polish women officers |
Oflag IX-C was a German prisoner-of-war camp for officers (Offizierlager) during World War II, located just to the south of the village of Molsdorf, near Erfurt in Thuringia.
The camp housed women officers of the Armia Krajowa ("Home Army") captured after the 1944 Warsaw Uprising. It consisted of seven wooden barrack huts and an administration building, originally built in 1938 for slave labourers from nearby Buchenwald concentration camp who were working on the autobahn near Erfurt. The camp now came under the administrative command of Stalag IX-C near Bad Sulza. In December 1944, 380 women officers, 38 female orderlies and three children were brought there from other POW camps: Stalag XI-B Fallingbostel, Stalag XI-B/Z Bergen-Belsen, Gross-Rosen, Stalag IV-E Altenburg, Stalag 344 Lamsdorf and Stalag X-A Sandbostel. The Senior Polish Officer was Major Wanda Gertz.
The camp was one of the worst Oflags operated by the German Army during the war. The officer in charge, Hauptmann, was reasonably well-disposed, but seemingly incapable of improving the situation, according to the testimony of the prisoners. The camp was built on boggy ground, prone to flooding, and was always ankle-deep in thick mud. The wooden huts had been used only temporarily in 1938/39, and then abandoned, so were dilapidated and damp, and infested with bedbugs, mice and rats. There was no heating in the barracks although temperatures dropped to −17 °C (1 °F) in the winter. Rations were poor, though eventually some Red Cross packages were sent over from Stalag IX-C, the prisoners lacked any means of cooking, and had to improvise as well as they could. They burnt paper, cardboard and wood chips in empty tin cans to boil water, but this practice was soon prohibited by the camp authorities. Washing facilities were non-existent, and there was no hot water. Four Polish doctors did their best without instruments and few drugs, but respiratory diseases and malnourishment were endemic. The camp library consisted of just 105 books, mostly brought by the prisoners themselves. They had no access to a priest, and no religious services were held in the camp.
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