Stalag IV-B

Stalag IV-B
Mühlberg, Brandenburg
Entrance to Stalag IV-B
Main street of the camp
Stalag IV-B
Coordinates	51°26′46″N 13°16′59″E / 51.44598°N 13.283°E / 51.44598; 13.283
Type	Prisoner-of-war camp
Site information
Controlled by	Nazi Germany
Site history
In use	1939-1945

Stalag IV-B was one of the largest prisoner-of-war camps in Germany during World War II. Stalag is an abbreviation of the German Stammlager ("Main Camp"). It was located 8 km (5.0 mi) north-east of the town of Mühlberg in the prussian Province of Saxony, just east of the Elbe river and about 30 mi (48 km) north of Dresden. From 1944 to 1945 it belonged to the Province of Halle-Merseburg. Now, the area is in Brandenburg. A sub-camp, sometimes identified as Stalag IV-B/Z,Stalag 304 or Stalag IV-H was located at Zeithain, 10 km (6.2 mi) to the south in Saxony.

The camp, covering about 30 hectares (74 acres), was opened in September 1939. The first inmates were about 17,000 Polish soldiers captured in the German September 1939 offensive. For the first two months they dwelt under the open sky or in tents. Most of them were transferred further to other camps. In May 1940 the first French soldiers arrived, taken prisoner in the Battle of France. In 1941 British, and Australian soldiers arrived after the fall of Greece, and later in the year Russian POWs from the invasion of the Soviet Union. In September 1943, further numbers of British, ANZAC, and South African soldiers, previously captive in Italy, arrived after the Italian capitulation. In October 1944 several thousand Poles arrived, members of the Armia Krajowa ("Home Army") captured after the Warsaw Uprising, including several hundred women soldiers. In November 1944 the Polish women were transferred to other camps, mainly Stalag IV-E (Altenburg) and Oflag IX-C (Molsdorf). At the end of December 1944 about 7,500 Americans arrived from the Battle of the Bulge. At least 3,000 of them were transferred to other camps, mostly to Stalag VIII-A. On 23 April 1945 the Red Army liberated the camp. Altogether soldiers from 33 nations passed through the camp.