Stalag Luft I

Stalag Luft I
Barth, Western Pomerania
Stalag Luft I
Coordinates	54°22′25″N 12°42′31″E / 54.3736°N 12.7086°E / 54.3736; 12.7086
Type	Prisoner-of-war camp
Site information
Controlled by	Nazi Germany
Site history
In use	1940–1945
Garrison information
Garrison	900 officers and men
Occupants	RAF SAAF and USAAF POWs

Stalag Luft I was a German World War II prisoner-of-war camp near Barth, Western Pomerania, Germany, for captured Allied airmen. The presence of the prison camp is said to have shielded the town of Barth from Allied bombing. Approximately 9,000 airmen (7,588 American and 1,351 British and Canadian) were imprisoned there when it was liberated on the night of 30 April 1945 by Russian troops.

The camp was opened in 1941 to hold British officers, but was closed in April 1942, when they were transferred to other camps. It was reopened in October 1942, when 200 RAF NCOs from Stalag Luft III were moved there. From 1943, American POWs were sent to the camp.

On 30 April 1945, the prisoners were ordered to evacuate the camp in the face of the advancing Soviet Red Army, but refused. After negotiations between the Senior American Officer and the Kommandant, it was agreed that to avoid useless bloodshed the guards would go, leaving the POWs behind. The next day, the first Soviet troops arrived.

The Soviet troops treated German civilians in the area badly, but American and Commonwealth personnel were treated with respect (the liberated POWs were careful to wear armbands on which their nationality was written in Russian). After initial concern they would be repatriated by sea via Odessa in the Soviet Union, the Russians eventually gave permission for the POWs to be evacuated by air.

Between 13–15 May, the camp was evacuated by American aircraft in "Operation Revival". The British POWs were returned directly to Great Britain, while the Americans were sent to Camp Lucky Strike north-east of Le Havre, France, before being shipped back to the United States.

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