Stalag XI-B

Stalag XI-B / Stalag XI-D / Stalag 357
Fallingbostel, Lower Saxony
POWs at Stalag XI-B welcome their liberators, 16 April 1945
Stalag XI-B / Stalag XI-D / Stalag 357
Coordinates	52°51′29″N 9°43′13″E / 52.85795°N 9.72015°E / 52.85795; 9.72015
Type	Prisoner-of-war camp
Site information
Controlled by	Nazi Germany
Site history
In use	1939–1945
Garrison information
Occupants	Allied POW

Stalag XI-B and Stalag XI-D / 357 were two German World War II prisoner-of-war camp (Stammlager) located just to the east of the town of Fallingbostel in Lower Saxony, in north-western Germany.

The camp was built in 1937 as accommodation for workers building the barracks at the nearby Westlager ("Western Camp") of Truppenübungsplatz Bergen ("Military Training Area Bergen"). In September 1939 the huts were fenced in and designated Stalag XI-B. The first prisoners to arrive were Poles in late 1939, followed by French and Belgians the following year. By the end of 1940 around 40,000 POW were registered there, although only about 2,500 of these were housed at the camp, with the majority assigned to various Arbeitskommando ("work camps") in the area. Close by were the barracks of Landesschützen-Bataillon 461 ("Local Defence Battalion 461"), who guarded the camp. This Army unit was composed of men considered too old or otherwise unfit for front-line service, and were commonly used for guard and garrison duties.

In July 1941 the first Soviet POWs arrived, and were accommodated in a large fenced-off open area called Marquartsfeld about 1 km (0.62 mi) north-east of Stalag XI-B, and designated Stalag XI-D (also known as Stalag 321). Lacking huts the Russian prisoners initially lived in dugouts. Another 10,000 Soviet officers were accommodated in XI-B. In late 1941 the SS separated out the senior officers, Communist Party officials and Jews from the Soviet POW, and sent them to the concentration camps at Sachsenhausen and Neuengamme. By November 1941 there were about 11,000 Soviet POW in XI-D, and some huts were built. The same month an epidemic of typhus broke out in both camps which lasted until February 1942. In early 1942 rations for the Soviet prisoners were slightly increased in order to enable them to work, however it was still so inadequate that many prisoners died from exhaustion. In July 1942 Stalag XI-D was dissolved and incorporated into Stalag XI-B.