Luckenwalde
In September 1939, Polish prisoners of war came to Luckenwalde. They were placed in tents 12 x 35 meters in size and allocated to build barracks and other camp buildings and facilities. Intense construction work continued throughout the winter of 1939/1940. The entire camp complex consisted of about 100 brick barracks and 50 tents. After the Poles - Dutch and Belgians arrived in the camp, and a few weeks or months later 40,000 prisoners of war from France replaced them. Following the capitulation of the Italian army, another 16,000 prisoners were accommodated there and after a short stay, they were sent to other POW camps. At the end of the war, American, Romanian and again English and Polish prisoners of war were transferred to Luckenwalde. The Poles also included some Home Army soldiers - participants of the Warsaw Uprising. Apart from thousands of Russian prisoners of war who arrived at the end of 1941, the French constituted the largest group until the end of the war. In total, over 200,000 prisoners of war, representatives of ten nationalities, passed through Stalag III A Luckenwade.
The camp was the largest in the district of Brandenburg - Berlin and one of the largest in the German Reich. An average of 6,000 to 8,000 prisoners were kept in the main camp, and thousands of others were forced to work in more than 1,000 work units. Russian prisoners of war, deprived of the protection of international conventions, were the worst treated in the camp and in the work units. They suffered the greatest losses: in the winter of 1941/1942 alone, about 2,500 Russian prisoners of war died during the typhus epidemic. They were buried anonymously in mass graves. The most frequent causes of death among non-Russian prisoners of war were infections, tuberculosis, accidents at work, suicides and shooting during alleged escapes. They were buried with military honours in individual graves.
At the beginning of 1945, when the Red Army threatened the area on the eastern bank of the Oder River, nearly one thousand prisoners of war from Stalag III B Fürstenberg reached Luckenwalde in an evacuation march, which caused the already poor supplies, medical and sanitary conditions to deteriorate, resulting in an increase in the number of deaths, especially among Russian prisoners of war. In the last few weeks of the operation, the guards led by officers left the camp on the news of the approaching Soviet troops. On the 22nd of April 1945 the camp was liberated by the Russians.
The national plots of the camp cemetery became the place of final rest to about 5,000 Russian prisoners of war. After the war, government commissions from France and Great Britain exhumed and transferred their citizens who died in Luckenwalde to their home lands. In 1992, the Italian government set up a commission that did the same with 215 graves of deceased interned Italian soldiers. The Yugoslavian part with over a dozen tombstones and plates informing about the fate of Yugoslav prisoners of war, also includes unmarked graves of Poles.
After the reunification of Germany, the former Stalag III A and the camp cemetery were commemorated - at first officially under the regulations on the protection of war graves, and then by the public and the Luckenwalde town authorities. A social initiative called Luckewalder Heimatfreunde e.V. was created, its goal being to arrange the documentation in order and to create a memorial site on the remains of the cemetery, which had its solemn opening in September 2009. At the same time, the town museum created an exhibition and archive showing the history of the stalag and the prisoners' stay there.
The following is an alphabetical list of Polish prisoners of war who died in Stalag III A Luckenwalde, who were buried in the Yugoslavian plot (at the time of preparing the documentation the graves were unrecognisable, and the differences in the cemetery name lists are marked in brackets):
BOCHODNICKI METODY (Bocholnica Mefody)
Non-Commissioned Officer
* 6.4.1913 Jeżów
† 13.2.1940 Luckenwalde
BOCZKOWSKI STANISŁAW
Sergeant
* 17.11.1906 Nowogród pow. Łomża
† 28.4.1940 Luckenwalde
CIOSNAK JAN (Ciosniak)
soldier
* 20.2.1917 Ciosny (?) district Biłgoraj
† 15.2.1940 Luckenwalde
CZATYŃSKI STEFAN
soldier
† 29.9.1939 Luckenwalde
ENGEL S.
soldier (civilian)
† 20.9.1939 Luckenwalde
FRANEK IGNACY (Frank Ignacz)
soldier
* 24.1.1916 Brenno district Leszno
† 14.11.1939 Luckenwalde
Hulis Władysław (Hulist Wladyslaw)
soldier
* 25.1.1907 Dąbrowa Górnicza district Będzin
† 18.4.1940 Luckenwalde
JEZIERSKI JÓZEF (Jezewski Josef)
soldier
* 7.3.1899 Iloczew district Sieradz
† 11.1.1940 Luckenwalde
KNEBLOCH WŁADYSŁAW
Captain
* 26.6.1893
† 12.5.1945 Luckenwalde
KRYSA ALEKSANDER
Lieutenant (civilian)
* 27.11.1890
† 9.4.1945 Luckenwalde (9.4.1940)
KUCHTA FABIAN
Sergeant
* 15.2.1899 Janiczkowice
† 17.4.1940 Luckenwalde
LEDER MARCIN (German citizen Leda Martin)
soldier
* 14.8.1910
† 19.11.1939 Luckenwalde
MALMED PEJSACH
soldier
* 15.1.1910 Czernawczyce district Brześć Litewski
† 25.12.1939 Luckenwalde
MORGUT FRANCISZEK
soldier
* 13.11.1909 Ragów district Puławy
† 15.3.1940 Luckenwalde
MOSOLEFT PIOTR
soldier
* 21.12.1904
† 20.9.1940 Luckenwalde
OLIWA MAKS (Oliva Max)
soldier
* 15.10.1899 Łódź
† 20.12.1939 Luckenwalde
PALUCHOWICZ LEON
soldier
* 24.6.1917 Serniki district Pińsk
† 7.3.1940 Luckenwalde
PIĄTKOWSKI CZESŁAW
soldier of the Polish Army or Home Army, participant of the Warsaw Uprising
* 16.7.1907
† 1.2.1945 Luckenwalde
ROGALSKI STANISŁAW
soldier
* 26.2.1911 Świerzów district Piotrków
† 29.10.1939 Luckenwalde
ROKITA STANISŁAW
soldier
* Rombielice near Częstochowa
† 6.10.1939 Luckenwalde
ROSTAN JAN (Roslon Jan)
soldier
* 24.6.1906 Wola Galkowska near Grójec
† 22.10.1940 Luckenwalde
RYSZANA JULIAN (Ryszawa Julian)
soldier
* 13.2.1907 Sitne district Radzymin
† 20.2.1940 Luckenwalde
SAPOR STANISŁAW
soldier
* 27.10.1916
† 9.12.1940 Luckenwalde
SARAPATA JÓZEF
Lieutenant
* 17.3.1886
† 11.2.1945 Luckenwalde
SIEMIENIAK JÓZEF
Private
* 10.2.1913 Dobrojewo district Wronki
† 6.3.1940 Luckenwalde
ŚNIEGOCKI JÓZEF TEODOR
Sergeant Major
* 20. 4.1914 Płock district warszawskie
† 29.1.1940 Luckenwalde
SOŁTYSIAK KAZIMIERZ
Rifleman
* 6.1.1907 Torsko district Jarocin
† 13.12.1939 Luckenwalde
STACHECKI WŁADYSŁAW (Stachniki)
Lance Corporal Rifles
* 5.9.1914 Buków near Łódź
† 3.11.1939 Luckenwalde
SUNIGOWSKI JÓZEF (Sunigocki)
soldier
* 20.2.1901
† 7.2.1940 Luckenwalde
SZELA FRANCISZEK
soldier (civilian)
* 15.6.1901 Melnik near Rzeszów
† 13.10.1940 Luckenwalde
SZŁACHECKI WŁADYSŁAW
soldier
* 29.4.1914
† 3.11.1939 Luckenwalde
URZĘDOWSKI KAZIMIERZ
soldier
† 8.10.1939 Luckenwalde
WACZNADZE MIKOŁAJ
Colonel
* 22.7.1884 Grorzdziel/Tiflis
† 24.5.1940 Luckenwalde
WALCZAK FELIKS
soldier
* 6.10.1903 Rybitwy district Łęczyca
† 20.10.1939 Luckenwalde
WOŁOSZYŃSKI WŁODZIMIERZ (Wotoschinski Wlodzin)
Lieutenant
* 15.8.1894
† 13.5.1945 Luckenwalde
ZACHROCZEWSKI / ZAKRZEWSKI HENRYK
soldier
* 10.1.1910
† 9.3.1940 Luckenwalde
ZAPOR STANISŁAW
soldier
* 27.10.1916
† 9.12.1940 Luckenwalde
ZRUM JERZY
soldier
* 6.2.1910
† 19.3.1940 Luckenwalde
JAKUBEK JÓZEF
civilian
* 19.01.1912 in Mischischewitz district of Karthaus / West Prussia
† 3.8.1939 Luckenwalde
KUBISCH TADEUSZ
civilian
* 27.10.1918 in Rogasen
† 8 June ?
MATOGA JAN
civilian
* 26.6.1944 Luckenwalde
† 3.7.1944 Luckenwalde
RUTKOWSKI WŁADYSŁAW
civilian
* 25.2.1926 Warsaw
† 25.3.1945 Luckenwalde
SZABAN ELISABETH
civilian
† 1939 Luckenwalde
