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18th July 1941 Barlog 8731 1/1 Barlog cartoon postcard depicting a pilot enjoying a glass of wine and then groggily flying his aircraft. Bestell-Nr.8731. Sent by a soldier with FPN 21611 (RAD-Abteilung 4/180) to another soldier at FPN 36472 (RAD-Abteilung 5/302). There is also an official cachet for FPN 16293? (RAD-Abteilung 5/44). Ref: 18.07.1941 The caption reads: Translation required Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page
7th August 1941 Hinterzarten 1/1 Postcard depicting a view of Hinterzarten. Ref: 07.08.1941 Hinterzarten Hinterzarten is a resort village in the Black Forest, located in the southwest of the state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Although Hinterzarten is mostly famous for its ski jumping, it has many other tourist attractions. Vignette extolling the virtues of Hinterzarten - 'Air, Sun, Water'. Ref: 14.11.1947 - 16/38 The Birklehof in Hinterzarten, an elite boarding school, was converted into a state reformatory during the Nazi era. Despite this, the students were largely spared from the Gleichschaltung . [ The Nazi term Gleichschaltung or 'coordination' was the process of Nazification by which Adolf Hitler successively established a system of totalitarian control and coordination over all aspects of German society 'from the economy and trade associations to the media, culture and education'. Although the Weimar Constitution remained nominally in effect until Germany's surrender following World War II, near total Nazification had been secured by the 1935 resolutions approved during the Nuremberg Rally, when the symbols of the Nazi Party and the state were fused and German Jews were deprived of their citizenship. The tenets of Gleichschaltung also applied to territories occupied by the Nazis. ] Source: Wikipedia & Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek Postcard depicting a view of Hinterzarten. Ref: 23.10.1941 Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page
2nd August 1941 Schutzpolizei 02.08.1941 Schutzpolizei Von Imhoff reverse.jpeg 02.08.1941 Schutzpolizei Von Imhoff reverse.jpeg 1/1 Large envelope sent from the Schutzpolizei Dienstabteilung in Dillingen to Stabsoffizier Herr Oberstleutnant von Imhoff in Ausburg. Ref: 02.08.1941 - 15/83 Schutzpolizei The Schutzpolizei des Reiches or the Schupo was the state protection police of Nazi Germany and a branch of the Ordnungspolizei . Schutzpolizei is the German name for a uniformed police force. The Schutzpolizei des Reiches was the uniformed police of most cities and large towns. State police departments were in charge of protection police, Kripo criminal investigation divisions ( Kriminalpolizei ), and administrative police. The state protection police comprised a patrol branch, barracked police, traffic police, water police, mounted police, police communications units, and police aviation. Policemen were required to have previous military service, good physical and mental health, Aryan descent and membership in the Nazi Party. Source: Wikipedia von Imhoff The recipient of the correspondence appears to be Sigmund von Imhoff but this cannot be for certain and further research is required. Sigmund von Imhoff (1881-1967) was a Generalmajor in the Luftwaffe during World War II. Wilhelm Maria Sigmund Heinrich, Freiherr von Imhoff, was born a member of the Imhoff family in Metz, Lorraine, on 30th June 1881. His father, Christoph Gustav Karl Sigmund was an officer at Metz, a border town of the German Empire. Von Imhoff served as officer in the German Army during the First World War. After the War, von Imhoff served as officer in the Landespolizei Freistaates of Bayern, the Bavarian police. On 3rd April 1933, Promoted to Oberstleutnant , lieutenant colonel. Sigmund von Imhoff was later seconded to the Luftwaffe , with the rank of Generalmajor. Wilhelm Maria Sigmund Heinrich, Freiherr von Imhoff, died in Farchant, Oberbayern, on 7th July 1967. Source: Wikipedia Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page
30th December 1941 Metzeral 30.12.1941 Metzeral reverse.jpeg 30.12.1941 Metzeral reverse.jpeg 1/1 Postcard sent from Metzeral in the Alsace (with very poor Mi.3 'Elsaß' overprint). Note that to the reverse the publishers imprint 'Editeur Strasbourg' has been struck through. The card has been 'correctly' addressed to 'Strassburg'. Ref: 30.12.1941 Metzeral During the First World War, Metzeral was the subject of a battle which resulted in a decisive French victory. The town, for its part, was nothing more than a pile of ruins. These events were immortalised by the official army painter François Flameng, whose sketches and drawings appeared in the magazine L'Illustration . Most of the village was rebuilt following the armistice under the authority of mayor Jacques Immer. During the Second World War, a fortunate combination of circumstances spared the town from destruction. Indeed, while the German offensive was being prepared (in January 1945), for three weeks, such an abundance of snow began to fall that any military operation became impossible. Prevented by snow, the Wehrmacht had to leave the valley without firing a shot. Metzeral was liberated on 5th February 1945. Source: Wikipedia Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page
15th November 1941 Stalag 302 Kriegsgefangenenpost sent from Stalag 302 (Gross Born) to a correspondent in Cherbourg. Reverse Kriegsgefangenenpost sent from Stalag 302 (Gross Born) to a correspondent in Cherbourg. Reverse 1/1 Kriegsgefangenenpost letter-sheet from Stalag 302 (Gross Born), with postal parcel instructions, sent to a correspondent in Cherbourg, France. Ref: 15.11.1941 Stalag 302 The history of the prisoner of war camps in Barkniewko is closely linked to the establishment of the German Groß Born training ground, which was built in 1935-1936. The name of the training ground referred to the village of Gross Born, which was located in the center of the training ground. The beginnings of using the poorly fertile, sandy areas for military purposes date back to 1912 and are closely related to the existing military training ground in the town of Hammerstein (Polish: Czarne) in the district of Schlochau (Polish: Człuchów). Initially, when the training ground plan was created in 1934, the area of the village of Barkenbrügge (Polish: Barkniewko) was not within the training ground, this happened in the second stage of the development of the training ground infrastructure, when the entire village of Barkenbrügge and part of the village of Marienwalde (Polish: Marianowo, Czersk) were included in the training ground area. After this change, the Gross Born training ground had 18,659 ha and included 6 villages, from which the inhabitants were gradually evicted and the entire area became a military area. The forested areas (8,546 ha) were administered by 7 forest districts and subordinated to the management of military forests based in Marienwalde. On the Gross Born training ground, the Germans built two barracks complexes: Gross Born lager Linde (currently Borne Sulinowo) for 15,000 soldiers and Gross Born lager Westfalenhof (currently Kłomino) for approx. 6,000 soldiers. Before the barracks were built, two large wooden barracks complexes were built in their immediate vicinity for the needs of German workers, in which a total of approx. 4,000 of them lived. Before the outbreak of war with Poland on 26th August 1939, a transit camp for Polish prisoners of war, Dulag E (Durchgangslager E – transit camp E), was established in the barracks, to which most Polish prisoners of war taken prisoner by soldiers of the German 4th Army from POW collective camps (German Sammellager), including from Wejherowo, Terespol Pomorski, Starogard Gdański, Boże Pole, Karolew near Bydgoszcz, Grupa near Grudziądz and others. According to data from the International Red Cross, on 18th September 1939, there were 8,298 Polish prisoners of war in Dulag E . On 3rd September 1939, the first Polish prisoners of war died on the Gross Born training ground and were buried in a temporary cemetery near the German Evangelical cemetery near the town of Linde (currently ul. Orła Białego in Borne Sulinowo). On 10th October, the Dulag E POW camp was transformed into a camp for privates and non-commissioned officers Stalag II E (Stammlager II E). In order to compensate for the shortage of workers, the Germans used Polish prisoners of war in field work in agriculture. On 30th October 1939, there were 7,300 prisoners in Stalag II E , including 2,229 civilians and 1,985 soldiers, and 1,882 civilians were used for work. The prisoners sent to work formed work teams (from 20 to 50 prisoners) outside the main camp and worked on estates and farms in the Pomeranian Province, including 90 work teams in Szczecinek County, 69 in Wałcz County, and 73 work teams in Drawsko County. The few preserved fragments of accounts by Polish prisoners of war collected in the documents of the Main Commission for the Investigation of Nazi Crimes in Poland, Koszalin branch, indicate that Polish prisoners of war were also deployed near Barkenbrügge. From the spring of 1940, the German authorities began a mass campaign to deprive Polish prisoners of war of their prisoner of war status, simultaneously transferring them to civilian worker status. On 11th May 1940, out of a total of 7,548 prisoners in Stalag II E , only 295 were in a prisoner of war camp, while the rest were employed outside the main camp. On 1st June 1940, Stalag II E was transformed into Oflag II D Gross Born Westfalenhof (wooden barracks near Kłomin, the so-called Camp on Psia Górka), to which French prisoners of war began to be brought from 11th June 1940, in the number of over 5.5 thousand, later the number of French prisoners of war in this camp was about 3 thousand officers and orderlies. The Germans, preparing a plan for the attack on the USSR, were preparing to accept a huge number of prisoners of war, planning POW camps for them also in the area of the II Military District Pomerania. The first information about the planned locations of new POW camps for Red Army soldiers on the Gross Born training ground appeared on 30th April 1941 during a meeting of the Wehrmacht High Command, on that day the numbers of the planned camps for Red Army prisoners of war, including those on the Gross Born training ground, were determined. Two camps were to be located here, the numbering of which was determined as 302 and 323 . On that day, the numbers of the planned camps for Red Army prisoners of war were determined, including those at the Gross Born training ground. On 15th April 1941 , Frontstalag 302 was created with its headquarters in Arnswalde (Choszczno). It was assigned to II Military District Inf. ERs. Batl. 4 Kolberg WK II. On 15th May 1941, it was subordinated to the Prisoners of War Command in II Military District. On 16th June 1941, the Supreme Command of the German Wehrmacht determined the maximum number of prisoners of war who were to be ultimately held in two camps on the Gross Born training ground: 302 – 50 thousand, 323 – 30 thousand. The letter-sheet sent from Stalag 302 (ref: 15.11.1941) contains a printed instruction page regarding the posting of packages to prisoners of war (written in French). This indicates that such parcels should be sent to Stalag III-D. It would appear that the French POWs were to be transferred to Stalag III-D in order to accommodate the prisoners arriving from actions during the Russian campaign started on 22nd June 1941. Stalag III-D contained over 17,000 French POWs at this time. Note that Mattiello (2003) records Stalag II-H (302) as only housing Polish and Russian POWs from November 1941. On 15th July 1941, Stalag 302 was subordinated to Landesschutzen Ers. Batl 2 Stettin WKII. After the outbreak of war with the Soviet Union on 22nd July 1941, the first information about a POW camp organised on the Gross Born training ground appeared on 23rd June 1941and concerned Russenlager Gross Born 323 Gross Born Rederitz. The next information about a camp on the Gross Born training ground comes from 14th August 1941 and concerns an organisational order for Stalag II G (323) Gross Born Rederitz. Information from August 1941 about Stalag II G (323) and the number of prisoners – 4,381 has been preserved. The Central Archives of the Ministry of Defence in Russia has preserved a German document from the end of 1941 concerning the number of POW identity marks issued in individual POW camps. Information on the camps from the Gross Born military training ground: - II G (323) Gross Born – Rederitz – from number 1 –11,694 - II H (302) Gross Born – Barkenbrűgge – from number 1 – 18,200. From 1st February 1942 Stalag 302 (II H) was moved from Barkenbrügge to the Gross Born Rederitz camp, and in place of the POW camp in Barkenbrügge a branch camp Stalag II H (302) was established. Stalag 323 (II G) was formally liquidated and crossed out from the register of existing POW camps. Most likely June 1942. Source: okonek.pila.lasy.gov.pl (2025) Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page
19th June 1941 Stalag II-D 19.06.1941 verso.jpeg 19.06.1941 verso.jpeg 1/1 French POW letter-sheet sent from Stalag II-D in Stargard to an address in France. At this time the camp held approximately 6 French Officers, 26,700 other French army ranks and 60 French civilians, as well as Yugoslavian soldiers and civilians. Ref: 19.06.1941 Stalag II-D Stalag II-D operated in Stargard (Pomerania) starting in October 1939. It was still operating in January 1945. Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page