German documentary on Murnau photos
story, by Bayerischer Rundfunk TV. April 2013
Exhibition about Murnau in the Museum
of the Wielkopolska Uprising (Odwach) - Poznan, Poland. From
May 8th, 2013 to the end of August.
http://www.muzeumniepodleglosci.poznan.pl/
A newspaper article about Murnau photos
in the SPIEGEL online
http://einestages.spiegel.de/s/tb/26823/offizierslager-in-hitler-deutschland-bilderfund-aus-dem-oflag-murnau.html
January 16, 2013
Bonjour Alain,
Bonjour Olivier,
Hier, je suis tombé au website
de notre journal régional sur l`histoire de vos photos
de Murnau.
Je m´excuse pour continuer à
écrire en anglais, mais c´est beaucoup plus facile
pour moi. These pictures are really amazing: I hope you get more
information about their origin, and they might help to bring
at least some remaining family members more clearing about the
fate of their fathers or grandfathers.
I live 20 kilometers away from Murnau,
but I did not know about this part of history which happened
almoust 68 years ago in my neigbourhood. I know the location
of the former prison camp, as one of the companies of the batallion
where I spent my military service had been based there, and the
barracks are still used by the german mountain infantery. Perhaps
I can illuminate the mystery concerning the SS men who had been
killed during the liberation of the camp on 29.04.1945, this
topic had been discussed on the bulletin board of your website.
There are the names of 3 persons plus the driver/adjudant: I
think they ALL lost their lives at the shooting this day, as
you can see at least 3 different cars who had been attacked by
the americans.
Picture 179 with the kfz 11 vehicle
and 2 victims is taken right in front of the entrance gate. You
can see the trottoir in front, the same scene is shown from the
other direction on the photo of the american photographer Lt.
Edward C. Newell as well.
Picture 239 is a look from the entrance
gate to the south, from where the SS came: In the foreground
you see the pliable roof of the kfz 11 and behind a loaded car
which had been hit by bullets. There might be seen a presumable
victim lying on the ground, but this is not evident.
Picture 174 is particular: It shows
a destroyed, loaded german car, but it can not be the one from
picture 239. This is a scenery north of the entrance gate, as
the surrendered german guard crew who left the camp (by the main
gate) is moving north towards the american tanks. This must be
a third car, who had passed by the camp`s gate and run into the
american troops. So it is very supposable, that there are more
german victims than the 2 dead bodies who can be seen.
On the website of the Volksbund Deutsche
Kriegsgräberfürsorge (german military cemetery comission)
all german victims of the world war(s), who are buried on a military
cemetery are listed. I found the following people who died that
day:
family name: Fick
first name: Ernst Otto
rank: Generalmajor
date of birth: 05.02.1898
killed/missing in action: 29.04.1945
family name: Teichmann
first name: Max
rank: Hauptsturmführer (a special SS-rank, similar to a
captain)
date of birth: 31.12.1902
killed/missing in action: 29.04.1945
family name: Wittmann
first name: Erwin
rank: unknown
date of birth: 19.10.1927
killed/missing in action: 29.04.1945
With Erwin Wittmann I am not sure at
all, as he was too young to be already an officer of the SS.
But he is buried in Munich, so he lost his life in that area,
and he could have been the driver of Max Teichmann.
Perhaps this information helps a little
bit to clarify the facts about this day. I wish you all the best
for your further research, and a lot of feedback to identify
more of the former residents of the camp.
Best regards/cordialement
Manuel
from Weilheim, Bavaria. January 11, 2013
A newspaper article about Murnau photos
in the MERKUR-online.de
January 10, 2013
A WAR MOVIE ABOUT MURNAU ON YOUTUBE
A war movie taken by American troops
during the liberation of Murnau camp can be seen on Youtube.
It's like if some photos of those pages become alive suddenly
...
WW2:
Murnau, Germany (April 29, 1945)
January, 2013
This new book (only Polish edition)
is available in Wielkopolskie Muzeum Walk Niepodleglosciowych
in Poznan.
Contact: bzura@muzeumniepodleglosci.poznan.pl
Web Site: www.muzeumniepodleglosci.poznan.pl
January 11, 2013
This photo probably taken by an American
officer, maybe Lt. Edward C. Newell of the US Army Signals
Corp, is in relation with those taken by the "unknown
photographer" from the camp on the same topic (down). Thanks
to Ronnie Bell who posted it on his Flickr gallery : http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=16118167@N04&q=murnau
Photo # 184 ... http://hollow.one.free.fr/murnau/
Few seconds before the first photo,
when the German vehicle has been shooted by American troops.
According to informations given by Ronnie Bell and Reinhard Frank
the dead is Ernst Otto FICK , Generalmajor der Waffen SS,. born
5.2.1898 and his driver : April 29, 1945, the German staff
vehicle hit a convoy of 12 armoured vehicles of the 1st tank
Division of the United States, The leading tank hit the car with
machine gun fire killing SS Ernst Fick and his driver on the
right opposite the entrance to Murnau. Taken : 29.04.1945
But according to Tom Wodzinsky the two
German were Colonel Teichmann and Captain Widmann ( in
a letter posted down this page ) :
At around 15:00, and as the American
army approached the town of Murnau from the north, a small group
of cars with SS-men approached the camp from the direction of
the town. The Americans were approaching from the opposite direction.
When they met just outside the front gate of the camp, gunfire
erupted, upon which most of the SS cars turned around and fled
back to town. The lead car opened fire whereupon they came under
more concentrated fire from the Americans. 2 SS men died (Colonel
Teichmann and Captain Widmann). Prisoners climbed on to the front
fence and watched proceedings cheering the Americans on. 2nd
Ltnt Alfons Mazurek was also killed by a stray bullet during
the exchange of fire.
Photo # 109 (in the whole collection)
Seehausen am Staffelsee, Kirche St Michael,
"Am Graswegerer"- street. Behind us is the ex Gebirgspanzerjäger
Kaserne ( then OFLAG) in the Weilheimerstrasse 60. Murnau
Postcard printed in 1958.
( Informations and postcard
sent by Reinhard Frank, historian. November
13, 2012 )
Drogi Olivier i Alain
Dziekuje za www poswiecone oficerom z Murnau. Mój dziadek
porucznik lub podporucznik Stanislaw Tomczak spedzil w tym obozie
caly okres wojny. W 1939r wpadl do niewoli sowieckiej i zbiegl.
Niestety wpadl do niewoli niemieckiej i wyladowal w Murnau Block
H. Po wyzwoleniu w 1945r nigdy nie wrócil do Polski. Ostatnie
listy od niego pochodza z Augsburga z lat 50-tych. Poszukuje
innych zdjec mojego przodka, jego mogily i potomków. Przesylam
zdjecia i list z obozu (mam wiecej). Prosze o pomoc jesli to
mozliwe.
Pozdrawiam
Adam Debicki
Chelm Poland. August 25, 2012
Dear Olivier and Alain,
Thank you so much for the photos about
Murnau (“forgotten photos”). It is unbelievable journey
in the past, especially for me. I am the curator in the Museum
of “Poznan” Army in Poznan, Poland. My main interests
are the September campaign 1939 and the struggles of “Poznan”
Army. The commander of the “Poznan” Army was Lt Gen
Tadeusz Kutrzeba (in the Polish Army: “general of division”).
You can see him on the photos:
No. 117, 118, 120, 121 - Kutrzeba and
Lt Gen Wladyslaw Anders – the commander-in-chief of the
Polish Armed Forces (in the West),
No. 201, 202, 203 - Kutrzeba and Maj
Gen Kazimierz Schally (in the Polish Army: “general of brigade”)
– the commander of the Polish Military Mission by SHAEF.
After liberation of the Murnau POW camp
Kutrzeba was the commandant of the Polish Prisoners of War Camp
Oflag VIIA (May 10, 1945 – July 1945). He died in London
on 8 January, 1947. In this year it is the 65th anniversary of
his death. Therefore we intend to publish the biographical book
to commemorate Kutrzeba. I would be very happy if you could agree
to publish 2 or 3 photos from your website in our book…
Please correct me – you recovered
the negatives in a dustbin in PARIS (?). It is interesting because
the group of the Polish generals from Murnau was transported
to Paris in May/June 1945. It was “the Polish route”
to London.
Yours sincerely
Jaroslaw Baczyk. April 17, 2012
Lt Gen Tadeusz Kutrzeba
Dear Olivier and Alain,
Thank-you so much for all your work on this historically important
web site.
My Father Bronislaw Czekierda was one of the few regular enlisted
men who was interned at Oflag VII-A Murnau. He would carry out
regular duties to maintain the camp and assist the Officers.
Like many war veterans he spoke little of the war. However, back
in 1989 I persistently managed to record 2 hours of conversations
of those war years. He passed away in 2003 and you might imagine
my recorded conversations with him are priceless to me.
At the beginning of the war Dad was in a Communications Unit.
Just before the war began he strung telephone lines through the
fields from large spools on a truck. As his unit moved they were
supposed to rewind those telephone cables back onto the spools.
This is how the Polish Command would communicate with the soldiers
on the front line. The Germans had wireless radios. Not every
Polish soldier had a gun. Dad however was issued a single shot
rifle and 35 bullets. That’s all they could spare. He wasn't
captured right away despite being very close to the front line
at the beginning of the war. In a matter of a few weeks the Polish
troops were pushed back further and further until he was finally
captured near Warsaw. Bronislaw was taken to Berlin by train
and detained in a make shift open field detention centre. From
there he was taken to Oflag VII-A Murnau.
During his imprisonment he was given one bowl of soup per day,
consisting mostly of flour and water. The occasional vegetable
was tossed in (sometimes a piece of turnip) along with a half
loaf of bread to last the week. There was also some coffee made
available. Essentially that is what he lived on for the next
5½ years, to the end of the war.
While on work detail in the camp garden, Dad scaled a block wall
when a guard turned away. This was an escape of opportunity,
not a planned escape. He had nothing with him to help him along.
No food, his pockets were empty. The Germans with their dogs
were actively looking for him in the region of the camp. However
Dad covered a lot of ground, making a quick getaway as he headed
toward the Swiss Border. He walked along side of the road, hiding
in the fields of grain and tall grass, hiding whenever he heard
a vehicle. He would eat whatever he could find like apples and
pears. There wasn’t much to feast on. A few days later he
was recaptured near Constance, Germany close to the Swiss border.
He was then returned back to Oflag VII-A Murnau where he remained
for the rest of the war.
Although it wasn’t clearly known
at that time, the end of the war was only six months away. Perhaps
that’s why Dad’s life was spared. The Germans had to
have known that this War was all but lost.
There is far more detail to these stories
but I have reduced 2 hours of conversation to a few lines. I
can't tell you how much the pictures on your web site mean to
me. I have studied all the photos in great detail. From the sea
of people pictured in all the photographs, I cannot see my father.
However, I know he's there!
Sincerely yours,
Waldemar Czekierda. March 3, 2011
London, Ontario, Canada
Bronislaw Czekierda
(back row no cap)
Dear Alain
I saw your website and looked through every photograph. My grandfather
was Lt. Col Edward Jan Pach and he was held at Murnau for the
duration of the war. From what my late father told me he was
deputy commander and quartermaster of the 82nd Infantry Regiment
headquarters at Brest-Litewski. I believe he may have been transfered
to the 35th Infantry Division reserve as he left Brest-Litewski
on 7 September 1939 to join the fighting against the Germans.
He was one of the lucky ones as the officers of the 82nd were
murdered at Katyn or Kharkov. No one knows what happened to my
grandfather as all contact was lost in 1946. We know that he
spent some time as a displaced person at Warburg Dossell. He
was a very close friend of Major Henryk Sucharski Defender of
Westerplatte.
From your photographs he might be on photograph 213 middle row
first on the left or photograph 14 the officer standing between
the two second and front on the first row. If anyone has any
information about Edward Pach I would be delighted to correspond.
Richard Pach (r945003@hotmail.co.uk)
October 25, 2010
Dear Alain
My father ZYMUNT SZCZEPANSKI was taken to Murnau after the Warsaw
Uprising and stayed there until liberation. He was born in 1925
so was still a young man in 1945. I have attached some pictures.
The first 2 are inscribed in Polish "MURNAU ALPS after liberation
10 May 1945" "Murnau Alps after liberation 10 August
1945". I know that after liberation he was taken to SULMONA
in Italy but know very little about what happened there except
that he made his way to England. I have attached photo taken
in SULMONA 7th Mrch 1946. I hope you can put the pictures on
your site for others to recognise. My father died in 2007 and
told us little about his experiences.
Regards
Janet Gardner, April 9, 2009.
England
Hello Alain and Olivier:
Hi: Thanks so much for your work on the Murnau website. My dad,
George W. Gaumond (Lt.Col.USAF ret.) was a young 2nd Lt. with
the 116th recon group, part of the 101st cavalry which according
to the archives I've examined took part in the liberation of
the Kaufering concentration camps and the Murnau POW camp. He
will be 90 on May 1st.
He has never spoken of his wartime experiences, but I believe
he was there in the middle of it all. You can visit the unit's
website at www.wingfoot101.us He is the last officer of the 101st's WWII
contingent left. There are about 2 dozen surviving enlisted men
and non-coms from his unit. (At their largest, the unit comprised
some 1600 men). They hold annual reunions in N.C. (Fort Bragg)
and Fla. My parents used to attend regularly but my mother's
health is failing (she will be 87 next month) so they no longer
are able to go.
We should never forget the sacrifice of this Greatest Generation
who saved the planet from fascist world domination and made the
lives of so many of us living today possible.
Keep up the good work.
I have corresponded recently with Ms. Melanie Moisan. She is
the daughter of a 101st cavalryman (who passed away in 1971).
She told me that the surviving unit members held their last reunion
in 2006. The youngest members are in their late 80's now.
She wrote an excellent book about the 101st titled "Wingfoot,
The 101st Cavalry in WWII". She maintains the 101st website.
Please refer to the "Stories" section on the site.
The letter by Father Maurice Powers is well worth reading, it
is one of the most poignant accounts of combat I have ever read.
He was the Catholic Priest (also a scholar and historian) who
was the unit's chaplain. He accompanied the unit on their deployment
and was witness to the entirety of Operation Wingfoot, the 91
days of continuous combat which began with their breakthrough
of the Seigfreid Line (on the Western boundary of Germany) and
ended on the last day of the war (at the border of Austria).
Among other accomplishments the unit captured 26,000 German soldiers
a number 13 times their own strength. Father Powers was awarded
the Bronze Star for his heroism under fire. The Bronze Star is
our military's highest decoration (second only to the Congressional
Medal of Honor in importance). I had never before heard of a
clergyman receiving it.
There is also an excellent website www.kaufering.com still under construction, which details the
horrors and liberation of the Kaufering (sub camps) of Dachau.
Many of the slave laborers were forced to work on the ME262,
the Nazi's jet fighter plane. During the 101st's campaign they
captured 300 of these deadly weapons being assembled in the woods
outside of Munich. Allied bombing had destroyed all the factory
sites in the city.
I can remember as a child assembling a toy model of this plane.
My dad remarked that his unit had been strafed by them. Most
of the experienced German aces were dead by then, and the young
pilot's were largely ineffective in their shooting. (They overshot
their marks because they were unable to compensate for the high
speed of the aircraft (400 mph)). Thank God for that.
Thanks again for your good work, we must never forget.
Jeff Gaumond
Dewey, Az.
USA. February 11, 2009
Dear Alain,
My Father, lieutenent Wiktor Socewicz (nr 15564 - blok G) has
spent almost all the WWII war in the Murnau. He was a bandmaster
(musican military). After wards, he was liberated, he joined
to the Polish II Corps in Italy and in England. After his return
to Poland in 1948, for many years he has been discriminated by
the communist government (has been degradet). He worked in music
education.
Your website brinks back memories and enables me to share some
family history with my doughters.
You have my permision to use photos, if you want.
There is polish book about POW in Murnau:
Stefan Majchrowski, Za drutami Murnau, Warszawa 1970.
Thank you for the the your WONDERFUL website one more time.
I send new photos.
Best regards
Wiktor Daniel Socewicz. January 31,
2009
Dear Olivier and Alain,
Thank you for recovering the photos.
My father, Stanislaw, was a POW in Murnau Oflag VIIA. He is the
sitting down in the first from the left on the bottom row of
the attached photograph. He told of his time in the camp and
that there was a well developed theatre. The camp was liberated
by the Americans in from what I remember around April 21-28,
1945. After he was liberated, he joined the Polish II Corps in
Italy and later immigrated to Canada from the UK in 1948. For
your information, many of the officers in the photographs never
returned home because the communist government in Poland would
have imprisoned them for 8 years more. Unfortunately, My Father
passed away in 1988 before the fall of communism in 1989. I am
presently gathering as much information about my Dad (Tata in
Polish) and writing down the story of his life for my family
and our children, so that they may appreciate what sacrifices
my father made.
Thank you once again, hopefully I will
be able to pick my father out in the pictures.
Kind regards,
Tad Koscielak, January 15, 2009
Dear Alain & Olivier
Among the pictures from Murnau presented
on your web site I have found the one attached below, in which
is my grandfather’s brother lieutenant Marian Kalita ( with
beret and pipe in his mouth
He has spent almost all the 2nd war
in the Murnau since 1940 till 1945, before 1940 he was in other
ofllag VIIC in Laufen. I’ve got few his portraits painted
by his companion in Murnau. Scan of one I have attached below.
You could also see his portrait taken
in Poland 1939 after mobilisation, few days ( 2?) before the
2nd War
Best regards and thank you for the site.
Krzysztof Kalita, December 02, 2008
Dear Alain,
In my previous e-mail I had mentioned that I had seen that shot
up German staff car pushed off the road in front of the main
gate at the Murnau camp. Well, more careful perusal of your picture
018 shows the car there in the grass in the right side of the
picture close to where the truck is passing. I guess my memory
from when I was 6 1/2 years old is pretty good. Just wanted you
to know this, and let you feel how important these pictures are
to some of us.
Sincerely yours, and thank you again,
Jacek Wrzyszczynski. November 3, 2008
Dear Alain,
Yes, you are more than welcome to use my letter and our family
name. One of the pictures that you had added to your website
as a result of other readers inputs has my father in it. I am
attaching the subject picture so you know which I'm talking about.
He is the third POW from the left (with the cigarette in his
mouth). I am also attaching a picture that I took in 1991 of
Marians grave marker plaque which also includes another mans
grave (Roman Gebski) You are welcome to use this picture in your
website.
Sincerely yours,
Jacek Wrzyszczynski. October 24, 2008
Dear Alain and Olivier,
First let me thank you for putting up the web site with all the
photos from Murnau.
My name is Jacek Wrzyszczynski and my father, Stanislaw Wrzyszczynski,
and his two brothers, Bogdan and Marian, spent 5 1/2 years in
OFLAG VII A at Murnau so these pictures have great meaning to
me. My uncle Marian did not survive, as he was shot on 1 March
1945, just 8 weeks before liberation, by a German guard who used
Marians' head for target practice.
Let me tell you our story of Murnau as told to me by my father
and experienced by myself:
My father and his two brothers, Marian was the older and Bogdan
the younger, all were officers (I think they were all Lieutenants)
in different units of the Polish army when the war began in Sep.
1939. My father was captured with the surrender of Modlin, a
Polish fort near Warsaw. I don't know where the others were captured.
At any rate, they all ended up spending the rest of the war in
the same POW camp, in the same building and the same room. Probably
a result of German efficiency.
On 1 March 1945, the prisoners were ordered confined to quarters
because of an American air raid. Bombers, probably on their way
to or from Munich only 40-50 miles away. My father, his two brothers,
and another man were in their room talking, with Marian at the
window, with his back to the window, conversing with those inside.
A bullet came through the window and hit Marian in the back of
his head, killing him. The guard that shot him claimed that Marian
was signaling to the American bombers (which were probably flying
at about 30000 feet) and was given a 200 Mark reward and two
weeks leave.
On your pictures 172 and 173 there are several roofs of large
buildings showing on the ridge line. That was the SS camp/barracks
from where the SS car that was shot up came from.
My father told me that the German POW camp commander was preparing
to surrender the camp to the Americans who were expected at any
moment. The German commander and the ranking Polish officer were
standing at the front gate with the German holding the white
flag. The SS car pulled up and one of the occupants shot the
commander in the jaw with his pistol. At that moment the first
American armored vehicle showed up and fired on the SS men killing
them. My father always believed that the Germans from the SS
camp came with the intentions of elimination all the POWs. Other
than the above addition, the story as told in the narration on
the website www.wingfoot101.us/murnau matches my fathers account of the event completely.
After liberation my father returned to Poland under an assumed
name and with false papers since he was afraid that the communists
would arrest and deport him to Siberia if they could get him.
(Another story I won't go into now) He got my mother, myself
and Bogdans wife and smuggled us all out of Poland and back to
Murnau where we became DPs (Displaced Person). I, myself, remember
seeing that German car which, by then, had been shoved onto the
side of the road at the front gate of the camp. I also remember
seeing the bullet hole in the window glass made by the bullet
that killed Marian. As best I can remember this was the summer
of 1945 and there were still rogue elements of the German army
hiding in the Bavarian mountains. We lived for a short time in
the old POW camp and then were moved to that former SS camp which
was turned into a DP/refugee camp. We lived there for more than
a year. In 1949 we came to the US and started a new life. My
father died in 1968 and I am now retired in Phoenix, Arizona.
Many Years ago I found pictures of the liberation event in a
book titled "A Pictorial History of the SS, 1923-1945"
by Andrew Mollo and published by Bonanza Books. The pictures
are on page 171.
Thank you again for posting these pictures. They bring back memories
and enable me to share some family history with my children and
grandchildren.
Sincerely and with love,
Jacek Wrzyszczynski. October 17, 2008
Here is a drawing by Marcin
Borcz's grandfather
Murnau art, done by prisoners
during WWII, will be on the Polonus web site about june 2008.
Dear Olivier and Alain Rempfer,
On the internet I discovered your website on the Murnau camp
- it was amazing to see that it really existed! The familyhistory
of my fathers site has always been a bit of a mystery that I
was desperately wanting to find out. He was born in 'a camp in
Murnau' on April 9 1945, but the exact whereabouts noone in my
family could or would tell me.
His mother was Dutch, his father was an Italian prisoner - my
fathers passport says he was born in Murnau, Germany. That is
the only thing I know. I suspect that my grandmother worked there,
but I am not sure. Her possible dubious role could be the reason
of the silence around the birth of my father.
I am so curious if anyone knows the names of my grandmother and
grandfather Jacoba Leydsman (originally from Groningen, Netherlands)
and Severo Fadel (Torino, Italy), so that I can finally discover
the whole story of my father, grandfather and grandmother. The
war has been of great influence in all these lives.
Thank you very much for your information, the website and the
efford you take with the website. Reading the stories and the
comments reminds me of how important it is to keep this period
alive. Even for a 35-year old like I am.
You can also place this mail on the website. Maybe someone else
has known my grandparents.
Kind regards,
Alina Nubé,
The Netherlands, February 14, 2008.
alinanubeAThotmail.com
Liberation of the camp by the 101st
Cavalry : The Wingfoot
101., website created by Melaney Welch Moisan, from
Salem, Oregon.
Dear Olivier Rempfer,
Olivier, thank you so much for your
site. I have an uncle who is no longer living, Franciszek Buczek,
who was a POW in Oflag VII Murnau.
I am attaching a jpeg image of an envelope
sent from there which has a letter to his brother Alexander Buczek,
who had immigrated to the United States in 1909. The letter is
dated May 19, 1941. I am also attaching a picture of him in 1934.
You have my permission to use these
if you so wish.
Again, thank you for the wonderful site.
John Buczek, October 9, 2007
By accident I came across an information
about your webpage "Forgotten Photos" in the polish
monthly paper "Wiedza i Zycie" (Science and Life) and
was immediately struck by the mention of POW Camp Murnau. I visited
your site and recognized some of the pictures - or buildings
on them anyway! My grandfather - Stanislaw Barcz - a polish soldier
form the town of Piaski by Lublin, was a prisoner in Murnau from
1939 until the liberation. He even participated as an amateur
actor in most of the plays at the camp theater! After the liberation
he came to Italy and joined the polish forces stationed there,
later studied veterinary science in Bolonia (and obtained his
doctorial diploma there) and after the war came to Great Britain
from where he decided to return to communist ruled Poland (a
decision he later came to regret sometimes) and from then on
worked as a veterinary doctor in Pulawy and Lublin until his
retirement and death in the early 1990s.
Anyway, the main part of the war he spent in Murnau. I havent
recognized him on any picture but even so, I was VERY moved to
see after all these decades the photos, which for me are no longer
"forgotten". I send you a couple of the pictures from
Murnau that I myself possess.
Thank you very much for publishing the "forgotten photos"!
Yours,
Marcin Barcz , June 17, 2007
Hi from Australia.
Stan Majcherkiewicz has passed on your
email and the web address for the photos. Thank you for finding
the photos and posting them on the web. They are a wonderful
collection and record of the Murnau POW camp.
My father-in-law was interned in 1944
until liberation. He then travelled over the Alps to join other
Poles in Italy before immigrating to Australia.
Unfortunately, we have little knowledge
of the camp and details of his time during the war, but your
photos provide a significant view of life in the camp and liberation.
I would like to view the whole collection.
Perhaps one day you may be able to include more on the web.
Please keep in touch and let me know
if I can be of assistance in any manner.
Kind and sincere regards
William Blunt, May 6, 2005
THANK YOU !!!!
These are incredible photos !!!!
Incredible web site !
Stan Majcherkiewicz, Wednesday, May 04, 2005
Greetings from a very summery Australia
!
I am looking for any information
on the Polish Officers POW camp located near Murnau, Bavaria,
during WW2. It was Oflag VIIA.
An assistance in tracking down information
would be appreciated.
Regards
Tom Wodzinski
tomwodz@pcug.org.au
Canberra, AUSTRALIA
From : http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/POLAND-ROOTS/1998-02/0887458351
Posted by John Krubski on November 22,
2004 at 15:06:42:
My father was a Polish POW held at
OFLAG VIIA in Murnau at the end of the war. It is my understanding
that the 12th Armored Division liberated the camp in April after
a skirmish with German troops. I am trying to find more information
about this specific event. Thanks.
And thanks to the 12th!
krubski@krubski.com
I am trying to find anyone who may
have been at Auschwitz (Oscwiecim) during the years 1942 - 1945.
Both my father's parents died there. We do have the notification
from the Gestapo of their deaths, however we would like to hear
from anyone who could tell us about them there. My father was
an officer in the Polish Army, he was captured during the first
days of the war and sent to Murnau
in Germany, where he was held prisoner till the end of the war
when he was finally released and joined the Allied Occupation
Forces in Germany.
My father was one of thousands of
young Polish Officers to stay at Oflag VIIA in Murnau. He did
not speak much about his time there so I don't have many stories
to impart, but I would be interested to hear from any survivors
if there still are any. My father recently died at age 93. Izabella
C. Mrozik.
Izabella Mrozik
imrozik@pacbell.net
imrozik@sonic.net
Sebastopol, California, USA
From : http://www.holocaustforgotten.com/search.htm
Polish book : Kisielewicz,
Danuta, 1991. Oflag VII A Murnau. Opole.
Pages: 214 + illustrations
Prisoner
of War : The web site of Mark Hickman
about the experiences of Prisoners of War, of any nationality,
during World War 2.
Un vétéran américain
Benjamin Bernard Barenbrugge raconte son arrivée
dans la région de Murnau. Il appartenait aux 10th
Armored Tigers.
"The Germans had blown the road
off the side of the mountain, so we had to stop. We pulled back
to Murnau, Germany. It was
May 1945, and thank God the War was over! (...) We liberated
a concentration camp holding several thousand Polish soldiers.
We gave them all of the extra candy and cigarettes we had. Boy,
were they happy! We never saw any American soldiers in camps
in our area. Most of the homeowners had migrated ahead of our
columns, deeper into Germany, out of harm’s way. When we
reached Murnau, we received some well-deserved rest and
relaxation. We stayed in some big, fancy houses that we had taken
over on the shores of Lake Staffelsee. It was a beautiful lake
in the Alps, with a nice swimming beach." Benjamin Bernard
Barenbrugge
From : http://www.tankbooks.com/stories/vetbulge.htm
Mail trouvé sur le site : http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~buczekfamily/officers2.htm
"Murnau was liberated by the
Americans. The version I've heard, is that the Germans were aware
of the coming liberation, and wired the camp for detonation.
The prisoners also knew what was going on, and when allied planes
were heard overhead, overpowered the German guards and opened
the gates for the Americans. My father, and many other Polish
officers, eventually served in Italy under British command. The
British may have record of Franciszek if he followed a similar
path."
Anna
Date: Thursday, December 28, 2000 4:42
PM"
Si le camp a été miné
par les Allemands la photo n°11 où l'on voit un officier
allemand annonçant quelque chose aux prisonniers avant
de s'enfuir, prend une signification toute particulière.
A l'extérieur, derrière la grille toujours fermée
du camp, un soldat attend l'officier et son interprète
(l'homme qui porte l'aigle nazi sur la poitrine) et une certaine
animation semble régner, comme si le départ était
hâtif ...
..........
(left photo : les films du
Losange)
En 2002 le cinéaste polonais
Andrzej Wajda a tourné un film sur le massacre de Katyn
où, en 1940, 22.000 officiers polonais ont été
exécutés d'une balle dans la tête par les
agents du NKVD, la police politique soviétique, sur ordre
personnel de Staline. Les 5.000 officiers épargnés
par ce massacre ont été déportés
au camp de Murnau. Le personnage principal de ce film,
s'inspirant d'une histoire vraie, est un officier polonais, activiste
des Jeunesses Communistes. Pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale,
celui-ci se retrouve interné à Murnau, tandis
que son frère a été exécuté
à Katyn. Après la découverte des charniers
d'avril 1943, il est chargé de mener une enquête
officielle sur cette tragédie. Sa vie est bouleversée
et ses convictions socialo-communistes ébranlées
lorsqu'il apprend que ce sont les Soviétiques, et non
les Allemands, qui sont responsables de ces massacres. Le propre
père d’Andrzej Wajda était militaire de carrière
et a été fusillé à Katyn en 1940.
Le cinéaste écrit :
"My father, Jakub Wajda, lived
only to the age of 40. He was captain in the 72nd Infantry Regiment
and died at Katyn. But until 1989 we were not allowed to make
an inscription on the family tomb, saying where he was killed.
The censorship was so strict and the ban on all information on
this subject so rigorous that when I recently tried to find a
copy of the newspaper, published by Germans during the war, with
the list of Katyn victims, my father's name among them, it turned
out that the paper simply did not exist. Some mysterious hand
removed the relevant copies from the library collection, so the
experience of living through perhaps the most shocking moment
of my life, when I could find out from a German paper that my
father had been murdered, was denied to me." Andrzej Wajda
Sur cette photo (de date inconnue) on
peut voir au premier plan les baraquements du camp Murnau,
plus loin la ville de Murnau, le lac Staffelsee au bord duquel
patrouillent probablement les soldats américains de la
photo n°19, puis en fond les sommets enneigés des
Alpes. La route qui se trouve à droite du camp est vraisemblabement
celle sur laquelle on peut voir les chars américains des
photos n° 13, 14, 15, 17, 18.
(A letter from Tom
Wodzinsky, April 29th 2005) :
To all of you with whom I have corresponded
over the years about Oflag VIIA (Murnau), today (April 29) is
a special anniversary – the 60th anniversary of the liberation
of the POW camp by the American army. I hope that you can spare
a few moments to remember those who suffered while in the camp,
thank those who liberated them, and appreciate what a lot of
the camp survivors did with their lives afterwards. For many
of us, we have a lot to thank them for – who we are and
where we live.
Here is a brief description of the
day:
On Sunday the 29th of April 1945
the POWs awoke to the sound of gunfire from the direction of
Munich (to the north of the camp). An American plane circled
overhead and dropped its wings a number of times in acknowledgment
of the POWs in the camp.
In the early afternoon, on the orders
of (German) Captain Pohl, the 40 or so camp guards relinquished
control of the watch towers and handed in their weapons.
At around 15:00, and as the American
army approached the town of Murnau from the north, a small group
of cars with SS-men approached the camp from the direction of
the town. The Americans were approaching from the opposite direction.
When they met just outside the front gate of the camp, gunfire
erupted, upon which most of the SS cars turned around and fled
back to town. The lead car opened fire whereupon they came under
more concentrated fire from the Americans. 2 SS men died (Colonel
Teichmann and Captain Widmann). Prisoners climbed on to the front
fence and watched proceedings cheering the Americans on. 2nd
Ltnt Alfons Mazurek was also killed by a stray bullet during
the exchange of fire.
2 of the American tanks pursued the
SS-cars which had turned around fleeing back into the town of
Murnau. Another tank entered the camp through the main gate.
One of the Americans was Corporal Richard Pawlowski from Chicago.
Another of the soldiers was Frank ? from Kalisz (Poland).
Oflag VIIA was liberated by Troop
B, 116th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron (MECZ), Combat Command
A of the 12th Armored Division, XXI Corps of the American 7th
Army, on 29th April 1945.
According to 12 Armored Division
records (Daily Journal) the camp was liberated at 16:55 in the
afternoon. The 116th was the second squadron of the 101st Cavalry
Group.
Task Force 2 contained Co. A and/or
B 66th Armoured Infantry, plus Co. C of the 43rd Tank Battalion
and a platoon of light tanks from Co. D of the 43rd Tank Battalion.
I attach a photograph of the minutes
just prior to the moment of liberation as the American’s
approach the front gate and encounter a German SS car coming
from the other direction. It is highly likely that the photo
was taken by Lt. Edward C. Newell of the US Army Signals Corp.
The printed caption on the rear of
the photo reads:
"ETOHQ45 29Apr U.S. Army Signal
Corps
German staff car, carrying two SS
inspectors and others, unknowingly drives into the head (on road)
of an armored column which is in the process of liberating this
concentration camp. Lead tank opens fire killing the occupants
(center). Some prisoners hanging on the fence cheer, others run
upon hearing the gunfire.
7A TRP BM, 116th CAV RCN SQDN (MECZ),
CCA, 12TH A(rmored) D(ivision), XXI CORPS, Murnau, Germany."
The whole collection of the photos about
Murnau I found can be loaded in full size (3300x2000 each) at
: http://hollow.one.free.fr/murnau/. Photographs are rough from scanner. Some of
them have been fixed or cropped by Carol Celinska Dove in order
to enable someone to be identified, at http://hollow.one.free.fr/murnau/fixedphotos/
Toute la collection de photos de Murnau que j'ai trouvée
peut être chargée en pleine définition (3300x2000
chacune) à : http://hollow.one.free.fr/murnau/. Les photos sont brutes de scan. Certaines
ont été retouchées et recadrées par
Carol Celinska Dove pour permettre une meilleure identification
des personnes, à : http://hollow.one.free.fr/murnau/fixedphotos/
Merci des renseignements que vous pourrez
apporter sur ces photos. Thank you for any information about
those photos
Olivier and Alain Rempfer