Stalag VIII-C

Stalag VIII-C was a German World War II prisoner-of-war camp, near Sagan, Germany, (now Żagań, Poland). It was adjacent to the famous Stalag Luft III, and was built at the beginning of World War II, occupying 48 ha.

Camp history
The camp was built in September 1939 to house several thousand Polish prisoners from the German September 1939 offensive. In a ruthless breach of the Third Geneva Convention most of these prisoners were deprived of their P.O.W. status in June 1940 and transferred to labor camps.

French and Belgian soldiers taken prisoner during the Battle of France took their place, many of them from Algeria, Morocco and Senegal. In 1941 more prisoners arrived from the Balkans Campaign mostly British, Canadian, Greek and Yugoslav. These were followed by Soviet prisoners from Operation Barbarossa. In late 1941 nearly 50,000 prisoners were crowded into space designed for one third that number. Conditions were appalling, starvation, epidemics and ill-treatment took a heavy toll of lives. By early 1942 the Soviet prisoners had been transferred to other camps, particularly to Stalag VIII-E, Neuhammer. New prisoners arrived form the Western Desert Campaign in north Africa, especially after the fall of Tobruk in December 1941. These were principally Australians, South Africans (both white and black) and Poles.

Evacuation and repatriation
In early February 1945, many of the prisoners, particularly British and Commonwealth, were marched westward ahead of the Soviet offensive. The German camp command destroyed all documentation and evidence of the crimes committed. 14 February the Red Army entered the camp. They later used the camp to house German prisoners. In 1961 a monument was erected at the cemetery in remembrance of the thousands who died and are buried here. In 1971 the "Martyrdom Museum of Allied Prisoners of War" was established on the site of the camp to house mementos and records of both Stalag VIII-C and Stalag Luft III.