Stalag VIII-A

Stalag VIII-A was a German World War II prisoner-of-war camp, located just to the south of the town of Görlitz, Lower Silesia, east of the River Neisse (now Zgorzelec, Poland).

Camp history
Originally a Hitler Youth camp, in October 1939 it was modified to house about 15,000 Polish prisoners from the German September 1939 offensive. By June 1940 most of the Poles had been transferred to other camps and replaced with Belgian and French troops taken prisoner during the Battle of France. At one time there were over 30,000 jammed into facilities designed for 15,000. In 1941 a separate compound was created to house Soviet prisoners. In 1943 2,500 British Commonwealth soldiers came from the battles in Italy, and later in the same year an undefined number of Italian soldiers came from Albania. Finally in late December 1944 1,800 Americans arrived, captured in the Battle of the Bulge. On 14 February 1945 the Americans and British were marched out of the camp westward in advance of the Soviet offensive into Germany.

Notable inmates
It was at VIII-A that Olivier Messiaen, a French prisoner, finished composing Quatuor pour la fin du temps, a famous work of chamber music. With the help of a friendly German guard, he acquired manuscript paper and pencils, and was able to assemble three other POWs to help him perform the piece for the rest of the camp.