Les camps de prisonniers alliés en Moselle en 1940-1944 (volume 3)

On June 22, at 6:52 p.m., the armistice was signed at RETHONDES, in the forest of Compiègne. The armistice came into effect on June 25 at 1:35 am, the date on which all fighting on French territory was to cease.

During this blitzkrieg of German troops, France lost 92,000 men, while 250,000 others were wounded and more than 1,500,000 were taken prisoner. Faced with this human tide caught in the trap, the Germans took emergency measures. The prisoners were initially detained at the very place of their capture or in camps located near the front ("Auffanglager"). They would only stay there for a short time. Others were sent to transit camps ("Durchgangslager - DULAG") or directly to "Frontstammlager - FRONTSTALAG, before being finally detained in Germany ("Stammlager - STALAG" or "Offizierslager - OFLAG").

The Moselle department was home to the Frontstammlager 211 (SARREBOURG) and 212 (METZ) which became respectively the Stammlager XII-F and XII-E at the end of 1940. These camps depended on the 12th Military Region, in Wiesbaden. STALAG XII-E was moved to Bialystok. As for STALAG XIIF, it was transferred to Freinsheim, near Ludwigshafen, at the end of 1944, with the advance of Allied forces. In addition to the French, this camp housed Americans, British, Belgians, Italians, Russians and Yugoslavs.

Michel FRICK's book will be of interest not only to those who are interested in the history of the Moselle but also to all those who are interested in the history of the Prisoners of War.

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