Shortly after the beginning of World War II in September
1939, a POW camp called
Kriegsgefangenen-Mannschafts-Stammlager (Stalag) VII
A was established north of Moosburg. Originally it was
planned for 10,000 prisoners, but at the end of the war
more than 70,000 Allied soldiers were detained in the main camp
and its labour kommandos. A total of 150.000 POWs passed through Stalag VII A.
In 1945 US troops occupied Moosburg and liberated the
POWs. Until 1948 the camp served as Civilian Internment
Camp No. 6 with up to 12,000 German prisoners who were
accused of having supported the Nazi dictatorship.
German refugees settled in the former Stalag area from
1948 on. It developed into Moosburg's Neustadt (new
town) with its craftsmen's workshops and commercial
enterprises.
Only few of the the old prisoners' barracks still exist
today. But there is the memorial on the former
POW cemetery in Oberreit and the Stalag fountain in the
new town.
|