This is the boiler room in the prison camp at Salzwedel which generated steam for the facility. Prison camps became large towns almost over night as the war dragged on and millions of Allied prisoners streamed into the empire. The POW population became a much greater drain on resources than anticipated in German pre-war planning strategy. The boiler room provided electricity for the camp, including lights for security, and hot water for baths and showers, which was the key to hygiene in crowded prison camps.
British officers line up on the stairway waiting to receive their pay from the Paymaster's Office. The prisoners received script which they could use to make purchases within the citadel.
This is a general view of the prison camp at Amberg from the guard tower. This photograph shows the prison compound, the barracks, and part of the Bavarian military facility in the background. French and Russian prisoners dominate the inmate population.
British prisoners produced these Christmas cards in December 1915 with the Doeberitz sailor telling Father Time to get a move on, a reference to the long anticipated end of the war. Prisoners could send these cards home to their friends and families.
French prisoners stand along side the altar in the Catholic chapel at Koenigsbrueck. A German priest in uniform stands to the left of the altar while a French chaplain stands on the right hand side. The spiritual care of POW's was a high priority for clerics who visited prisoners in camps.
This is the side view of a former POW barrack in Sofia in very bad repair. The Sofia Association acquired the building after the war and used it for fifteen years for a number of programs. The building was a typical one-story, wooden barrack used by the Bulgarian army.
Polish Legionnaires look out the windows or sit on the ground outside of their barrack at Bustyahaza repairing and delousing their uniforms under Hungarian guard. When these enlisted men refused to take an oath of allegiance to the new Polish Regency in Warsaw in 1916, the Austro-Hungarians deemed them a security risk and interned them in this prison camp.
Bare-headed and on bended-knee Polish prisoners participate in a Roman Catholic mass at an outdoor chapel at Bustyahaza. The open air chapel is decorated with plants and paintings.
This is a partial view of the prison camp at Groedig which shows the wooden barracks and the hills in the background. Many prisoners took advantage of the sunny weather to dry their clothes on the walls of the barracks and to sit or walk around the compound.
A squatting Italian prisoner tears into a loaf of bread while another Italian POW watches in the prison compound at Mauthausen. By the end of the war, the Allied blockade had a serious impact on the quantity and quality of rations that the Austrians provided to prisoners. This desperate situation was compounded by the Italian government's decision to restrict parcel shipments to POW's in the Dual Monarchy after the Caporetto fiasco.
