Search Constraints
Search Results
- Notes:
- This photograph depicts a panoramic view of the prison camp at Soltau and identifies the two compounds, the kitchens, and the Roman Catholic church. Most of the barracks in the camp are the typical one-story wooden buildings found in many German prison camps. An unfinished building stands in the lower left hand corner. The guns on the perimeter of the camp ensured camp security. The Germans divided larger prison camps into compounds for better security and to take advantage of economies of scale. Only one railway line was needed to transport POWs and supplies to the facility and one large kitchen could feed all of the inmates. The compound system made it easier to keep track of POWs, divide hostile elements, and better control the camp population.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Prisoners maintained pig stys along the perimeter fence between the compounds at Soltau. The POWs tended the pigs and other livestock to enhance the bland quality of their regular fare and increase their meat rations. The Allied naval blockade had a severe impact on the diversity of POW meals. The stys were located next to one compound's parade/athletic grounds and the road between the compounds. Note the guard towers in the background which were built to observe the barbed-wire fences.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French prisoners of war line up outside their barrack in the compound at Soltau for a roll call while German officers and non-commissioned officers converse in the foreground to the right. Periodic checks of POWs ensured camp security and exposed escapes.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Prisoners augmented their meager diets at Soltau by gardening using seeds provided by a YMCA secretary. Rations could become monotonous in prison camps and fresh vegetables helped improve POW diets.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- View of the interior of a ward in the lazarette at the prison camp at Soltau. The beds in this ward are full of sick and wounded Allied prisoners of war. The ward is well-provisioned with beds, blankets, and orderlies. The oven in the center of the ward provided heat and was common in POW barracks. The ward, like the barracks, is well ventilated with numerous windows.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This photograph shows the model of the monument commissioned by the International Committee of Soltau in memory of the Allied dead in the Soltau cemetery. The Camp Committee raised the funds to erect the memorial from the proceeds from entertainment programs.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
