{"id":28,"date":"2023-10-25T21:25:01","date_gmt":"2023-10-25T21:25:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stalag.malbork.pl\/en\/?page_id=28"},"modified":"2023-11-02T18:33:43","modified_gmt":"2023-11-02T18:33:43","slug":"komanda","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/stalag.malbork.pl\/en\/komanda\/","title":{"rendered":"Commando"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The POWs in Stalag XX B were assigned to work in various working parties (German: Arbeitskommandos). The number of all these labour units throughout the entire period of the camp’s existence was at least a thousand. The units differed in size and number of prisoners employed. Small working units existed which numbered from a few several up to a dozen POWs. On the other end of the scale were working parties such as the one at the Schichau Shipyard in Elbing (Elbl\u0105g), employing as many as 399 captives (as of December 1942) or a working party at the Gdynia shipyard, numbering 525 POWs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The numbers and location of the commandos determined the conditions of the prisoners’ accommodation. Groups of up to a dozen prisoners typically worked on private farms and in smaller enterprises and were often accommodated in utility rooms, e.g. in attics of stables or warehouses. Larger ones, numbering several dozen or more prisoners, usually needed separate, designated buildings like newly built barracks or old buildings adapted for this purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Marienburg alone, in mid-1944, at least seven labour units were active, with a total of 210 POWs working for various entities. These units were bore the following numbers:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 288 – Marienburg municipality and 553 – branch of the Land Forces managemen – in both cases a total of 70 prisoners,
\u2022 553 – branch of the Land Forces management: 70 POWs,
\u2022 356 – carpentry workshop and transport company: 16 POWs,
\u2022 420 – dairy farm: 59 POWs,
\u2022 506 – two gardening farms and a carpentry workshop: 16 POWs,
\u2022 565 – tar plant: 23 POWs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


It should also be noted that the prisoners under Stalag XX B Marienburg were sent out to repair the damage caused by the Allied bomber aviation, to repair the railway lines or build air-raid shelters (mainly in Gda\u0144sk). However, the vast majority (an estimated 2\/3) of POWs at Stalag XX B Marienburg were employed in agriculture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A former working party in Mielenz
(Mi\u0142oradz today)<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Prisoners held captive in stalags were obliged to work and about 60% of them were employed in
agriculture. Up to 3,000 soldiers stayed in the main camp in Willenberg (Wielbark). The other ones were located in working parties in the area. Today the descendants of PoWs can visit one of former farms where during the war the soldiers were employed. Mielenz (Mi\u0142oradz) is a village near Malbork. About 12 British PoW were billeted in a farm building at 2 Polna Street. In the remaining part of the house, which was separated from the commando with a wall, a several people German family lived, while the wachman guarding the prisoners was assigned to the largest room.

Every morning, except Sundays, all prisoners went to work. Clif and Artur worked at Mr.
Neuman’s bakery. The others stayed with local farmers. Every farmer or trader could submit a request for a worker to the main camp in Marienburg. If he was not satisfied, he had the right to replace him. POWs received a payment for their work with camp money called Lagermarks.
The working party building, where the prisoners stayed mainly in the evenings, at nights and on
Sundays, was equiped quite well. There were iron military beds, a stove connected to the main chimney in the house, a table and luxuries from Red Cross parcels. The locals could not talk or contact with the prisoners but the reality was different. Prisoners received food from their hosts, and the ban of eating together was often broken, and it was very common to see Germans and British discussing at one table.

Today you can visit a farm where British PoWs lived and have a nice chat and a cup of coffee
with the farm owners Katarzyna and Jan Burchardt who run Dawna Wozownia na \u017bu\u0142awach Association and the Hall of Remembrance dedicated to the history of the village. Jan’s father knew the soldiers in the commando and passed on his memories to his son. In front of the entrance of the farm there is a memorial commemorating PoWs working in Mielenz and those who were evacuated in the 3.5-month-long Death March in January 1945.

Planning the visit in Mi\u0142oradz the guests are kindly requested to contact the
owners on +48 665 323 430 or +48 691 554 322 (for English speaking people).

https:\/\/dawnawozownia.pl\/
<\/a>https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DawnaWozownia
<\/a>https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=100064682708816<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

materials posted on the website under license CC BY-SA 3.0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The POWs in Stalag XX B were assigned to work in various working parties (German: Arbeitskommandos). The number of all these labour units throughout the entire period of the camp’s existence was at least a thousand. The units differed in size and number of prisoners employed. Small working units existed which numbered from a few […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-28","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/stalag.malbork.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/stalag.malbork.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/stalag.malbork.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stalag.malbork.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stalag.malbork.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"http:\/\/stalag.malbork.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":222,"href":"http:\/\/stalag.malbork.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28\/revisions\/222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/stalag.malbork.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}