Stalag 7A and Life as a POW during WWII

Dr. Sidney Thomas of the Nottingham Senior Living Community in Jamesville, NY gave a captivating lecture to over 50 people this past Wednesday. The Writers' Group, which I have facilitated at the Nottingham for the past six years, sponsored his lecture, and I had the pleasure of introducing Dr. Thomas. Dr. Thomas was Private First Class Sidney Thomas of the U.S. Army infantry during WWII. He and four other men were captured by German soldiers in a foxhole after the allied invasion of Germany. They were transported to Stalag 7A where they were kept for five months until the end of the war. When Dr. Thomas was captured and interrogated by an English interpreter working for the German command, he was asked for his religious background. He answered with no compunction that he was Jewish despite his friends warning to not do so. He was treated no differently than the other soldiers, for the most part, the Geneva Convention mostly followed. He gave his name and rank, but no other information.

More on Stalag 7A is available at:


http://www.303rdbg.com/pow-camps.html#stalag7a

Stalag 7A was not a luxury hotel: near starvation rations, no heat, no showers. Dr. Thomas took one shower during the five month period. He later thinks about what the "showers" meant in Germany--the death campus and those told to strip and take a shower. Fortunately, the shower was just that--a real shower, not a cover for the gas chambers. He didn't mention lice as a daily feature of life, but we could imagine what no bathing meant. The prisoners lived on potato soup and ersatz bread. They were kept from starvation by eating food from the Red Cross packages that came through occasionally. They traded the cigarettes that were in the Red Cross packages for bread that German civilians had when they were sent out on work details to Munich.

Having met others who were kept in the prison camps who were mostly aviators (officers), I find it interesting to see how an enlisted infantry man like Thomas was treated. The officers usually were not sent out on work detail. The prisoners in 7A who were enlisted men (not officers) were regularly sent out on work detail to Munich, which had been severely bombed. They were supposed to pick up bomb debris, but as Sidney put it, they were so weak from hunger that they were totally ineffectual. They also were not going to help out the Nazi regime more than they had to, doing only the minimum. According to Sidney, the German guards, mostly middle-aged men, did not really care that much. They were not paying real close attention when the GIs traded cigarettes for bread or when they poked around at picking up debris. Sidney told of a German woman passing him and putting a bun in his pocket and saying nothing. He still wonders to this day what she was thinking and why she was helping him. He also talked to German women who asked him what American prison camps were like since they had husbands incarcerated there. "They are getting more to eat than you are, " said Sidney with conviction.

As the war approached the end, Sidney and some of his fellow GIs were told to live in railroad cars in the Munich train yards. The prison camp was overcrowded with prisoners who had been moved from other camps as the allies advanced. Sidney now looks back on the "train cars" with some trepidation for the cars were how so many Jews were transported to the death camps. But Sidney and his fellow GIs survived living in the train cars, locked in every night and only let out when there were bomb raids on the yards. This was the most terrifying moment for Sidney and fellow GIs as there were no bomb shelters for them. They hid in ditches while allied bombs fell. All miraculously survived.

As the Americans neared Munich, Sidney and his fellow GIs were able to move about more freely. The German guards deserted and even offered them their weapons, which they feared taking since doing so might be a provocation. The only time Sidney felt afraid was when they saw some uniformed SS men in the town center glaring at them. Fortunately, nothing happened. At that point, the Germans knew defeat was imminent, and he supposed the SS men had had enough of the killing or were out of ammunition that day.

I was struck by how unafraid Sidney said he was in German custody. The Geneva Convention still held then (look at what a shambles it is now), and the imprisoned men were confident of the end of the war and allied victory. While he was made to work, he was not threatened or goaded into working past capacity. The worst was the near starvation. The prisoners thought about food all the time. The main subject in the camp was food, not the usual "sex and gripes about the Army," which Sidney said was the standard fare when they were fighting the war. Other prisoners were kept there, too: French, English, Russians.

When the American motorized divisions roared into Munich, Sidney ran alongside a tank and waved and was recognized as an American GI by one of the soldiers. They soldier said: "Hey, buddy, where the hell are we? " The soldier on the tank had no clue they were taking Munich. This was typical, according to Sidney. "The grunts never knew where they were. Only the officers. You moved out and followed orders. Later, you figured out where you were after you got there."

Sidney's also described various ethical dilemmas he faced in the camp, which I can describe in another posting. Again, I feel fortunate to be part of the Nottingham community where presentations like this one--an interaction around life experience and living history--is a regular event. I also feel fortunate to have met a new colleague. Dr. Thomas is a retired SU faculty member (1961-1985 he taught here).