Pte. Fred A. Abbondandolo Bronze Star
United States Army K Coy. 71st Infantry Regiment
from:Brooklyn, New York
My father, Fred Abbondandolo arrived with the 71st Infantry Division in Cherbourg, France on 15th of September 1944 and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. He was captured on New Year's Day 1945. He spent the first three or four months of 1945 at Stalag IV B. He and at least one other US soldier left the camp together with several British soldiers in advance of the camp's liberation. Although I don't know the exact date, I believe it was sometime during April 1945. Many others stayed behind because they feared that they'd be shot if they left the camp. The Germans were no longer visible and there was little or no food for the prisoners. Conditions at Stalag IV B had been brutal and food was scant even early in his internment. There were not enough beds for every prisoner and my father slept on a wooden bench of some sort. He said he preferred it to being eaten alive by bedbugs in the straw provided for bedding.
He told how they used to harvest sugar beets for the Germans. Sugar beets were not part of the diet of the prisoners. At one point he and fellow prisoners devised a way to hide sugar beets in their trousers, but the Germans caught them and they were not able to enjoy their stolen harvest. My father spoke often of the bravery of the British prisoners of war at Stalag IVB. They were forever planning ways to escape and he admired their "can do" attitude and resolve to escape. He also found that they managed to keep spirits up by hosting plays and musical events for fellow prisoners.
