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Stalag 2B (313) Prisoner of War Camp
Stalag IIb at Mooseberg, was situated one and a half miles west of Hammerstein, on the east side of a highway, in West Prussia. Stalag 2B was later renumbered Stalag 313.
22nd Jul 1941 Parcels
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Want to know more about Stalag 2B (313) Prisoner of War Camp? There are:23 items tagged Stalag 2B (313) Prisoner of War Camp available in our Library
These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Second World War. |
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Staff Sergeant Edward Volberding My Grandfather, Staff Sargeant Edward Volbering, was captured at Kasserine, was interned at Stalag 2b and then escaped during the Death March. He and a couple others were able to make it to a farm where they hid in a compartment underneath the floor boards of a barn. That night a Panzer scouting group came and parked in the barn and spent the night with them right over their heads. That day the tanks left and Ed and his buddies thought things were a little suspicious so they moved up to the loft of the barn. Sure enough the Panzers came back that night and they found the compartment where my grandfather was the night before, but they didn't check the loft. The next day the Panzers left and it was another day or so before Ed and his buddies again heard tanks. This time they were ours and my Grandfather was rescued. Any information that anyone can find about the inner workings of Stalag 2b would be greatly appreciated.
Thank You for putting this website together.
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Fred H Otte My grandfather, Fred H. Otte, from Lowden Iowa, was captured 14th February 1943 at Kasserine Pass, and was held as a POW at Stalag IIB for 30 months. It was hard for him to talk of his time there, and I have tried to find out as much as I can since his death in July of 1994.
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John E. "Johnnie" Campbell My father-In-law, John Campbell, was captured in Salerno and was put in Stalag 2B. I was reading some of the entries and there was one by Jeff Baker that said his grandfather, J.D Akin, was captured in Salerno and was sent to Stalag 2B. My father-in-law talked about a man named J.D a lot, said they called him Possum. I would like to be able to get in touch with Jeff Baker to compare notes. They called my father-in-law Booger Red because of his red hair. John said that there were only two men that survived in Salerno, J.D and himself. They hid behind tomato vines while the Germans looked for them. Also is there a drawing or something that shows what Stalag 2B looked like?
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Pvt. Gilbert O. Edmisten 349th Infantry Regiment Gilbert Edmisten is my uncle.
Here is what he told me of his capture:
His unit were fighting to take a town (he didn't say what town, don't know if he even knew) and he was on the corner of a building, his buddy was on another corner.
His unit retreated but he and his buddy were not aware of that. His buddy was shot and killed and he was captured.
He told me he was held in a camp on a potato farm.
I found out through records the camp was associated with Stalag 2B.
He told me they could see in the distance another camp with Polish women prisoners, also farming potatoes.
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Pte. Arthur Laing Royal Northumberland Fusiliers Arthur Laing was my Grandad, he was wounded with twenty seven field injuries when taken prisoner. He first spent time in an Italian camp before being transferred to Stalag 2b. He was a miner before the war but after returning home he could not return to coal face working, but worked above ground. He would not talk about his time, only to say the Italians where good to prisoners but the Germans where totally different.
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Cpl. Rocco A. "Rocky" Santarciero Infantry Rocco Sandarciero entered into the service on 28th of February 1943 at 19 years of age with his brother William (36). Already serving was his brother Joseph (22) in Trinidad, Anthony (30) Infantry 77th in the Pacific and Angelo(25) who was killed at the Battle of the Bulge.
Rocco saw action in North Africa and was taken prisoner in Italy and sent to Stalag 2B Hammerstein Work Camp in January 1944 and released May 1945.
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Pvt. Warren Harding Decker 509th PIR 101st Airborne Division Pvt. Warren H. Decker was wounded and captured during "suicide" mission of the El Djem Bridge on December 27, 1942. POW camps included PG 98, PG 59, Stalag VI, Stalag IV, the "Black March away from Allied/Soviet forces, Wobbelin concentration camp, Stalag IIIA, Stalag IIB, then finally Stalag VIIA.
He remained a POW until liberated by 14th Armored Division of Patton's 3rd Army at Stalag VIIA, Moosburg, Bavaria, Germany on April 29, 1945.
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Pte. James Thomas Japhet James Japhet served with the US Army, he was taken as a Prisoner of War and held in Stalag 2B.
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PFC. Jack D. Hopkins Coy A. 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment Jack Hopkins was my grandfather. He served with the US Army 82nd Airborne Division in WW2. I found out he was captured on 10th of July 1943 after the jump on 9th of July at Sicily and was held at Stalag 2B. I do know he was kept there for a period of time but did end up making out it out of there.
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Pte. John Barclay Harrah 168th Infantry Regiment John Harrah was captured during the battle of the Kasserine Pass in Tunisia, North Africa on 17th of February 1943.
He was first sent to a POW camp in Italy and after a short time there he was moved to Stalag 2b in Hammerstein.
When the war ended he was sent for rehabilitation to Camp Lucky Strike in France.
He smoked only Lucky Strike cigarettes until the day he died in 2003.
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PFC. Ronda Ray Morgan Co E. 179th Infantry Regiment 45th Div Uncle Ron, Ronda Morgan served with Co E, 179th Infantry Regiment. According to the government archives he was at Stalag IIB at Hammerstein from 17th of February 1944 until 7th of April 1945. Uncle Ron re-enlisted for another 6 years after his discharge in 1945 and rose to the rank of Sergeant. Uncle Ron never spoke of this time in his life. He told his sister, my mother, that every day a German soldier would come in and throw a ripe red apple in the middle of the hut. Whoever weakened and grabbed the apple was taken out and punished. That's the only story I know.
He never married. He lived with us for the final years of his life. He would hoard food in his room, especially peanut butter. Momma said it was because of what happened to him in Germany.
He died in 1992.
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PFC. Alvin Lyle "Short" Schilling 34th Regiment 9th Division My father, Alvin Schilling was captured in October, 1944 near Aachen, Germany. He had been separated from his unit in late September. I have a letter that he wrote during his time in Stalag IIB. He talked about being liberated by the Russian front, and treated badly by the Russians. He was on the march till meeting American forces in April, 1945.
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Sgt. Victor P. Terrana Victor Terrana enlisted on the 24th of January 1941. He served with an Infantry Regiment and was captured in Sicily, he was held as a Prisoner of War in Stalag 2B at Hammerstein, he was released on 14th Sep 1945.
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Chester Kadlubowski Infantry Chester Kadlubowski was captured in Italy and held in Stalag 2B.
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Cpl. Joseph "Poppa" Pacetti 168th Infantry Regiment When my father served in Vietnam, his 1SG was Poppa Joe Pacetti.
Hoe had been captured in Tunisia on 17th of February 1943 and spent the balance of WWII as a Prisoner of War at Stalag 2B.
He went on to serve in both Korea and Vietnam, where he watched over my father and made sure that they both made it through the war in one piece.
Uniquely, Poppa Joe was a three time recipient of the Combat Infantryman Badge, which puts him in a small group of individuals to have earned this award.
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Staff Sergeant Edward Volberding My Grandfather, Staff Sargeant Edward Volbering, was captured at Kasserine, was interned at Stalag 2b and then escaped during the Death March. He and a couple others were able to make it to a farm where they hid in a compartment underneath the floor boards of a barn. That night a Panzer scouting group came and parked in the barn and spent the night with them right over their heads. That day the tanks left and Ed and his buddies thought things were a little suspicious so they moved up to the loft of the barn. Sure enough the Panzers came back that night and they found the compartment where my grandfather was the night before, but they didn't check the loft. The next day the Panzers left and it was another day or so before Ed and his buddies again heard tanks. This time they were ours and my Grandfather was rescued. Any information that anyone can find about the inner workings of Stalag 2b would be greatly appreciated.
Thank You for putting this website together.
|
Fred H Otte My grandfather, Fred H. Otte, from Lowden Iowa, was captured 14th February 1943 at Kasserine Pass, and was held as a POW at Stalag IIB for 30 months. It was hard for him to talk of his time there, and I have tried to find out as much as I can since his death in July of 1994.
|
John E. "Johnnie" Campbell My father-In-law, John Campbell, was captured in Salerno and was put in Stalag 2B. I was reading some of the entries and there was one by Jeff Baker that said his grandfather, J.D Akin, was captured in Salerno and was sent to Stalag 2B. My father-in-law talked about a man named J.D a lot, said they called him Possum. I would like to be able to get in touch with Jeff Baker to compare notes. They called my father-in-law Booger Red because of his red hair. John said that there were only two men that survived in Salerno, J.D and himself. They hid behind tomato vines while the Germans looked for them. Also is there a drawing or something that shows what Stalag 2B looked like?
|
Pvt. Gilbert O. Edmisten 349th Infantry Regiment Gilbert Edmisten is my uncle.
Here is what he told me of his capture:
His unit were fighting to take a town (he didn't say what town, don't know if he even knew) and he was on the corner of a building, his buddy was on another corner.
His unit retreated but he and his buddy were not aware of that. His buddy was shot and killed and he was captured.
He told me he was held in a camp on a potato farm.
I found out through records the camp was associated with Stalag 2B.
He told me they could see in the distance another camp with Polish women prisoners, also farming potatoes.
|
Pte. Arthur Laing Royal Northumberland Fusiliers Arthur Laing was my Grandad, he was wounded with twenty seven field injuries when taken prisoner. He first spent time in an Italian camp before being transferred to Stalag 2b. He was a miner before the war but after returning home he could not return to coal face working, but worked above ground. He would not talk about his time, only to say the Italians where good to prisoners but the Germans where totally different.
|
Cpl. Rocco A. "Rocky" Santarciero Infantry Rocco Sandarciero entered into the service on 28th of February 1943 at 19 years of age with his brother William (36). Already serving was his brother Joseph (22) in Trinidad, Anthony (30) Infantry 77th in the Pacific and Angelo(25) who was killed at the Battle of the Bulge.
Rocco saw action in North Africa and was taken prisoner in Italy and sent to Stalag 2B Hammerstein Work Camp in January 1944 and released May 1945.
|
Pvt. Warren Harding Decker 509th PIR 101st Airborne Division Pvt. Warren H. Decker was wounded and captured during "suicide" mission of the El Djem Bridge on December 27, 1942. POW camps included PG 98, PG 59, Stalag VI, Stalag IV, the "Black March away from Allied/Soviet forces, Wobbelin concentration camp, Stalag IIIA, Stalag IIB, then finally Stalag VIIA.
He remained a POW until liberated by 14th Armored Division of Patton's 3rd Army at Stalag VIIA, Moosburg, Bavaria, Germany on April 29, 1945.
|
Pte. James Thomas Japhet James Japhet served with the US Army, he was taken as a Prisoner of War and held in Stalag 2B.
|
PFC. Jack D. Hopkins Coy A. 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment Jack Hopkins was my grandfather. He served with the US Army 82nd Airborne Division in WW2. I found out he was captured on 10th of July 1943 after the jump on 9th of July at Sicily and was held at Stalag 2B. I do know he was kept there for a period of time but did end up making out it out of there.
|
Pte. John Barclay Harrah 168th Infantry Regiment John Harrah was captured during the battle of the Kasserine Pass in Tunisia, North Africa on 17th of February 1943.
He was first sent to a POW camp in Italy and after a short time there he was moved to Stalag 2b in Hammerstein.
When the war ended he was sent for rehabilitation to Camp Lucky Strike in France.
He smoked only Lucky Strike cigarettes until the day he died in 2003.
|
PFC. Ronda Ray Morgan Co E. 179th Infantry Regiment 45th Div Uncle Ron, Ronda Morgan served with Co E, 179th Infantry Regiment. According to the government archives he was at Stalag IIB at Hammerstein from 17th of February 1944 until 7th of April 1945. Uncle Ron re-enlisted for another 6 years after his discharge in 1945 and rose to the rank of Sergeant. Uncle Ron never spoke of this time in his life. He told his sister, my mother, that every day a German soldier would come in and throw a ripe red apple in the middle of the hut. Whoever weakened and grabbed the apple was taken out and punished. That's the only story I know.
He never married. He lived with us for the final years of his life. He would hoard food in his room, especially peanut butter. Momma said it was because of what happened to him in Germany.
He died in 1992.
|
PFC. Alvin Lyle "Short" Schilling 34th Regiment 9th Division My father, Alvin Schilling was captured in October, 1944 near Aachen, Germany. He had been separated from his unit in late September. I have a letter that he wrote during his time in Stalag IIB. He talked about being liberated by the Russian front, and treated badly by the Russians. He was on the march till meeting American forces in April, 1945.
|
Sgt. Victor P. Terrana Victor Terrana enlisted on the 24th of January 1941. He served with an Infantry Regiment and was captured in Sicily, he was held as a Prisoner of War in Stalag 2B at Hammerstein, he was released on 14th Sep 1945.
|
Chester Kadlubowski Infantry Chester Kadlubowski was captured in Italy and held in Stalag 2B.
|
Cpl. Joseph "Poppa" Pacetti 168th Infantry Regiment When my father served in Vietnam, his 1SG was Poppa Joe Pacetti.
Hoe had been captured in Tunisia on 17th of February 1943 and spent the balance of WWII as a Prisoner of War at Stalag 2B.
He went on to serve in both Korea and Vietnam, where he watched over my father and made sure that they both made it through the war in one piece.
Uniquely, Poppa Joe was a three time recipient of the Combat Infantryman Badge, which puts him in a small group of individuals to have earned this award.
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