15th November 1941
Stalag 302

Stalag 302

The history of the prisoner of war camps in Barkniewko is closely linked to the establishment of the German Groß Born training ground, which was built in 1935-1936.

The name of the training ground referred to the village of Gross Born, which was located in the center of the training ground. The beginnings of using the poorly fertile, sandy areas for military purposes date back to 1912 and are closely related to the existing military training ground in the town of Hammerstein (Polish: Czarne) in the district of Schlochau (Polish: Człuchów).

Initially, when the training ground plan was created in 1934, the area of ​​the village of Barkenbrügge (Polish: Barkniewko) was not within the training ground, this happened in the second stage of the development of the training ground infrastructure, when the entire village of Barkenbrügge and part of the village of Marienwalde (Polish: Marianowo, Czersk) were included in the training ground area. After this change, the Gross Born training ground had 18,659 ha and included 6 villages, from which the inhabitants were gradually evicted and the entire area became a military area. The forested areas (8,546 ha) were administered by 7 forest districts and subordinated to the management of military forests based in Marienwalde.

On the Gross Born training ground, the Germans built two barracks complexes: Gross Born lager Linde (currently Borne Sulinowo) for 15,000 soldiers and Gross Born lager Westfalenhof (currently Kłomino) for approx. 6,000 soldiers. Before the barracks were built, two large wooden barracks complexes were built in their immediate vicinity for the needs of German workers, in which a total of approx. 4,000 of them lived.

Before the outbreak of war with Poland on 26th August 1939, a transit camp for Polish prisoners of war, Dulag E (Durchgangslager E – transit camp E), was established in the barracks, to which most Polish prisoners of war taken prisoner by soldiers of the German 4th Army from POW collective camps (German Sammellager), including from Wejherowo, Terespol Pomorski, Starogard Gdański, Boże Pole, Karolew near Bydgoszcz, Grupa near Grudziądz and others. According to data from the International Red Cross, on 18th September 1939, there were 8,298 Polish prisoners of war in Dulag E. On 3rd September 1939, the first Polish prisoners of war died on the Gross Born training ground and were buried in a temporary cemetery near the German Evangelical cemetery near the town of Linde (currently ul. Orła Białego in Borne Sulinowo).

On 10th October, the Dulag E POW camp was transformed into a camp for privates and non-commissioned officers Stalag II E (Stammlager II E). In order to compensate for the shortage of workers, the Germans used Polish prisoners of war in field work in agriculture. On 30th October 1939, there were 7,300 prisoners in Stalag II E, including 2,229 civilians and 1,985 soldiers, and 1,882 civilians were used for work. The prisoners sent to work formed work teams (from 20 to 50 prisoners) outside the main camp and worked on estates and farms in the Pomeranian Province, including 90 work teams in Szczecinek County, 69 in Wałcz County, and 73 work teams in Drawsko County.

The few preserved fragments of accounts by Polish prisoners of war collected in the documents of the Main Commission for the Investigation of Nazi Crimes in Poland, Koszalin branch, indicate that Polish prisoners of war were also deployed near Barkenbrügge. From the spring of 1940, the German authorities began a mass campaign to deprive Polish prisoners of war of their prisoner of war status, simultaneously transferring them to civilian worker status.

On 11th May 1940, out of a total of 7,548 prisoners in Stalag II E, only 295 were in a prisoner of war camp, while the rest were employed outside the main camp. On 1st June 1940, Stalag II E was transformed into Oflag II D Gross Born Westfalenhof (wooden barracks near Kłomin, the so-called Camp on Psia Górka), to which French prisoners of war began to be brought from 11th June 1940, in the number of over 5.5 thousand, later the number of French prisoners of war in this camp was about 3 thousand officers and orderlies.

The Germans, preparing a plan for the attack on the USSR, were preparing to accept a huge number of prisoners of war, planning POW camps for them also in the area of ​​the II Military District Pomerania. The first information about the planned locations of new POW camps for Red Army soldiers on the Gross Born training ground appeared on 30th April 1941 during a meeting of the Wehrmacht High Command, on that day the numbers of the planned camps for Red Army prisoners of war, including those on the Gross Born training ground, were determined. Two camps were to be located here, the numbering of which was determined as 302 and 323. On that day, the numbers of the planned camps for Red Army prisoners of war were determined, including those at the Gross Born training ground. On 15th April 1941, Frontstalag 302 was created with its headquarters in Arnswalde (Choszczno). It was assigned to II Military District Inf. ERs. Batl. 4 Kolberg WK II. On 15th May 1941, it was subordinated to the Prisoners of War Command in II Military District. On 16th June 1941, the Supreme Command of the German Wehrmacht determined the maximum number of prisoners of war who were to be ultimately held in two camps on the Gross Born training ground: 302 – 50 thousand, 323 – 30 thousand.

On 15th July 1941, Stalag 302 was subordinated to Landesschutzen Ers. Batl 2 Stettin WKII. After the outbreak of war with the Soviet Union on 22nd July 1941, the first information about a POW camp organised on the Gross Born training ground appeared on 23rd June 1941and concerned Russenlager Gross Born 323 Gross Born Rederitz. The next information about a camp on the Gross Born training ground comes from 14th August 1941 and concerns an organisational order for Stalag II G (323) Gross Born Rederitz. Information from August 1941 about Stalag II G (323) and the number of prisoners – 4,381 has been preserved.  The Central Archives of the Ministry of Defence in Russia has preserved a German document from the end of 1941 concerning the number of POW identity marks issued in individual POW camps. Information on the camps from the Gross Born military training ground: - II G (323) Gross Born – Rederitz – from number 1 –11,694 - II H (302) Gross Born – Barkenbrűgge – from number 1 – 18,200.

From 1st February 1942 Stalag 302 (II H) was moved from Barkenbrügge to the Gross Born Rederitz camp, and in place of the POW camp in Barkenbrügge a branch camp Stalag II H (302) was established.

Stalag 323 (II G) was formally liquidated and crossed out from the register of existing POW camps. Most likely June 1942.

Source: okonek.pila.lasy.gov.pl (2025)

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