Stalag VIIIB / 344 Lamsdorf
Prisoner of War Camp
1940 - 1945
Including Stalag VIIIB Teschen. For more information about Stalag VIIIB Teschen
go to the History page: click HERE
Disclaimer: In preparing this website we have taken reasonable steps to ensure that we have not infringed any copyright.
If you believe we have infringed any copyright please inform us.
If you believe we have infringed any copyright please inform us.
email: powmuseum@outlook.com
We don't have any records of POWs
except those that are already on this website.
Almost every day we receive emails saying "Please can you tell me about my father/grandfather/etc who was a POW".
The answer is "No" - unless his name is already listed here. We only have what people send us.
There is no complete list of prisoners-of-war, anywhere.
If you are researching a POW whose name is not listed on the Names page of the website,
then we have no records for him at all.
People send us information and we put it on the website - that's all we can do.
Please look at our 'Help with Research' page or seek help on our Facebook Group page.
except those that are already on this website.
Almost every day we receive emails saying "Please can you tell me about my father/grandfather/etc who was a POW".
The answer is "No" - unless his name is already listed here. We only have what people send us.
There is no complete list of prisoners-of-war, anywhere.
If you are researching a POW whose name is not listed on the Names page of the website,
then we have no records for him at all.
People send us information and we put it on the website - that's all we can do.
Please look at our 'Help with Research' page or seek help on our Facebook Group page.
From: Sarah Drake
Sent: 24 January 2022 01:09
To: powmemorialmuseum@outlook.com
Subject: Charles Cameron Mathieson POW St Valery- diary and documents
My maternal grandfather , Charles Cameron Mathieson of the 51st Highland Division, was a POW captured at St Valery in 1940. He was held captive for 5 years and wrote a diary of his experiences which my family has fond memories of reading when he was still alive.
My grandfather died in 1983, and in the years following, the diary and his war papers somehow left the family’s possession and become lost.
We have become aware that it was put up for auction in 2016 and sold via this auction house:
https://www.ukauctioneers.com/auction_catalogue.cfm?d&itemID=20E9CB0FD7D62EFBD4E5FECEFF5909E5EF26ACCE&auction=21E8CD0DD5&action=2&rangepage=10¤tpage=1&showLots=50&sortBy=estimate_high&lotView=grid&imagesOnly=N
We are desperately hoping to find its whereabouts , and if not get it returned to the families possession, at least obtain copies so the family can enjoy his words once again.
From the point of auction we are at a loss. If there is anything you could advise to aid our search it would be greatly appreciated.
Sarah Drake
Sent: 24 January 2022 01:09
To: powmemorialmuseum@outlook.com
Subject: Charles Cameron Mathieson POW St Valery- diary and documents
My maternal grandfather , Charles Cameron Mathieson of the 51st Highland Division, was a POW captured at St Valery in 1940. He was held captive for 5 years and wrote a diary of his experiences which my family has fond memories of reading when he was still alive.
My grandfather died in 1983, and in the years following, the diary and his war papers somehow left the family’s possession and become lost.
We have become aware that it was put up for auction in 2016 and sold via this auction house:
https://www.ukauctioneers.com/auction_catalogue.cfm?d&itemID=20E9CB0FD7D62EFBD4E5FECEFF5909E5EF26ACCE&auction=21E8CD0DD5&action=2&rangepage=10¤tpage=1&showLots=50&sortBy=estimate_high&lotView=grid&imagesOnly=N
We are desperately hoping to find its whereabouts , and if not get it returned to the families possession, at least obtain copies so the family can enjoy his words once again.
From the point of auction we are at a loss. If there is anything you could advise to aid our search it would be greatly appreciated.
Sarah Drake
Elfriede Hannak
Elfriede Hannak was an office worker at Stalag VIIIB/344 Lamsdorf from 1942 until her evacuation in January 1945. She wrote about her experiences in her book Erlebnisbericht von Elfriede Hannak.
CLICK HERE to see a translation.
Yugoslav POWs at Lamsdorf
Raka Levi has contributed 19 drawings made of Yugoslav prisoners at Stalag VIIIB and Oflag XIIIB.
Click HERE to see them.
All drawings have the POW numbers of these prisoners.
You can contact Raka Levi about these pictures if you wish, at r.l@levico.com
Elfriede Hannak was an office worker at Stalag VIIIB/344 Lamsdorf from 1942 until her evacuation in January 1945. She wrote about her experiences in her book Erlebnisbericht von Elfriede Hannak.
CLICK HERE to see a translation.
Yugoslav POWs at Lamsdorf
Raka Levi has contributed 19 drawings made of Yugoslav prisoners at Stalag VIIIB and Oflag XIIIB.
Click HERE to see them.
All drawings have the POW numbers of these prisoners.
You can contact Raka Levi about these pictures if you wish, at r.l@levico.com
More Help with Research
John Jay, author of Facing Fearful Odds – My Father’s Story of Captivity, Escape and Resistance, 1940-45
has produced an excellent document detailing his own researches,
which is likely to be very useful to anyone wondering how to get started.
Click HERE to read this document.
John Jay, author of Facing Fearful Odds – My Father’s Story of Captivity, Escape and Resistance, 1940-45
has produced an excellent document detailing his own researches,
which is likely to be very useful to anyone wondering how to get started.
Click HERE to read this document.
800 Lives
For Us the War was Over
Trevor Roberts wrote about his time as a POW at Working Party E3, how he came to be there and the walk to freedom after release. Trevor chose not to put pen to paper until 50 years after the war when he published formally his first book, '800 Lives'.
"A very interesting first-hand account of what it meant to be a working prisoner-of-war of the Germans for five years during WWII. The book contains tragedy and humour. The author shows particularly well the many schemes - capers, he calls them - devised by the British to maintain morale, and, wherever possible, frustrate the German war effort. This is a fine tale of resilience in the face of great odds.”
To buy the e-book version, click on the picture of the book above.
The print version is priced at £11.99 (plus £2.50 P&P), with part of the sale proceeds going to the Royal British Legion.
The book can be ordered by email: lois.dean@daineswell.co.uk
For Us the War was Over
Trevor Roberts wrote about his time as a POW at Working Party E3, how he came to be there and the walk to freedom after release. Trevor chose not to put pen to paper until 50 years after the war when he published formally his first book, '800 Lives'.
"A very interesting first-hand account of what it meant to be a working prisoner-of-war of the Germans for five years during WWII. The book contains tragedy and humour. The author shows particularly well the many schemes - capers, he calls them - devised by the British to maintain morale, and, wherever possible, frustrate the German war effort. This is a fine tale of resilience in the face of great odds.”
To buy the e-book version, click on the picture of the book above.
The print version is priced at £11.99 (plus £2.50 P&P), with part of the sale proceeds going to the Royal British Legion.
The book can be ordered by email: lois.dean@daineswell.co.uk
The Lamsdorf Series
Book 1 Lamsdorf In Their Own Words
Book 2: The Long March In Their Own Words
Available as hardback, paperback and e-book
Click HERE for more information and to buy
Book 1 Lamsdorf In Their Own Words
Book 2: The Long March In Their Own Words
Available as hardback, paperback and e-book
Click HERE for more information and to buy
Taking the Long Way Home: The Long March of 1945
An interactive map, produced by Dave Lovell and Ian Bowley, of the routes taken by many of the POWs on the Long March of January to May 1945, as part of the commemorations marking 75 years since the liberation and return home of POWs.
Click HERE to view the map and associated resources
An interactive map, produced by Dave Lovell and Ian Bowley, of the routes taken by many of the POWs on the Long March of January to May 1945, as part of the commemorations marking 75 years since the liberation and return home of POWs.
Click HERE to view the map and associated resources
Hut 18A Long March
This spreadsheet was prepared by Rick Catt as part of the POW75 project 2020. It lists information about the Royal Australian Air Force POWs who were accommodated in Hut 18A at Stalag VIIIB/344 Lamsdorf, and their participation in the Long March of 1945, and published in the book 'The RAF POWs of Lamsdorf'.
Click HERE to see this document
This spreadsheet was prepared by Rick Catt as part of the POW75 project 2020. It lists information about the Royal Australian Air Force POWs who were accommodated in Hut 18A at Stalag VIIIB/344 Lamsdorf, and their participation in the Long March of 1945, and published in the book 'The RAF POWs of Lamsdorf'.
Click HERE to see this document
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email: powmuseum@outlook.com
If you are looking for information about a Prisoner of War camp other than Stalag VIIIB/344 Lamsdorf, please click HERE
This website aims to provide as complete a picture as possible of the experiences of the prisoners of war, mostly from Commonwealth countries, who were interned at Stalag VIIIB/344 Lamsdorf, as a historical record and a resource for research, but equally important, as a lasting tribute to all those servicemen who suffered imprisonment there,
some for as long as five years.
There were other categories of prisoners during (and often before) the war: slave labourers, the inmates of concentration camps, and others, and these are important subjects that deserve recognition and attention; however, they are not the subject of this website nor of the On-Line Museum of Prisoners of War in general, nor of the associated Facebook groups.
This site is not about Stalag VIIIF/318/344, which was also at Lamsdorf,
a camp for mostly Russian and Polish prisoners of war.
Если вы ищете информацию о Шталаг VIIIF/318/344 Ламсдорф:
Jeśli szukasz informacji na temat Stalag VIIIF 318/344/Lamsdorf:
For Russian and Polish information about Stalag VIIIF/318/344 click here:
Шталаг Stalag VIIIF/318/344
What's on this website?
SEARCH - Click on the search box above and enter a name, place or anything else you want to find.
MENU - Look at the Site Guide at the top of this page and click on any page that you wish to visit.
PHOTOS - There are photos on many of the documents linked to names on the Names page and also photos on the Galleries page and on some other pages. There are some Videos and Audio Recordings too.
HELP - Go to the Help with Research page.
VISIT LAMSDORF - Yes, you can go there - there is an excellent museum and experts to help you: Visit Lamsdorf page.
BUY BOOKS AND DVDs about POWs - see the Lamsdorf Booklist and buy.
SUPPORT THIS WEBSITE if you would like to through the Support page.
LOTS MORE - You need to explore all the pages!
SCROLL DOWN on this page and see what is there - there is a slideshow of Lamsdorf photos further down too.
NAMES - We don't have a complete list of names of those who were prisoners at this camp - the list we have on the Names Page is simply those names that have been sent to us.
Back to site guide
British Army POWs of the Germans (all camps, not just Stalag VIIIB/344 Lamsdorf)
This list was possibly compiled in 1944 (as it shows Lamsdorf as 344 - 8b is Teschen).
This is a very big file and might take a long time to download: British Army POWs
SALT MINES - Whatever some returning POWs might have claimed, there were no POW Working Parties in salt mines; no POWs worked in salt mines; there were no salt mines anyway! As far as we can discover, no former POW has ever given the location of the salt mine he claimed to have worked in. For more information click here: Salt Mines
SEARCH - Click on the search box above and enter a name, place or anything else you want to find.
MENU - Look at the Site Guide at the top of this page and click on any page that you wish to visit.
PHOTOS - There are photos on many of the documents linked to names on the Names page and also photos on the Galleries page and on some other pages. There are some Videos and Audio Recordings too.
HELP - Go to the Help with Research page.
VISIT LAMSDORF - Yes, you can go there - there is an excellent museum and experts to help you: Visit Lamsdorf page.
BUY BOOKS AND DVDs about POWs - see the Lamsdorf Booklist and buy.
SUPPORT THIS WEBSITE if you would like to through the Support page.
LOTS MORE - You need to explore all the pages!
SCROLL DOWN on this page and see what is there - there is a slideshow of Lamsdorf photos further down too.
NAMES - We don't have a complete list of names of those who were prisoners at this camp - the list we have on the Names Page is simply those names that have been sent to us.
Back to site guide
British Army POWs of the Germans (all camps, not just Stalag VIIIB/344 Lamsdorf)
This list was possibly compiled in 1944 (as it shows Lamsdorf as 344 - 8b is Teschen).
This is a very big file and might take a long time to download: British Army POWs
SALT MINES - Whatever some returning POWs might have claimed, there were no POW Working Parties in salt mines; no POWs worked in salt mines; there were no salt mines anyway! As far as we can discover, no former POW has ever given the location of the salt mine he claimed to have worked in. For more information click here: Salt Mines
We have a Facebook Group
where you can share information with others interested
in the Lamsdorf POW camp - you can ask for help with your researches too.
Click on the Facebook logo above to go there.
Groupe français Facebook ICI
Gruppo italiano Facebook QUI
Where was Stalag VIIIB/344?
Łambinowice
Lamsdorf, now called Łambinowice, is a small town in Poland, once the location of one of Germany's largest prisoner of war camps for allied servicemen. The camp originally opened during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, and was also a prisoner of war camp in the First World War. In 1939 it housed Polish prisoners, then from 1940 until it was evacuated in January 1945, it housed more then 100,000 prisoners from Britain and other Commonwealth countries, as well as from the Soviet Union, Poland and various European countries occupied by the Germans. In 1943 many prisoners from Lamsdorf were transferred to other camps, and the number was changed from VIIIB to 344.
Was Lamsdorf in Germany or Poland? For more about this click HERE
Was Lamsdorf in Germany or Poland? For more about this click HERE
