German POW's at Marseilles

[klann]

Hi Greg
I will ask my father if he knows where a cemetery for POW's was located at Camp 404 for you.
Klann

[klann]

Hi Greg
My father said he believes that Camp 404 owned nearby land where people who died were buried.
He said not too many died unless they were ill as they gave people just enough food to survive.
There may be more about this in the book written in German about Camp 404. My father read
it and he thought it was accurate. I hope this helps.
best regards.

[peponne00]

Hello Klann,

i did buy the book but can't read german in according with some infos i get, they were a pow cemetery somewhere where 32 germans pow were buried. i tried to locate it but it is difficult, is your father remember were the trash/garbage were dumped in the camp? would he be able to draw a map of the camp ? thanks, Greg

[trekker]

Many Slovenes from German-occupied Slovene regions Gorenjska and Štajerska were mobilized in German army. They had to fight on all German fronts where some of them died, some deserted, others were imprisoned. There were Slovenes (therefore Yugoslavs) who were German soldiers POW in the Marseille camp and described terrible conditions they lived in. They were not guards, of course.

[trekker]

Here's one possible explanation of Yugoslav guards (who were not Yugoslavs, actually) in the camp:

According to the secret agreement of 1915 among Italy, Britain, France and Russia Austrian territories inhabited predominantly by Slovenes and Croats were annexed by Italy after WWI. In Italy they constituted the Julian March administrative unit. Italy adopted the policy of national annihilation of her Slovene and Croat citizens whom the Italian government in its documents called allogeni (of different ethnicity) and alloglotti (of different language). As a result, strong antagonism was created between Italians on one side and Slovenes and Croats on the other side. As Italian citizens Slovenes and Croats (from Istria) had to serve the Italian army. However, many were not trusted due to antagonism mentioned so they formed unarmed working units.

After the Italian armistice in September 1943 about 6000 Slovenes and Croats from Istria remained in Sardegna/Sardinia island. Most of them required to be transferred to Yugoslavia to join the Yugoslav National Liberation Army led by Tito but were refused by American authorities because they were Italian citizens. In addition, US Army needed them so they were transferred to Corsica/Corse island in February – May 1944. They were part of NORBS commanded by general John Ratay. They worked in magazines, ports and airports tarnsporting, loading and unloading materials, mostly bombs, in preparation of the invasion of 7th American and 1st French Army to France (operation Anvil/Dragoon). The work caused 40 dead and at least 100 wounded Slovenes and Croats burried in Bastia and Aiaccio cemeteries. In Febraury - May 1945 they were transferred to southern France doing the same work and in Spring 1945 became part of Delta base in France. They formed 27 companies with two of them performing guarding duties. It is possible that they quarded POW camps in France, including Marseille camp. I remember accounts of their helping Slovene POW (from Yugoslavia) who were ex German soldiers with food.

[trekker]

Here's what I've found about the POW camp near Marseille but it was not written whether it was the camp 404:

A.Č. from Maribor was a Slovene mobilized into German army and was interned in a POW camp near Marseille. He remembered that in his camp almost all the prisoners were of Slovene nationality. (I guess it was a camp section as the camp was divided into sectors for prisoners of different nationalities.)
Organization of the camp was left completely to the prisoners including the camp police. A.Č. could never understand how the camp police managed to take control of everything that was going on in the camp. (Unfortunately he didn't say anything more about the camp police).
Once a week an American sargeant of Italian descent who was some kind of a supervisor came to the camp and after prisoners had been lined up he picked up on of them to beat him merciless in front of all after having put his leather gloves on. The unfortunate prisoner couldn't defend himself as he would've been charged with assaulting an American sargeant.
A.Č. described a few ways of maltreating prisoners, such as pushing a stone with one's nose while crawling on the dusty or muddy ground.
He mentioned that in the beginning prisoners' armpits were checked and SS members were heavily beaten. Some of them were injured and to his knowledge a few of them died.

[Gonzofan]

Does anyone know the date when this camp was shut down? I'm pretty sure the camp went on for a while after the last German soldier was released...I'd love to know that date as well. I'm doing some research on one of the prisoners who went on to become very famous in the U.S. and Canada.

I guess while I'm at it...where would records of the prisoners of this camp be held...if they even still exist? Would love to try and find out more about this period of his life.

His autobiography mentions this period for about a chapter and he was not abused. However, he had volunteered first as a barber and then as an artist, so, possibly, was held out of general population and/or in another section of the camp.

Thanks,
John

[peponne00]

Hi John,

i think the camp continued and closed around 1947.

Greg

[Gonzofan]

Thanks, Greg.