Return to Poland and Russia
by Captain Billy Bingham, 34th Inf. Div.
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by Captain Billy Bingham, 34th Inf. Div.
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I returned to Poland in 1971. When I visited the old camp, Oflag 64, in May of that year it looked much
the same as it did when I first saw it in June of 1943. Beyond the Oder, villages in eastern Europe and
Poland do not change much with the passage of time.
In 1943, Szubin was the site of Oflag (Offizierlager) 64. The German POW camp for captured ground force
officers below the rank of full Colonel.
After the Blitzkreig in 1939, the Germans ringed it with barbed wire, added more barracks and turned it
into a POW camp. The Germans renamed the village Alburgund. At one time, it housed American, French,
British, and Russian POWs.
At peak occupancy, there were some 2000 American prisoners in the Szubin camp. Nearly every POW has
a different story to tell about how the war ended for him as an individual. A few reminders were left in
the camp - in the tunnels we dug, stories about when the Russians overran it, and how others, like me, had
escaped.
All remembered the endless hours of daylight during the short summer season, the endless hours of
darkness during the long winter nights, and the interminable grinding days of dull chronic hunger when
food was our chief preoccupation.
It should be an exercise in nostalgia. Not one of us who remained or left the camp in the snow and sub-
zero weather (20 degrees below zero) in January would have entertained the thought of ever wanting to
see it again. It was not the kind of garden spot where you would willingly choose to spend a vacation.
But time mellows all, and we wanted to see if it was as miserable as it once seemed.
the same as it did when I first saw it in June of 1943. Beyond the Oder, villages in eastern Europe and
Poland do not change much with the passage of time.
In 1943, Szubin was the site of Oflag (Offizierlager) 64. The German POW camp for captured ground force
officers below the rank of full Colonel.
After the Blitzkreig in 1939, the Germans ringed it with barbed wire, added more barracks and turned it
into a POW camp. The Germans renamed the village Alburgund. At one time, it housed American, French,
British, and Russian POWs.
At peak occupancy, there were some 2000 American prisoners in the Szubin camp. Nearly every POW has
a different story to tell about how the war ended for him as an individual. A few reminders were left in
the camp - in the tunnels we dug, stories about when the Russians overran it, and how others, like me, had
escaped.
All remembered the endless hours of daylight during the short summer season, the endless hours of
darkness during the long winter nights, and the interminable grinding days of dull chronic hunger when
food was our chief preoccupation.
It should be an exercise in nostalgia. Not one of us who remained or left the camp in the snow and sub-
zero weather (20 degrees below zero) in January would have entertained the thought of ever wanting to
see it again. It was not the kind of garden spot where you would willingly choose to spend a vacation.
But time mellows all, and we wanted to see if it was as miserable as it once seemed.
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