Hitler's British Slaves (32 page)

Although camp hospitals should have been places for rest and recovery many of the sick prisoners found the behaviour of the Germans unlikely to aid the healing process. One group of men were raised from their sick beds and sent to bury the bodies of Allied airmen found at crash sites. At Fallingbostel those confined to hospital beds were forced to spend their days naked, with no pyjamas and no new clothing issued until they were discharged. New prisoners arriving at the camp hospital were ordered to hand over their own blankets and informed that whilst patients they could use just one camp issue blanket. By early 1945 the POW doctors were forced to abandon any hope of performing surgery since there was no power for the sterilising equipment. The medical staff were also forced to sign a declaration stating they had no right to state that a patient was ill. The message was clear, the German doctor could override all decisions. With this power he could condemn a sick man to return to the harsh regime of a mine or a quarry – which for some was tantamount to a death sentence. Indeed, by early 1945 some prisoners in Stalag XIb were reporting as many as seven deaths a day among the POWs. It was clear that if liberation did not come soon many of them would not live to see it.

As the war continued those engaged in heavy industrial work found the burden of their work increasing. Later enquiries by investigators from the Allied Supreme Headquarters found few, if any of the men engaged on heavy manual labour had ever received the correct rations. Where once men had put on shows and concerts they no longer had the energy: ‘Christmas 1944 looked like being the blackest ever as prisoners of war. The proposed pantomime was washed out because those who were suited for leading parts just could not summon up the energy or interest.’
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There were plenty of prisoners who found sickness
followed them throughout their captivity. For some their afflictions were no more serious than having to work without glasses – itself enough of a burden for those whose eyesight was failing – or being in need of false teeth, but for others the effects of constant deprivation pushed them to the very limit of their endurance. Canadian prisoners reported men with heart conditions brought on by being underfed, whilst hernias affected hundreds of POWs made to carry heavy weights at work. Some reported suffering from bronchitis on and off for years, whilst others complained of persistent pain from sciatica and lumbago from sleeping on cold stone floors. Ulcers became common, with one prisoner suffering from an ulcerated foot for six months, believing it to be caused by ill-fitting footwear. Even more unfortunate was the paratrooper who endured an abcess on his arm for eighteen months. Another long-suffering prisoner, Driver Stuart Silcock of the Royal Signals, found himself almost constantly suffering from cramp for a year and a half. It was a condition he attributed to the general conditions within the Stalags and work camps. Stomach ulcers and gastritis also became widespread, mostly as a result of the poor diet.

As early as 1941 medics were complaining that many of the POWs suffering from diphtheria were arriving at hospital already partially paralysed by the disease, their conditions having been aggravated by the failure of the authorities to release them for prompt treatment. By 1943 the miners of work detachment E22 were found to be suffering from various ailments. In particular many were suffering from chronic bronchitis and discharges from the ear. These ear infections, known as otitis media, were even found among men engaged in surface work since they were constantly exposed to coal dust. These infections were of such seriousness that many prisoners were expected to suffer permanent deafness, yet few
ever received suitable treatment. Railway workers were also found to be prone to eye infections and inflammation caused by working conditions. Men working in some mines were found to suffer from extreme cases of athlete’s foot. With their feet constantly soaked by the waters of the mine, and no way of drying either their boots or socks, they were unable to prevent the spread of infection. At one camp hospital it was calculated that a majority of men they treated had foot injuries deemed to be the result of the clogs they wore. However, the problem went much deeper and medics at one work detachment found an average of 20 men out of 400 were off sick each day with work-related complaints. Of the 136 South Africans of AK1225, 60 among them suffered from recurring bouts of malaria but found there was no quinine available for treatment. Instead they worked on as similar scenes were being played out across the Reich. The Red Cross visitors and the doctors working in the Stalags continually diagnosed ailments they blamed upon the conditions endured by the prisoners. When inspections were made of men working in a salt mine eight out of a group of 83 were found to have chronic surgical lesions. Others were found to be suffering from akylosis of the joints, osteomyelitis and lesions of the nerve plexus of the upper extremities. At other camps the inspectors found men suffering from furunculosis and other skin diseases caused by a lack of vitamins in the diet. The list of medical problems resulting from the conditions endured by the prisoners grew: weight loss, muscle atrophy, oedema, cheiloses, night blindness, muscle tenderness. With many of the POWs lying in their bunks scratching lice covered bodies night after night hyperkeratosis was also noticed. This was a chronic thickening of the outer layers of skin in which the normal skin markings became prominent. It most commonly results from scratching or rubbing – something many among
them were familiar with. Other POWs, examined by doctors after liberation, were found to have loose, flabby skin, or rough skin, much of which was peeling. Pellagrous stomatitis was also noticed, where the tongue becomes raw and swollen, causing excessive salivation. In later stages of the condition the surface of the tongue became smooth and pink but could also be cracked. The men found their tongues becoming sensitive making them unable to eat hot foods, and even smoking caused pain. Others suffered from nocturnal polyuria, a complaint resulting in them passing large amounts of urine during the night, caused by the altered secretion of hormones controlling urine production. Yet for the men suffering from these ailments, it was not the unfamiliar names and detailed diagnosis that mattered – all they cared about was whether they would ever be free to recover.

With increasing levels of disease and deprivation recovery times for those taken sick began to increase. This was due to ‘a general state of fatigue’
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and the fact that few among the prisoners had previously been used to such heavy work. For some of those employed in excessively heavy labour the sickness noticed had the potential for causing serious long-term damage. An Indian doctor working at Reserve Lazarett Elsterhorst, and mainly treating prisoners employed in mining, noted as early as 1942 how he was encountering increasing levels of heart trouble among his patients. This he put down to ‘overworking and nervous strain’
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among the men, many of whom were unsuited to heavy manual labour.

Those suffering work-related injuries or sickness had plenty on their minds. Not only was their health of concern, they also found their wages being docked by their employers. For three days they were forced to pay their own board and lodging to compensate their employer for the loss of labour. Some workers even found they had to provide the food for
their mates who had fallen sick. As soup or stew was dished out a portion was removed to represent the number of men taken sick. It was an extreme example of the ‘no work, no pay’ rule, under which all suffered. In the later stages of the war any such loss of food or wages to buy extra food put an incredible strain on the physical welfare of the prisoners. In the worsening conditions it was no wonder TB began to make an appearance, as did typhus. As early as 1942 one of the worst camps, Stalag VIIIb, had to be quarantined after an outbreak of typhus. Though the POWs came through the outbreak without serious infection the same would not be said two years later.

As their health failed there were obvious and widespread physical manifestations. Weight loss was noticeable to all but for many there was worse to come, as one recalled: ‘Living conditions were not that pleasant. We all got ulcers on our legs. I’ve seen men with ulcers the size of a fist, and deep to the bone. And all they used to give us was charcoal and paper bandages – like toilet paper. Some of them were terrible. It came from the lice. I can remember looking under my arm and it was full of lice. Even now I’m still frightened of getting ulcers.’
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There was a staggering change in appearance of those at work details. With their ragged uniforms and increasingly thin bodies many looked less like soldiers than they had during the early years of captivity. With shortages of razor blades they went unshaven for long periods. Fortunately, many among them found that as they reduced how often they shaved their facial hair began to grow more slowly, but that was not the case on top of their heads. Since barber’s tools were seldom available many took to wearing their hair long, as one NCO reported: ‘all his men look like poets with their long hair’.
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By late 1944 the British government had recognised the
changes endured by the working prisoners. It was clear the relatively comfortable conditions of the early war years had been swept away. Just as the war itself was becoming increasingly ferocious, so too was the treatment meted out to the men behind the wire. One group of 682 prisoners were found to be housed in a single room just 58 by 62 feet. As the Foreign Office informed the Swiss government in December:

In the opinion of His Majesty’s government it is intolerable that prisoners of war should thus be worked as slaves without regard to their health, which in consequence of this treatment and the meagre rations and inadequate medical facilities supplied by the German authorities has in many cases deteriorated to a marked degree. Such treatment is entirely contrary to the spirit and terms of the Geneva Convention.
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It was not just their physical welfare that was threatened, some prisoners began to suffer mental deterioration as the long years of captivity continued with no hope of release in the foreseeable future. It was easy to see why the prisoners should be struck by despair. They were working long hours in boringly repetitive labour. Their bodies were exhausted yet they had little time to themselves to rest and recover. And hanging over them was a sense of dread that this might continue forever. With the fear that the Germans might win the war quickly many had been sustained by the knowledge they might be released soon. But as the months, then years, of war dragged on there seemed no prospect of freedom. There was a fear that a stalemate might be reached where the war stopped but no settlement was reached. In such circumstances might they be left to rot, eternal slaves to Hitler’s dream of European domination?

Even when it became clear the once mighty German military and economic machine was crumbling it was not clear to the prisoners that their fate was secure. Their treatment had shown they were expendable and that the Germans might hold them as hostages, bartering their lives in exchange for freedom for the Nazi elite. Ken Willats found some of the thoughts that entered his head were depressing:

When you are sitting on a farm in East Prussia and your home is in Elmfield Way, Balham, you cannot possibly see what events could take place to remove you from this little hamlet back to the hustle and bustle of London, SW12. You couldn’t imagine how that could come about. It seemed impossible that you would one day be back in normal life. So that was daunting. One realised that if Germany did win the war you’d be there for many, many years. That was a very real thought. I suppose we were optimistic enough to realise that in the end England would win the war. But morale went up and down. One of the most devastating photographs I saw was in the propaganda newspaper. It showed a German officer talking to an English policeman in Jersey. We couldn’t believe it. But once you’d determined the war was going to be over by Christmas – every Christmas – you were all right. There was no point thinking anything else. It could drive you mad, you’d torture yourself. Quite honestly it was good to work. We were doing physical work from dawn till dusk. So at night you didn’t have time to think about anything except playing a game of cards, reading a book and going to sleep.
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The notion that life was passing them by was one that played on the minds of many prisoners. They read letters about children being born or people dying but had no real connection
with that world. Yet some were faced with additional burdens. The regular soldiers among them were tormented by the knowledge that whilst they languished behind the wire other people were taking their place. NCOs realised they were missing out on promotion to men who probably never wanted to be soldiers. It was vexing to know they would eventually be released into an army where reluctant ‘civilian soldiers’ would be the ones giving them orders. They felt cursed by POW status, as if it would forever be a black mark against them. Not only that but they were missing out on the war they had always trained to fight. Sergeant Liddell, a Canadian of the Essex Scottish Rifles, wrote of how imprisonment had impacted on his career. He was particularly bitter that whilst in battle he had led his platoon after his officers were all killed, yet felt he would be viewed as a failure: ‘I was hit and taken prisoner. My officers were killed. My career in the army is finished and nobody gives a damn.’
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As some prisoners fought to contain their disillusionment most adopted their own ways of coping with the pressures, both consciously and unconsciously. Most chose to settle into their work, much as they would as civilians, and concentrate on living as normally as possible. Adjusting to the conditions they simply got on with life, as one recalled: ‘It was just all mates together, talking about what we’d done at work. No worries about anything else. Everyone seemed to be the same. The outside world didn’t matter. Like being at home with more restrictions. We knew we’d be liberated one day, especially when we could see our planes coming over every day.’
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In the minds of many was understanding that war was an awful business, but at least a work camp was safer than the front line, as one miner recalled: ‘I was there, I knew nothing could change it. You do what you can to make the best of it. You’ve got to realise I’d done three and a half years in the
desert. And that was worse than going down the pit. It was boiling during the day and freezing at night. So going into the working camp was more comfortable. The only problem was the lack of freedom.’
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