WWII Jewish American POW Held in BERGA , German Slave Labor Camp

[KASTAUFFER]

On February 8, 1945, 350 very unfortunate American POWs who had been captured during the Battle of the Bulge were loaded into railroad boxcars to be transported from Stalag IXB at Bad Orb to a slave labor camp at Berga. The Germans asked the American Man of Confidence at Stalag IXB to provide a list of Jewish POWs , which he refused to do. The Germans instead picked 350 men they knew were Jewish based on their names or selected men they thought "looked Jewish". Stalag IXB was a terrible camp, but Berga would prove to be much worse.

 

Berga was a group of mines that the Germans were drilling into the side of a mountain to create an underground factory. The rock was slate and the dust coated the lungs of the men who worked in the tunnels as they dug through the rock. The POWs were worked relentlessly and 35 of the 350 died in just a couple months. It had the highest rate of casualties of any POW camp Americans were held at in Europe.

 

Here is a good site describing the conditions in the camp : http://www.indianamilitary.org/German%20PW%20Camps/Prisoner%20of%20War/PW%20Camps/Berga/History.htm

 

A PBS documentary was produced about Berga in 2002. The POW whose group is pictured here is prominent in the documentary : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0341255/

 

He passed away shortly after the film was released.

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A portion of the list of POWs transported to Berga. The POW number on the tag matches the list,

 

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He was captured while serving with the 423rd Infantry, 106th Division during the Battle of the Bulge. He must have kept this pass with him the whole time he was a POW. The date on the reverse is November 1944.

 

 

 

His ID issued to him after liberation at Camp Lucky Strike

 

 

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In 1988 he applied for his POW medal and was issued the balance of the medals he had never received.

 

 

 

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And lastly documentation from the National Jewish Welfare Board

 

 

 

[KASTAUFFER]

In his own words... " You want to forget, but you can't".

[bellasilva]

Just absolutely incredible

[nbolinger]

Great Grouping!

[KASTAUFFER]

Great Grouping!

 

Thank you for finding it Nole!

 

Kurt

[manayunkman]

He was a dead man but for some reason made it through.

 

Good hunting Nole and a great addition to the Kastauffer memorial and archive.

[David D]

Great grouoing. Very sad that he was placed under such horrid conditions.

Thanks for sharing

[Adam R]

Fantastic group, fantastic story!

[Martygraw]

Nice grouping for an American hero.

[doyler]

_{Very poignant set Kurt.}

 

_{I recognize him from the documentary.The horrors these men endured and saw is beyond immagination.}

 

_{Thanks for posting}

[Garandomatic]

I think i recognize him from a video also... Amazing story.

[Jay V]

Kurt

Amazing piece of History,Thanks so Much for Sharing,Jay

[firefighter]

An AMAZING grouping to a real hero that went through HELL!!!!

[JasonT]

thanks so much for sharing! He had quite the story to tell and was very sad what he experienced. I just read Given Up For Dead earlier this year. That anyone survived that camp and then the subsequent death march is a miracle.

[bobgee]

Great story, Kurt! Good that he made out O.K. Good on you for keeping his memory & story alive! Bob

[ruralpatrol]

Just came across this post. Very nice grouping. Much respect.

[peoplewhoknowme1]

Great group!