Oflag 64 Remembered
Honoring our WWII Kriegy Patriots and Heroes
This site has been developed and produced by Bill Caldwell, Elodie Caldwell, Lorien Kelly, and Chris Weatherford, with tireless help and collaboration from many others.
It is dedicated to the men of Oflag 64 in honor of their lives and sacrifices, and
especially to Reid
Ellsworth: father,
grandfather, and
father-in-law.
Welcome to the online home of the former POWs of Oflag 64. The prisoner of war camp designated Oflag (Offizierslager) 64 was established by the Germans during World War II in Szubin, Poland (written 'Schubin' by the Germans) to detain captured American officers. The first American officers arrived in the camp on June 6, 1943. The initial occupants numbered around 150. By the time the
camp was evacuated in January 1945, their ranks had grown to approximately 1,400.
The “Kriegies” (short for Kriegsgefangenen: prisoners of war) made the best of their situation organizing sports events, musical and theatrical performances and escape plans. While held captive, these men published their own monthly newspaper called the “ITEM”, several issues of which are available for download elsewhere on this website.
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This website is a means of communicating the ongoing news and events of the men of Oflag 64 and their families, as well as a means to gather information about these men and their stories.
Here are just a few highlights of this site’s content:
• “Archives” contains the personal stories of many who were held at Oflag 64, as well as issues of the camp newspaper, copies of Red Cross POW Bulletins and other period documents.
• The “Galleries” page leads to several different photo galleries, including photos taken in the camp during captivity, photos taken on modern tours of the areas involved, and photos taken during several of our annual reunions.
• The “ITEM” page contains a link to the current issue of our organization’s quarterly newsletter, "The Post Oflag 64 ITEM", and a link to the ITEM Archive which contains all known issues of the actual camp newspaper published during captivity.
Feel free to explore!
This web site and the Post Oflag 64 Item are independent entities and do not operate under the auspices of any other organization.
All materials on this site are used with permission of the authors or surviving famly members.
