A POW Camp ID Tag for allied prisoners housed in the Stalag VIII-B camp at Lamsdorf, Germany. The tag is crafted in zinc; the obverse stamped “Stalag VIII-B, Nr. 2139” on both sides of the quintuple slotted center; three drill holes; measuring 60 mm x 40 mm; near extremely fine condition.
Footnote: Stalag VIII-B was a German Army Prisoner of War camp located near Lamsdorff Silesia, Germany. It was first built to house British and French prisoners of the First War. The camp opened in 1939 to house Polish prisoners from the German September 1939 offensive. Later, approximately 100,000 prisoners from Australia, Belgium, British India, British Palestine, Canada, France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, South Africa, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, the United States and Yugoslavia passed through this camp.According to historians, the Stalag VIII-B had the best hospital facilities of all Stalags. The hospital consisted of eleven concrete buildings, equipped with a German Oberst Arzt (Colonel Doctor), with x-ray and laboratory facilities, kitchens, a morgue, and accommodations for medical staff, which was made up entirely of prisoners. With the Soviet forces approaching the camp in January 1945, the Germans liquidated the camp and forced the prisoners to walk west, towards Germany. Many died during this “Death March - survivors were liberated by the Western Allied or Soviet forces.