Buildings and organisation Wauwilermoos internment camp

entrance area guarded 2 swiss army soldiers

the camp under supervision of swiss army. beginning, wauwilermoos had bad reputation. penal camp guarded day , night soldiers dogs. sergeant led guard dog section of 10 soldiers, , under direct command of commanding officer of facility. in 47 rifle men formed guard troops of 13 february 1945. camp additionally secured several rows of barbed wire.

the sector santenberg considered military prison, sector egolzwil housed alcoholics, while department difficult elements , repeat offenders in sector wauwilermoos . in wauwilermoos prison camp both military internees , male civilian internees detained had been convicted under swiss military criminal code.

bird s eye view respectively animated map, notlandung documentary

multiple fenced, on 40,000 square metres (430,556 sq ft) total of 25 barracks situated: eleven barracks capacity of 500 inmates, remaining 14 barracks used swiss camp staff. walled prisoner barracks accommodate 50 people , built wood; neither insulated nor heated in winter. reported wauwilermoos prisoners , assumed in november 2014 u.s. inspectors, barracks equipped simple beds stuffed straw, , officers slept on straw-filled mattresses. sanitary facilities absent; latrines simple trenches in earth. apart meagre , poor diet, detainees lacking medical care. access auxiliary packets red cross , communicating letter outside world denied.

the officer barracks designed 20 occupants, had 86 autumn 1944. result, andré béguin explained no longer provide amenities such sheets , shaving mirrors officers below rank of captain”. firewood heat stoves in short supply. in response americans [threatened cut] tables , benches keep warm , béguin claimed surprise, , resolved if behaved churlishly no longer treat them officers . commandant claimed allocation of firewood greater quantity rationed swiss soldiers, comparison used justify many conditions around camp.

béguin claimed barracks built according regulations, , despite shortcomings, of same type used in army . officials @ u.s. legation in switzerland disagreed béguin’s tempered description of conditions @ penal camp. according brigadier general b. r. legge, camp of stockade type…surrounded barbed wire, patrolled dogs , guards sub-machine guns”. claimed conditions unreasonably severe, @ lowest subsistence level, , mud ankle deep”. general legge considered them worse in pow camps in hostile nazi germany.

prior escape attempts of summer 1944, few american internees condemned wauwilermoos, “drunkenness , disorderly conduct , tacit approval of u.s. legation. once escapes of american pows increased massively, swiss government sent every offender wauwilermoos, 2 or 3 months without trial”. autumn 1944, on 100 american internees incarcerated in wauwilermoos, , swiss government threatened keep them there without trial 6 7 months”, many of american internees charged in swiss military justice system, experience forever changed perceptions of swiss neutrality”.