Description
Object description
Notebook containing an anonymous May – June 1945 'Freedom Diary' (59pp ms), written by a British prisoner of war who had been held in Stalag IVB (Mühlberg on the Elbe), recording in eloquent detail the start of the "great trek" of POWs from the camp in early May, heading towards the town of Riesa amidst Soviet troop convoys and civilian refugees, making temporary camp in the former German army barracks in Riesa, encounters with the Russian soldiers occupying the town (and in overall charge of the POWs in the barracks) and documenting the general effects of the Soviet presence there, 'dating' German women and looting nearby facilities, describing how the POWs and the Russians spent VE Day (8th May), attempting to find 'private' accommodation outside of the barracks in competition with Russian soldiers and displaced German civilians, coping with unpredictable Russian soldiers enforcing apparently arbitrary regulations ("the Russians are more like our captors than our allies"), the uncertainty as to when the POWs will be handed over to the Americans in preparation for repatriation, many trying to make their own way westwards against official instructions, attending a Russian ENSA-style show in the town, finally moving out of the barracks camp on 23rd May and being transported by lorry via Leipzig to Halle and American administration, the frustrating wait for his group to be flown out of Germany, and describing the eventual repatriation via Brussels back to the UK, passing through a POW reception camp at Sompting (Sussex) before the onward journey to his home in Scotland.
Content description
Notebook containing an anonymous May – June 1945 'Freedom Diary' (59pp ms), written by a British prisoner of war who had been held in Stalag IVB (Mühlberg on the Elbe), recording in eloquent detail the start of the "great trek" of POWs from the camp in early May, heading towards the town of Riesa amidst Soviet troop convoys and civilian refugees, making temporary camp in the former German army barracks in Riesa, encounters with the Russian soldiers occupying the town (and in overall charge of the POWs in the barracks) and documenting the general effects of the Soviet presence there, 'dating' German women and looting nearby facilities, describing how the POWs and the Russians spent VE Day (8th May), attempting to find 'private' accommodation outside of the barracks in competition with Russian soldiers and displaced German civilians, coping with unpredictable Russian soldiers enforcing apparently arbitrary regulations ("the Russians are more like our captors than our allies"), the uncertainty as to when the POWs will be handed over to the Americans in preparation for repatriation, many trying to make their own way westwards against official instructions, attending a Russian ENSA-style show in the town, finally moving out of the barracks camp on 23rd May and being transported by lorry via Leipzig to Halle and American administration, the frustrating wait for his group to be flown out of Germany, and describing the eventual repatriation via Brussels back to the UK, passing through a POW reception camp at Sompting (Sussex) before the onward journey to his home in Scotland.
History note
Cataloguer SWW