Oflag VI C. Captured Yugoslav officers posing for a photo in Oflag VI C, in Osnabrück (kneeling second from the left is Second Lieutenant Dragomir Petronijević). This POW camp was very unusual for Nazi Germany. Namely, while only five Jews saw the end of the war in the city of Osnabrück itself, over 400 captured officers of Jewish origin, allegedly, lived protected from the Holocaust in the camp during the war. Unlike in the rest of Germany and occupied Europe, they were able to celebrate their holidays, to have a rabbi, learn Hebrew, and they were even given a barrack to use as a synagogue. They buried their deceased in the city's Jewish cemetery, in public, wearing Yugoslav uniforms, but according to their rites, and escorted by German soldiers. At the same time, also with a German escort, the local Jews, civilians – were deported to death camps. However, the general German behaviour towards inmates and the situation in the Osnabrück camp were bad (already during the invasion, Hitler ordered that "Serbian prisoners of war, especially officers, as agreement-breakers, are to be treated badly"). The food was terrible, and the unnecessary, very serious incidents occurred frequently: shootings at prisoners by the guards for trifles, and actual murders (even a general was killed). Above all, the camp was bombed by the Allies; in the British air attack on Osnabrück on 6 December 1944, over a hundred captured Yugoslav officers were killed. The situation among the inmates themselves was not great either; there were hostilities and divisions, the same as back home: communists, monarchists... After the war, many Serbian prisoners decided rather to stay here, in the city where they were imprisoned, than to return to their fatherland under the new regime. They also founded a Serbian Orthodox community, which still lives on in Osnabrück.
Text: Ivan Ž.
Photographer: unknown.
Date: unknown.
Date: unknown.
Location: Osnabrück, Germany.
Original caption: no caption.
File source: Ivan Ž. (family archive).
NOT ALLOWED: removing source credits from the files – using text without crediting the original author – using files and information for political propaganda and commercial purposes.
Oflag VI C. Zarobljeni jugoslovenski oficiri poziraju za fotografiju u Oflagu VI C, u Osnabriku (drugi sleva kleči potporučnik Dragomir Petronijević). Ovaj zarobljenički logor bio je veoma neuobičajen za nacističku Nemačku. Naime, dok je u samom gradu Osnabriku kraj rata doživelo samo pet Jevreja, u logoru je, navodno, tokom rata zaštićeno od Holokausta živelo preko 400 zarobljenih oficira jevrejskog porekla. Za razliku od ostatka Nemačke i okupirane Evrope, ovde im je bilo omogućeno da slave svoje praznike, da imaju rabina, uče hebrejski, a čak su i jednu baraku dobili da koriste kao sinagogu. Svoje preminule su sahranjivali na gradskom jevrejskom groblju, javno, noseći jugoslovenske uniforme, a po svojim običajima, i uz pratnju nemačkih vojnika. U isto vreme, takođe uz nemačku pratnju, lokalni Jevreji, civili – deportovani su u logore smrti. Međutim, opšte ponašanje Nemaca prema logorašima i stanje u osnabričkom logoru su bili loši (Hitler je još za vreme invazije naredio da se "sa srpskim ratnim zarobljenicima, posebno oficirima, kao prekršiocima sporazuma, ima postupati loše"). Hrana je bila očajna, a dolazilo je često i do bespotrebnih, vrlo ozbiljnih incidenata: pucanja na zarobljenike od strane stražara zbog sitnica, pa i ubistava (čak je jedan general ubijen). Povrh svega, logor su bombardovali Saveznici; u britanskom vazdušnom napadu na Osnabrik 6. decembra 1944. godine, izginulo je preko stotinu zarobljenih jugoslovenskih oficira. Ni među samim logorašima stanje nije bilo sjajno; postojala su neprijateljstva i podele, kao i kod kuće: komunisti, monarhisti... Posle rata, mnogi srpski zarobljenici odlučili su radije da ostanu ovde, u gradu u kojem su bili zatočeni, nego da se vrate u otadžbinu pod novom vlašću. Osnovali su i srpsku pravoslavnu zajednicu, koja u Osnabriku živi i danas.
Tekst: Ivan Ž.
Fotograf: nepoznat.
Datum: nepoznat.
Datum: nepoznat.
Mesto: Osnabrik, Nemačka.
Originalni natpis: bez natpisa.
Izvor fajla: Ivan Ž. (porodična arhiva).
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