Marching through Snow, Blood, and Bombs: Airmen Prisoners of War on the Eastern Front during World War II

Over 9,000 Prisoners of War (POWs) were imprisoned at Stalag Luft IV during World War II. Located in Poland, it held mostly American and British non-commissioned air force officers. However, there is little collective literature on Stalag Luft IV or the death marches that the POWs endured after evacuating the camp due to the Russian advance on the eastern front. The death marches ranged from a couple weeks to almost three months over hundred of miles to Stalag 357 or Stalag VII-A during 1945 during one of the coldest winters in Europe.

My poster will share the experience of my relative Warren Gribbons, who was one of the American air force bomb squadron POWs imprisoned at Stalag Luft IV and a member of the march. Warren and his fellow soldiers provide a lens into an often-under-studied part of war: POWs. While some POW stories are well known, others like Gribbons are not. This poster will share what life was like at Stalag Luft IV and the death marches within the broader context of the war. These POWs were at the intersection of international politics, psychology, sociology, and the military. This poster will explore how nations treat prisoners and the successes and failures of international diplomacy, how people can endure such horrifying conditions and what this says about war and memory, why these marches were largely absent from the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials, and how the US military attempted to manage mental and physical health issues among former prisoners.

Gribbons left my family his diary and memorabilia from the camp, which serve as the basis for my research into his experiences. Additionally, I utilize diaries, letters, memoirs, government reports, and oral history interviews to re-construct and examine the POW experience on the eastern front. I visited the archives at the Imperial War Museums, British National Archives at Kew, Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History archives, and the National WWII Museum archives.

For my poster, I plan to feature three maps. One map will show the POW camps in Eastern Europe and Germany. The other map will have the death marches with the dates they occurred. The last map will show the state of the railroad system in Germany in the spring of 1945. I will also have some pictures of my relative and his bomber crew. I will have some statistics on the camp conditions, death tolls, and IRC reports. I will also have boxes relating to the themes mentioned about international diplomacy, war and memory, the legal aspect, and the mental and physical health treatment issues. I plan on potentially using this topic for my Ph.D. dissertation, so feedback and thoughts are much appreciated.