{{Short description|World War II German prisoner-of-war camp}} {{Infobox military installation |name = Oflag VII-A |native_name = |partof = |location = Murnau am Staffelsee, Bavaria |image = Muranu zdięcie z oflagu mojego dziadka Ignacego Kmiecia 03.jpg |caption = A group of Polish officers in Oflag VII-A |map_type = Germany 1937 |coordinates = {{coord|47.690442|11.205106|type:landmark_region:DE-BY|display=inline}} |map_size = |map_alt = Murnau, Germany (pre-war borders, 1937) |map_caption = Murnau, Germany (pre-war borders, 1937) |type = Prisoner-of-war camp |code = |built = |builder = |materials = |height = |used = 1939-1945 |demolished = |condition = |ownership = |open_to_public = |controlledby = {{flag|Nazi Germany}} |garrison = |commanders = |occupants = Polish Army officers |battles = World War II |events = }} '''Oflag VII-A Murnau''' was a German Army prisoner-of-war camp for Polish Army officers during World War II. It was located {{Convert|2|km|abbr=on}} north of the Bavarian town of Murnau am Staffelsee.
==Camp history== [[File:MWP Murnau.JPG|thumb|Various items of daily use from Oflag VII-A (from the Museum of the Polish Army, Warsaw)]] The camp was created in September 1939. It consisted of an enclosure {{Convert|200|m|abbr=on}} square, surrounded with barbed wire and guard towers. Immediately after the German invasion of Poland, at the beginning of World War II, some 1,000 Polish officers were imprisoned there. On April 27, 1942, additional Polish POWs were transferred there from the so-called "Generals' Camp" Oflag VIII-E in Janské Koupele in German-occupied Czechoslovakia (now in the Czech Republic). In October 1944, 592 Polish insurgents of the suppressed Warsaw Uprising were brought from Stalag 344, and further Polish officers were brought later from Stalag VII-A.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Stanek|first=Piotr|title=Niewola powstańców warszawskich (1944–1945)|journal=Dzieje Najnowsze|volume=XLIV|issue=2|issn=0419-8824|language=pl|pages=56–57}}</ref> By early 1945 the number of POWs held in the camp reached over 5,000.
The camps was liberated by troops of the U.S. 12th Armored Division on 29 April 1945.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Pollack|first=Juliusz|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RAdLAAAAIAAJ&q=murnau+29+kwietnia+1945|title=Jeńcy polscy w hitlerowskiej niewoli|date=1986|publisher=Wydawn. Ministerstwa Obrony Narodowej|isbn=978-83-11-07251-0|pages=213|language=pl}}</ref>
== List of notable prisoners == Among those imprisoned in Murnau were:
=== Rear Admiral (''Kontradmirał'') === * Józef Unrug
=== Divisional Generals (''Generał dywizji'') === * Władysław Bortnowski * Tadeusz Kutrzeba * Tadeusz Piskor * Juliusz Rómmel
=== Brigade Generals (''Generał brygady'') === {{div col}}
*Roman Abraham *Franciszek Alter *Władysław Bończa-Uzdowski *{{ill|Leopold Cehak|pl|Leopold Cehak}} *{{ill|Jan Chmurowicz|pl|Jan Chmurowicz}} *Walerian Czuma *{{ill|Franciszek Dindorf-Ankowicz|pl|Franciszek Dindorf-Ankowicz}} *Juliusz Drapella *Janusz Gąsiorowski *Edmund Knoll-Kownacki *Wincenty Kowalski *{{ill|Jan Kazimierz Kruszewski|pl|Jan Kazimierz Kruszewski}} *Józef Kwaciszewski *Stanisław Małachowski *Czesław Młot-Fijałkowski *Bernard Mond *{{ill|Zygmunt Piasecki|pl|Zygmunt Piasecki}} *Wacław Piekarski *Zygmunt Podhorski *{{ill|Emil Przedrzymirski-Krukowicz|pl|Emil Przedrzymirski-Krukowicz}} *{{ill|Zdzisław Przyjałkowski|pl|Zdzisław Przyjałkowski}} *Jan Jagmin-Sadowski *Antoni Szylling *Stanisław Taczak *Wiktor Thommée *Juliusz Zulauf {{div col end}}
=== Officers === * Witold Pilecki, former prisoner no 4859 of Auschwitz under assumed name of Tomasz Serafiński; Murnau prisoner no 101892<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lest We Forget: Memory of Totalitariasim in Europe. Gillian Purves (ed.) p. 92 |url=https://www.sgtrs.nl/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/lest-we-forget.pdf |access-date=2024-10-27 |publisher=Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes, Siwiecova 2, 130 00 Praha 3, Czech Republic.}}</ref><ref>Piotr Stanek. Witold Pilecki. Jeniec wojenny nr 101892. Centralne Muzeum Jeńców Wojennych, Opole 2022. 80pp.</ref>
=== Majors === *Seweryn Kulesza *{{ill|Edward Pach|pl|Edward Pach}}
=== Captains === *{{ill|Bronisław Przyłuski|pl|Bronislaw Przyluski}} *{{ill|Władysław Dawidek|pl|Wladyslaw Dawidek}} *{{ill|Stanisław Guliński|pl|Wladyslaw Dawidek}}
==See also== * List of prisoner-of-war camps in Germany
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Oflag VII-A}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20051123172255/http://www.info.kalisz.pl/Siarkiewicz/index.html Life in Murnau] {{in lang|pl}} * [http://murnau-oflag.com The forgotten photos]
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Category:Oflags Category:Garmisch-Partenkirchen (district) Category:Polish prisoners of war in World War II Category:World War II prisoner-of-war camps in Germany Category:1939 establishments in Germany Category:1945 disestablishments in Germany