The night the Germans gave the dreaded order "Evacuate the camp within the hour"

In the cage at Bari, Italy

ART34781.026
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Place Europe: Germany
Accession Number ART34781.026
Collection type Art
Measurement Sheet: 26.6 cm x 36.8 cm; Image: 19.2 x 26.6 cm
Object type Work on paper
Physical description pencil with pen and ink, brush and wash on paper
Maker Comber, Albert
Place made United Kingdom: England, Greater London, London, United Kingdom: England, Shropshire
Date made 1945
Conflict Second World War, 1939-1945
Copyright Item copyright: © Australian War Memorial
Creative Commons License This item is licensed under CC BY-NC
Description

A black and white drawing that depicts several of the Allied POWs held in Stalag Luft III in Sagan, Germany on the night that the order was given to evacuate the camp. The faces of the men are gaunt as they pack whatever belonging they have left.

In January and February 1945, some 80 000 POWs were forced to march across Germany, Poland and Czechoslovakia in extreme winter conditions as the Allies closed in on the Nazi forces, to delay the liberation of the prisoners. It was during these death marches that the majority of POW deaths occurred in Europe.

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