Researching DP Camps in the British Zone

Public Record Office in UK - Contribution by Michael Leonard

Records of the Control Commission for Germany (CCG) (British Element) can be seen here, and we can give you advice on how to investigate them. However, we cannot undertake research for you. To consult the records, you (or someone acting on your behalf) will need to come here.

Many of the files of the CCG were not selected for preservation: surviving files are generally about administration, and do not contain details of individuals.

There are no surviving comprehensive lists of those employed by the CCG (or similar organisations), or of detainees, displaced persons, or those who were released, of whatever nationality. Occasionally, confirmation of a release or transfer can be found in individual camp records, or in regional camp administration records. The reasons behind detention are also rarely recorded, but this information is sometimes mentioned in camp administrative records, or as the result of separate investigations into an individual's wartime activities.

To investigate the surviving records, you need to start off by looking at the excellent catalogue and index compiled and edited by Birke Booms and Merter, Akten der Britischen Militarregierung in Deutschland (11 vols., K E Saur 1993: ISBN 3-598-22910-0). The Akten gives brief details of the documents, as well as their PRO references: for full details you will need to look at the documents themselves. A reference copy of the Akten can be seen here. If you can get to see this work through a major library near you, or by inter-library loan, it may indicate whether it is worth visiting the PRO.

Once you identified records you have three ways to find out more:

1. Come and visit us to see the documents yourself. Staff on duty will be happy to show you how to set about identifying relevant material.
2. Employ an independent researcher to do the work for you. Please follow the link to http://www.pro.gov.uk/research/irlist/default.htm
3. Get an estimate of the cost of a copy, if you have a precise reference http://www.pro.gov.uk/recordcopying/default.htm

Research Information Leaflets cover many of our most popular records, and some unusual ones as well. Browse the index to get some idea of the range of subjects. Please click the link to http://www.pro.gov.uk/leaflets/Riindex.asp Click on this link for the most relevant leaflet http://www.pro.gov.uk/pro21/Reader/home.htm

After reading a leaflet or if there is none covering your enquiry, try exploring our Online Catalogue, http://catalogue.pro.gov.uk/

Because of the many varied and competing demands placed on its staff resources, the Public Record Office, (PRO) is unable to undertake research on your behalf.

We are able to offer general guidance in respect of the PRO's holdings, and can make general suggestions about possible record classes but we cannot identify specific records or mark up documents for copying.

If you are able to visit the Office, staff on duty will be happy to show you how to set about identifying relevant material.

Please check the PRO's web pages for details about how and where to visit us and for details of our holdings. There are also copies of the information leaflets available at:

http://www.pro.gov.uk/

An online catalogue has been placed on our website at: http://www.pro.gov.uk/finding/catalogues/ Please read the introductory notes carefully before using it.

INDEPENDENT RESEARCHERS
If you are unable to attend the office yourself, or to arrange for someone to do so on your behalf, you may wish to put the matter into the hands of an independent professional researcher. We can supply you with subject based lists of researchers automatically please follow the link to http://www.pro.gov.uk/research/irlist/

Yours Sincerely

Vivienne Bales
E-Mail Duty Officer
Reader Information Services Department
Public Record Office, Kew, Richmond, Surrey,
TW9 4DU
Telephone: +44 (0)20 8392 5200
Fax: +44 (0) 20 8392 5286
Minicom: +44 (0)20 8392 9198

The National Archives welcome visitors. If you search yourself, their staff will give you advice free of charge. If you visit them, you will need to register as a researcher. Bring with you some proof of identity. If you are a citizen of the UK or Republic of Ireland, bring either driving license, banker's card or passport. If you are a citizen of another country, bring a passport or national identity card. Telephone 0209 8392 5200 before you visit. You can register in advance as a reader at: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/visit/plan.htm

You can carry out some initial research by accessing the research guides and an on-line catalogue at:
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help/atoz.htm
http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/search.asp

Ex-PoWs and Displaced Persons, 1945 onwards
After the cessation of hostilities there were an estimated 11 million ex-PoWs, displaced persons, former slave labourers and concentration camp inmates in Northern Europe, of which nearly 2.5 million were within the British Zone. Between 1945 and 1949 Allied authority in Germany was exercised by the Commanders-in-Chief of the various Allied military zones, and jointly through a Control Council. In 1949, that authority was transferred from the military governors to Civil High Commissioners. In London, the department responsible for the exercising of British control in Germany and Austria was the Control Office, which in 1947 became the German Section of the Foreign Office.

Most of the records were generated by the Control Commission for Germany British Element (CCG) and its predecessors, of these an estimated 29,000 files have survived. Initially, it should be noted that The National Archives does not hold nominal rolls of detainees (except No. 3 Civilian Internment Camp Fallingbostel) displaced persons (DPs), former forced labourers or comprehensive lists of those released. Nor does it hold any nominal lists or the personnel files of those employed by the CCG or similar organizations. Occasionally, confirmation of a release or transfer can be found in individual camp records or regional camp administration records. The reasons behind detention are also scarce, however, this is sometimes mentioned in camp administrative records, usually in connection with incidents occurring within the camp, or as the result of separate investigations into an individual's wartime or post-war activities.

Files of the Displaced Persons Section are to be found in FO 945/359 -404 and 541 -773 and material on the resettlement of displaced persons exists in pieces FO945/460 -527.

The financial aspects of DP administration in Austria and Germany are documented in the Control Office Finance files in FO 944. In addition a few files concerning travel into and out of Germany by ex-PoWs and DP holders of Ministry of Labour permits is in the Control Office Travel files in FO 940.

Write to The Secretary, Historical Manuscripts Commission, Quality House, Quality Court, Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1HP, or Fax 020-7831-3550, or E-mail nra@hmc.gov.uk.

"Patrols roamed the area in an attempt to control Displaced Persons (formerly German slave labour of many nationalities). These had become the vagabonds of Germany, eating, sleeping, and taking revenge as they wished. In an attempt to control this gypsy life, the Ems River was made a stop line where all DP's attempting to cross were diverted to proper reception camps and preparations were made to seal off Germany by closing the Dutch / German frontier."..."more 9th Battalion Royal Tank Regiment

Book about postal addresses in the British Zone:

Post der befreiten Zwangsarbeiter (Displaced Persons Mail Paid in Deutschland) 1945-1949 written in German by Wolfgang Strobel. 160 pages. May be ordered from the author W. Strobel, Nietzschestrasse 23, 53177 Bonn, Germany. Postpaid for $24 U.S. cash. Book review by Walter Farber in German Postal Specialist, June 2001

This book is the first comprehensive study of the free mailing privilege granted to Displaced Persons in the British Zone of Germany in 1945-49. Mail service for Displaced Persons mail was allowed by the British and Americans long before similar services became available again for the German populace. As an added complication, the British Military Government assigned coded addresses to the camps located in their zone, and until now it had been virtually impossible to decode this system.

Strobel has finally been able to do so through intensive study of formerly inaccessible documents in German and British archives. The book has charts listing all kown camps and centers in the British Zone of Occupation by code number, alphabetically by location, and by the numbers of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, the International Refugee Organization und private relief teams responsible for them.

In addition, a list of British Field Post Office numbers in Germany, as well as of unit numbers of the Britsh Army of the Rhine help to make the history of Displaced Persons and their mails far clearer and easier to understand than they ever were before.

Headquarters British Forces Germany Health Service R02 Clinical Admin Medico Legal & Complainst Manager Whittingham Crescent 41179 Monchengladbach British Forces Post office 40 Tel 0049 2161 908 2234 Fax 0049 2161 908 2420,
E-mail bill.roche310@land.mod.uk