The purpose of this master's thesis is to present to the general public the almost unknown extermination camp Stalag XVIII D (306) for Soviet prisoners of war which operated in Maribor during the Second World War. In June 1941, a camp for Allied soldiers was first established in the city quarter of Melje. They were registered as prisoners of war with the Red Cross and enjoyed the rights that this status brought; for example, they regularly received food parcels. In September of the same year, however, the existing camp was enlarged to the so-called Russenlager which was intended exclusively for Soviet prisoners of war and was completely separated from the part for the Western Allies. The Soviet prisoners of war were completely unprotected by international laws and were deprived of rights associated with prisoner of war status. They lived in inhumane conditions; due to starvation, cruel treatment, and illness about 4,000 to 5,000 Soviet prisoners died in this death camp in just a few months, from the fall of 1941 to the spring of 1942, and only about 500 survived. In my master's thesis, I examined the reasons for such cruel treatment of Soviet prisoners that was also typical of other camps of this kind. The findings showed that it was not a coincidence but the result of a deliberate policy of the German authorities who saw the Soviets as an inferior ideological enemy.
As part of the master's thesis, 386 camp files of Soviet prisoners of war who died in the extermination Maribor camp between 1941 and 1942 were collected and analysed. Also, some files of prisoners who survived the death camp were found, as well as the files of those who were staying in the new labour camp. A review of the material in the Styrian Provincial Archives in Graz showed that Stalag XVIII D was reorganised in 1942 and equipped with toilets, barracks and an infirmary; also the food received by Soviet prisoners of war was greatly improved. Due to better living conditions, mortality also dropped significantly.
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