Our meeting in Wolfsberg Austria



Museum entry Wolfsberg

Wolfsberg lies in a valley amongst the last of the Austrian mountains, close to the Hungarian and Slovenian borders. It has good rail connections, it was a garrison town, and generally far from Front Lines. And a 'recent' history as a place to gather people caught up in European wars. Refugees from Russian and then WW I troubles in the early 20^th century were kept in a Wolfsberg camp before being returned to Russia after the war.

Early in WWII it was used to keep captured Polish Officers and then French and Belgian personnel. But then the size and role of the camp was greatly increased to hold the large number of POWs captured during the ill planned and poorly executed Allied defence of Greece in April 1941. Up to 10,000 English, Australian, South African, and New Zealand men found themselves as part of Stalag XVIIIA . After the German invasion of Russia, the camp size was further increased so that by 1943 up to 45,000 men were being held at Wolfsberg and its subsiduary camps in surrounding areas. A large majority of the men were assigned for work on farms all over this part of Austria.

 

At welcoming drinks

Over time Italians and Americans were also housed here as were Slavs and Croats. The largest contingent were French at about 18,000. Sadly the Russian prisoners especially were considered as 'sub humans' and they were poorly fed and treated. Many Russians died in Wolfsberg camps.

Then at the end of WWII, the camp was used to hold suspected Nazi people. After WWII, when the British left Austria, the camp was gradually dismantled and today there are no visible signs that this was ever a prison camp.

 

Welcoming drinks

From 22 April 1941 until the end of the Eropean war on 8 May 1945, Randall's father, Roy Kingsley, was one of these POWs. Roy was fortunate enough to eventually spend his years here on farms around the lovely city of Graz.

Now Wolfsberg people are now recalling this past and currently have a special exhibition on the camps in their local museum. And thanks to the initiative of Englishman Ian Brown, whose father was a POW here, about 100 descendents and families have spent three days as guests of Wolfsberg, exchanging experiences.  Also see http://www.stalag18a.org.uk/

 

 

Brunch at Wolfsberg castle

So we have enjoyed a fantastic opportunity to gather with others whose lives were largely created through this experience of war. We have exchanged very similar stories and expanded our knowledge. We are all using the often scraps of information we have on our father's/grandfather's/uncles/etc lives for over fours years here to see if we can make new contacts.

And some have exceeded their wildest expectations as they turn up in hamlets or farms or houses to find the people who are in their old photographs are still living there and eager to tell their versions of what happened here.

At a personal level, Randall had with him one letter handed down from his father and which was sent to Roy in 1946. It was written by an Austrian brother and sister who knew Roy Kingsley when  the POWS and a young Austrian family were sharing the same Government assumed monastery at Vorau in 1944/45. The letter describes how these young people survived the last days of the war.

 

 

Meeting the girl who wrote the letter

 

And now a circle of events has been closed as thanks to a local Wolfaberg professor who navigated Randall through a maze of Government people and records in Graz in a couple of hours, Randall was able to meet the girl who knew Roy Kingsley and who is now in her mid 80s. This was real life 'Who do you think you are' and very satisfying. This lady told us something about life in those times in the taken over monastery. A once in a lifetime event to be remembered for a long time.

 

 



Stift Monastery Vorau