Stalag IX - B Stalag IX - B ( also known as Bad Orb ) was a German World War II prisoner - of - war camp located south - east of the town of Bad Orb in Hesse , Germany . It had the reputation of being one of the worst Stalag s , especially when it was overcrowded in 1945 . The camp was also the site of the segregation and removal of Jewish - American troops who , once identified , were transferred to the labor camp at Berga . Camp history . The camp was originally established by the German Army during World War I , and in the 1920s the barracks were converted to a summer camp for children . In December 1939 it was again taken over by the Army and used to house Polish prisoners sent to work in the area , especially the salt mines . They were joined in June 1940 by French taken prisoner during the Battle of France , and in 1941 Yugoslavian prisoners arrived from the Balkans Campaign , mainly Serbs . In 1942 the first Soviet prisoners arrived at the camp , and in 1943 after the armistice , Italian prisoners arrived . Finally , in late December 1944 , Americans captured in the Battle of the Bulge arrived . Approximately 4 , 700 U . S . infantrymen were held there , far exceeding the capacity of the camp and resulting in very severe overcrowding , even after their officers and NCOs were later transferred to other camps . In January 1945 the commandant ordered all Jewish prisoners to step forward out of the daily line - up . At first none did . But after being kept standing for several hours 130 came forward . However the commandant had been requested to provide 350 for the transport . Troublemakers , including PFC J . C . F . " Hans " Kasten , the elected camp leader ( born in Hawaii of German - American parents ) , were then selected , including anyone who " looked Jewish " . The group was taken by train to the Berga labor camp . The camp was liberated by a task force comprising the 2nd Battalion , 114th Regiment , U . S . 44th Infantry Division , reinforced with light tanks and armored cars from the 106th Cavalry Group and 776th Tank Destroyer Battalion . On 2 April 1945 the task force broke through the German lines and drove north over through enemy held territory to Bad Orb and liberated Stalag IX - B . Post - war the camp was used as a camp for refugee and displaced Germans until 1969 , when it reverted to its pre - war role as a camp for children . It currently operates under the name " Schullandheim Wegscheide " . Berga labor camp . The 350 selected men traveled in locked boxcar s , without food or water , for four days before arriving at labor camp Berga , located in eastern Thuringia south of Gera . The camp was under the command of Lt . Hack and was a slave labor camp , contrary to the rules of the Third Geneva Convention . The POWs were put to work , together with inmates of the Buchenwald concentration camp , digging 17 tunnels for an underground ammunition factory , some of them 150 feet below ground . As a result of the appalling conditions , malnutrition and cold , as well as beatings , 47 prisoners died . The U . S . military authorities never acknowledged the incident . On 4 April the 300 surviving American prisoners were marched out of the camp ahead of approaching American troops . After a 2½ - week forced march they were finally liberated . During this march another 36 Americans died . Prisoner escape . During an air - raid , while the camp lights were extinguished , Hans Kasten , Joe Littel and Ernst Sinner , wriggled under the wire and escaped from the Berga . Their freedom lasted only a few days . Trying to get food at the inn of a small town , they were arrested and taken to Gestapo headquarters . After identification as POWs they were taken to Buchenwald and placed in detention cells . Most likely they would have been killed like many other escaped prisoners ( see Stalag Luft III and Oflag VI - B ) . Fortunately for them Buchenwald was soon liberated by the U . S . Army .