Stalag XI - B Stalag XI - B and Stalag XI - D / 357 were two German World War II prisoner - of - war camp ( " Stammlager " ) located just to the east of the town of Fallingbostel in Lower Saxony , in north - western Germany . Camp history . Stalag XI - B . The camp was built in 1937 as accommodation for workers building the barracks at the nearby " Westlager " ( " Western Camp " ) of " Truppenübungsplatz Bergen " ( " Military Training Area Bergen " ) . In September 1939 the huts were fenced in and designated Stalag XI - B . The first prisoners to arrive were Poles in late 1939 , followed by French and Belgians the following year . By the end of 1940 around 40 , 000 POW were registered there , although only about 2 , 500 of these were housed at the camp , with the majority assigned to various " Arbeitskommando " ( " work camps " ) in the area . Close by were the barracks of " Landesschützen - Bataillon 461 " ( " Local Defence Battalion 461 " ) , who guarded the camp . This Army unit was composed of men considered to old or otherwise unfit for front - line service , and were commonly used for guard and garrison duties . Stalag XI - D . In July 1941 the first Soviet POWs arrived , and were accommodated in a large fenced - off open area called " Marquartsfeld " about north - east of Stalag XI - B , and designated Stalag XI - D ( also known as Stalag 321 ) . Lacking huts the Russian prisoners initially lived in dugouts . Another 10 , 000 Soviet officers were accommodated in XI - B . In late 1941 the SS separated out the senior officers , Communist Party officials and Jews from the Soviet POW , and sent them to the concentration camp s at Sachsenhausen and Neuengamme . By November 1941 there were about 11 , 000 Soviet POW in XI - D , and some huts were built . The same month an epidemic of typhus broke out in both camps which lasted until February 1942 . In early 1942 rations for the Soviet prisoners were slightly increased in order to enable them to work , however it was still so inadequate that many prisoners died from exhaustion . In July 1942 Stalag XI - D was dissolved and incorporated into Stalag XI - B . In late 1943 a large number of Italian POW arrived at XI - B . They were poorly treated and suffered the most deaths in the camp , second only to the Russians . By mid - 1944 there were 93 , 380 POW registered at XI - B ; 25 , 277 Russian , and 79 , 928 of other nationalities , mostly in " Arbeitskommando " . Stalag 357 . In September 1944 Stalag 357 was moved from Thorn in Poland to the site of the former XI - D , with construction being carried out by the Italian POW from XI - B . This new camp was used to house mostly British and Commonwealth POWs . In November 1944 British paratroops captured at the Arnhem arrived at Stalag 357 . Led by the formidable RSM John C . Lord of 3rd Battalion , Parachute Regiment , they set about raising the standards of the camp . Lord insisted on proper military discipline with regular exercise and parades . At that time 17 , 000 POW ; mostly British , but also Russian , Polish , Yugoslav , French , and American prisoners were crammed into the camp causing severe overcrowding . Each hut contained 400 men , though it had bunks for only 150 . By February 1945 the POW of XI - B and 357 were suffering from lack of food and medical supplies exacerbated by the influx of several hundred American POW captured in Battle of the Bulge . These newer arrivals found themselves accommodated in tents . In early April 1945 Sergeant Pilot James ' Dixie ' Deans RAF , the camp leader of 357 , was informed by the Commandant " Oberst " Hermann Ostmann that 12 , 000 British POW were being evacuated from the camp in the face of the Allied advance . RSM Lord had also been selected to leave , but hid under the floor of a hut for five days in order to avoid it . The men marched from the camp in columns of 2 , 000 . After 10 days they arrived at Gresse , east of the Elbe . There they were issued with Red Cross parcels , but were then unfortunately strafed by British Typhoon fighter - bombers , mistaking them for German troops . Sixty POW were killed and many wounded . Deans confronted " Oberst " Ostmann and bluntly gave him a choice , to be captured to the Russians or the British . Ostman provided Deans with a pass and a German guard , and Deans headed west to contact the advancing British troops . On 1 May Deans and his guard were sheltering in a house east of Lauenberg when they heard over the radio the news of the death of Adolf Hitler . The next morning the house was overrun by troops of the British 6th Airborne . Deans was taken to the commander of VIII Corps and explained the situation . He was given a captured Mercedes car and drove back to Gresse . Two days later the POW column marched back across the British lines . Meanwhile , the camps at Fallingbostel had been liberated on 16 April 1945 by British troops from B Squadron 11th Hussars and the Reconnaissance Troop of the 8th Hussars . They were met at the main gate of Stalag 357 by a guard of Airborne troops , impeccably attired and led by RSM Lord . Post - war . Post - war Stalag XI - B was used by the British as an Internment Camp for members of the Nazi Party . It then served as an accommodation centre for German refugees and displaced persons . Eventually the camp was demolished , and a housing estate now occupies most of the area , with the only surviving structure being the delousing hut . Fallingbostel is currently a base of the British 7th Armoured Brigade of British Forces Germany . Arbeitskommando . Stalag IX - B was the administrative centre for POW work details in the region . At its peak there were about 80 , 000 POW working in 1 , 500 " Arbeitskommando " in agriculture and industry . Although prohibited under the Third Geneva Convention , POW from Stalag IX - B also worked in munitions factories . Deaths . In total around 30 , 000 Soviet POWs died in Stalag XI - B and XI - D . Another 734 POW from the United States , Belgium , Britain , France , Italy , Yugoslavia , South Africa , Canada , Holland , Poland and Slovakia died in XI - B and 357 . The Soviet POW and the remains of 273 others are buried at the " Cemetery of the Nameless " in Oerbke . Memorials . On 16 April 2005 , the 60th Anniversary of the camp ' s liberation , the Stalag XI - B ( 357 ) POW Memorial Gates were unveiled , dedicated to the POW of 13 nations who were imprisoned in Stalag XI - B , XI - D and 357 from 1939 - 1945 .