Stalag VII - A Stalag VII - A ( in full : " Kriegsgefangenen - Mannschafts - Stammlager VII - A " ) was Germany ' s largest prisoner - of - war camp during World War II , located just north of the town of Moosburg in southern Bavaria . The camp covered an area of . It served also as a transit camp through which prisoners , including officers , were processed on their way to other camps . At some time during the war , prisoners from every nation fighting against Germany passed through it . At the time of its liberation on 29 April 1945 , there were about 80 , 000 prisoners in the camp , mostly from France and the Soviet Union . Many others were billeted in " Arbeitskommando " working in factories , repairing railroads or on farms . Camp history . The camp was opened in September 1939 and was designed to house up to 10 , 000 Polish prisoners from the German September 1939 offensive . The first prisoners arrived while the wooden barracks were under construction and for several weeks lived in tents . British , French , Belgian and Dutch soldiers taken prisoner during the Battle of France started arriving in May 1940 . Many were transferred to other camps , but close to 40 , 000 French remained at Stalag VII - A throughout the war . British , Greek and Yugoslavian prisoners arrived from the Balkans Campaign in May and June 1941 . A few months later Soviet prisoners started arriving , mostly officers . At the end of the war there were 27 Soviet generals in the prison . More British Commonwealth and Polish prisoners came from the North African campaign and the offensive against the Italian - held islands in the Mediterranean . They were brought here from Italian PoW camps after the Armistice with Italy in September 1943 , including many who escaped at that time and were recaptured . Italian soldiers were also imprisoned . The first American arrivals came after the Tunisia Campaign in December 1942 , and the Italian Campaign in 1943 . Large numbers of Americans were captured in the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944 . Among the last arrivals were officers from Stalag Luft III who had been force - marched from Sagan in Silesia ( now Żagań ) , Poland ) . They arrived on 2 February 1945 . They were followed by more prisoners marched from other camps threatened by the advancing Soviets , including part of the American officers that had been marched from Oflag 64 in Szubin , via Oflag XIII - B , under their senior officer Lt . Col . Paul Goode . During the 5½ years about 1 , 000 prisoners died at the camp , over 800 of them Soviets . They were buried in a cemetery in Oberreit , south of Moosburg . Most died from illness , some from injuries during work . It has been said that there were some casualties from Allied bombs at work sites . On 1 August 1942 Major Karl August Meinel was shifted into the Führerreserve , because on 13 January 1942 he wrote a critical report to General Hermann Reinecke on the segregation and execution of Russian prisoners of war in Stalag VII - A by the Gestapo and the Sicherheitsdienst SD ( security service ) of the Reichsführer SS ( Heinrich Himmler ) . Liberation . Stalag VII - A was liberated on 29 April 1945 by Combat Command A of the 14th Armored Division . A German proposal for an armistice was rejected , followed by a short , uneven battle between the American tanks and retreating German soldiers for control of bridges across the Amper and Isar rivers . The German contingent included " remnants of the 17th SS Panzer Grenadier and 719th Infantry Divisions . . . who had no tanks or antitank guns , and were armed only with small arms , machine guns , mortars , and panzerfausts " . Large numbers surrendered , as did the camp ' s 240 guards . The American force learned of the existence of the camp and its approximate location only a few hours before the attack . Because so many Allied POWs were in the area , the U . S . artillery , a major factor in any attack , was ordered not to fire , and remained silent during the attack . According to official German sources , there had been 76 , 248 prisoners at the camp in January 1945 . Aftermath . After the liberation Stalag VII - A was turned into Civilian Internment Camp # 6 for 12 , 000 German men and women suspected of criminal activity for the Nazi regime . Later the camp was turned into a new district of the town called " Moosburg - Neustadt " . One of the old huts has been restored . A memorial to inmates of Stalag VII - A was built . It is a fountain located in the center of Neustadt . It consists of four bas - relief s created out of local stone by the French sculptor Antoniucci Volti while he was a prisoner in the camp . In 1958 the Oberreit cemetery was closed . 866 bodies were exhumed and reburied at the military cemetery in Schwabstadl near Landsberg . The bodies of 33 Italians were reburied at the Italian Memorial Cemetery near Munich . In 1982 the Moosburg City Council purchased a plot at the site of the old Oberreit cemetery and erected a wooden cross with a simple stone remembering the dead of Stalag VII - A .