Stalag III - A Stalag III - A was a German World War II prisoner - of - war camp at Luckenwalde , Brandenburg , south of Berlin . Camp history . Planning for the camp commenced before the invasion of Poland . It was designed to hold 10 , 000 men , was the largest in the 3rd Military District , and was considered a model for other camps . In mid - September 1939 the first Polish POWs arrived , and were housed in large by tents , and set to work building the barrack huts before the winter set in . Once their work was complete the Poles were relocated , and the first inhabitants of the camp were Dutch and Belgian . They only remained there for a brief time before being replaced by 43 , 000 French POWs , who arrived in mid - 1940 , and remained the largest group of prisoners until the end of the war . They included 4 , 000 Africans from French colonial units . In 1941 some 300 of these took part in the Nazi propaganda film " Germanin " . The French were joined in 1941 by Yugoslav and Russian prisoners , then in late 1943 some 15 , 000 Italian military internees arrived , though most were quickly dispersed to other camps . In late 1944 small numbers of American , Romanian , British and Polish prisoners arrived . More than 200 , 000 prisoners passed through the Stalag III - A , and at its height in May 1944 there were a total of 48 , 600 POW registered there . However , no more than 6 , 000 - 8 , 000 were ever housed at the main camp , with the rest sent out to work in forestry and industry in more than 1 , 000 " Arbeitskommando " ( " Work Companies " ) spread out over the entire state of Brandenburg . In February 1945 prisoners from Stalag III - B Furstenberg were evacuated to Stalag III - B , adding to the already overcrowded and unhygienic conditions . Finally , as the Russians approached the guards fled the camp leaving the prisoners to be liberated by the Red Army on 22 April 1945 . Treatment of prisoners . The camp was generally run according to the guidelines of the Geneva Convention and the Hague Regulations , and was regularly inspected by representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross ( ICRC ) . Russian POWs were excluded from this on the grounds that the USSR was not a signatory of the Geneva Convention , and suffered significantly poorer conditions as a result . Generally treatment of prisoners depended on nationality . The French , British and Americans were treated relatively well , while the Italians , and particularly the Russians , suffered from the consequences of maltreatment . Italian prisoner Michele Zotta later reported that for the first few days of his imprisonment he slept on the ground in a small tent . As to rations , on the first day he received one kilogram of rye bread to share with fifteen other prisoners , with some butter and jelly . From then on the daily routine was for the Germans to distribute a bucket of potatoes to be shared between twenty - five prisoners . Zotta also notes that when prisoners collapsed the Germans would beat them . However , there are also accounts that the Germans were low on food themselves . Regardless , Stalag III - A remains an example of poor conduct on the part of the Germans towards prisoners of war . Deaths . It is estimated that 4 , 000 to 5 , 000 prisoners died while in the camp . During the winter of 1941 / 42 a typhus epidemic killed around 2 , 000 - 2 , 500 Russians , and mortality rates of Soviet prisoners was extremely high compared to the POW of other nations . Non - Soviet prisoners were buried with military honours in individual graves at the camp cemetery , while the Russian dead were buried anonymously in mass graves .