Stalag In Germany , stalag ( ) was a term used for prisoner - of - war camp s . Stalag is a contraction of " Stammlager " , itself short for " Kriegsgefangenen - Mannschafts - Stammlager " . Legal definitions . According to the Third Geneva Convention of 1929 and its predecessor , the Hague Convention of 1907 , Section IV , Chapter 2 , those camps were only for prisoners of war , not civilians . Stalags were operated in both World War I and World War II and intended to be used for non - commissioned personnel ( Enlisted rank s in US Army , Other ranks in British Commonwealth forces ) . Officers were held in separate camps called Oflag . In World War II , the German Air Force operated Stalag Luft in which flying personnel , both officers and non - commissioned officers were held . The German Navy operated Marlag for Navy personnel and Milag for Merchant Navy personnel . Civilians who were officially attached to military units , such as war correspondents , were provided the same treatment as military personnel by the Conventions . The Third Geneva Convention , Section III , Article 49 , permits non - commissioned personnel of lower ranks to be used for work in agriculture and industry , but not in any industry producing war material . Further articles of Section III detailed conditions under which they should work , be housed and paid . During World War II these latter provisions were consistently breached , in particular for Russian , Polish , and Yugoslav prisoners . According to the Nazi ideology , Slavic people were regarded as " rassisch minderwertig " ( " racially inferior " ) . Prisoners of various nationalities were generally separated from each other by barbed - wire fences subdividing each stalag into sections . Frequently prisoners speaking the same language , for example British Commonwealth soldiers , were permitted to intermingle . " Arbeitskommandos " . At each stalag the German Army set up sub - camps called " Arbeitskommando " to hold prisoners in the vicinity of specific work locations , whether factories , coal - mines , quarries , farms or railroad maintenance . These sub - camps sometimes held more than 1 , 000 prisoners , separated by nationality . The sub - camps were administered by the parent stalag , which maintained personnel records , collected mail , International Red Cross packages and then delivered to the individual " Arbeitskommando " . Likewise any individuals that were injured in work , or became ill , were returned to the " Lazarett " ( medical care facilities ) at the parent stalag . Best - known stalags . Stalag Luft III , a large prisoner of war camp near Sagan , Silesia , Germany ( now Żagań , Poland ) , was the site of a spectacular escape attempt ( later filmed as " The Great Escape " ) . On March 24 , 1944 , 76 Allied prisoners escaped through a 110 m ( approx 360 feet ) long tunnel . 73 were recaptured within two weeks . 50 of them were executed by order of Hitler in the Stalag Luft III murders . The largest German World War II prisoner of war camp was Stalag VII - A at Moosburg , Germany . Over 130 , 000 Allied soldiers were imprisoned there . It was liberated by the U . S . 14th Armored Division following a short battle with SS soldiers of the 17th SS Panzer Grenadier Division on 29 April 1945 . Stalag III - C is notable for the escape of US paratrooper Joseph Beyrle , who subsequently joined a Soviet tank battalion commanded by Aleksandra Samusenko , which returned to liberate the camp . In popular culture . The airmen in the show " Hogan ' s Heroes " were imprisoned in fictitious Stalag Luft 13 near Hammelburg . The World War II play " Stalag 17 " , which was made into the 1953 movie " Stalag 17 " , was set in Stalag XVII - B , located near Krems , Austria . The movie " Hart ' s War " was set in Stalag VI - A , near Hemer / Iserlohn in Military District VI In Israel of the 1950s - 60s , " stalag " was a generic term for pornographic material with a theme of sadistic sexual activity between female SS officers and prisoners of war . In 2007 , Ari Libsker made a film on this topic , entitled " Stalags " .