German Concentration Camp Detainees of note captive at Prague's Wildsee on May 11, 1945
In the final months of World War II, a significant event unfolded in the picturesque Pragser Wildsee area of South Tyrol, Italy. This region, nestled amidst the breathtaking Dolomite mountains, became a transit and gathering point for a group of high-ranking anti-Nazi political prisoners and resistance figures who had been imprisoned by the Nazis.
The story begins in March 1945, when prominent inmates, high-ranking Nazi officials, "Sippenhäftlinge," and former close associates and high-ranking functionaries of Hitler were gathered in concentration camps (KZs). Among these prisoners were many socialists, communists, liberals, and members of resistance movements from Germany and other occupied countries.
On April 27, these prisoners set off towards South Tyrol, stopping at a junction near Niederdorf in the Pustertal on the early morning of the next day. They were transported from Dachau concentration camp to Innsbruck's Reichenau camp in late April with 139 Sippen and special prisoners. The group of 150 people, including the prominent figures, were found safe by US units at Pragser Wildsee on May 4.
Upon their arrival at Pragser Wildsee, the prisoners were taken to the Hotel Pragser Wildsee. Their SS guards were replaced by a Wehrmacht unit, and the task of the US units was to disarm the four German Wehrmacht officers and their 137 men and organize the further transport of the prominent figures.
Between May 8 and 10, these prominent figures, including Kurt von Schuschnigg, Prince Leopold of Prussia, Miklós Kállay, Léon Blum, Jack Churchill, Vasily Kokorin Molotov, and members of the Stauffenberg, Goerdeler, Gisevius, and Hammerstein-Ecquord families, were taken to Naples for questioning. Notable figures such as Pastor Martin Niemoeller, Kurt von Schuschnigg, and Fritz Thyssen also arrived in Naples by airplane.
The liberation of these prominent former inmates from German concentration camps at Pragser Wildsee was a notable event in the post-war days. The Allies used this scenic location as a temporary haven to segregate these political prisoners from other displaced persons and former concentration camp inmates, ensuring their safety and preparing them for repatriation or further relocation.
This event marked a significant step towards the rebuilding of democracy and the resurgence of political opposition against the Nazi regime, paving the way for a new era in Europe's post-war history.
- The liberation of high-ranking anti-Nazi political prisoners and resistance figures from German concentration camps at Pragser Wildsee, which occurred in the post-war days, was a significant event in the history of general-news, as it marked a step towards the rebuilding of democracy and the resurgence of political opposition against the Nazi regime.
- The mobilization and transportation of these prominent figures, including Kurt von Schuschnigg, Prince Leopold of Prussia, Miklós Kállay, Léon Blum, Jack Churchill, Vasily Kokorin Molotov, and members of the Stauffenberg, Goerdeler, Gisevius, and Hammerstein-Ecquord families, from Pragser Wildsee to Naples for questioning was a significant event in politics, as it provided a platform for probing their roles in the resistance movement against the Nazi regime.
