Oflag XVII-A

The Oflag XVII-A was a prison camp for officer (Oflag) located in Austria close to Doellersheim.

The camp was located at Edelbach, between Allensteig and Doellersheim.

It functioned between 1940 and April 1945, date of its release by the Soviet troops. It accommodated mainly officers French and approximately 6000 were held there.

The guards were often Austrian veterans and the detention conditions were less Draconian there than in other camps.

These conditions partly explain several characteristics of this camp:

It holds the record for the escape from group succeeded: 130 people.
a film there was turned and is always visible: Under the coat ; documentary on the life of the camp, articulated around a scenario of Robert Christophe. In the Fifties, the film was recopied in 16 mm with 24 images/second. A score of prisoners had begun in the company: there were the promoters, managers, technicians and, of course, the actors.
Several hundreds of photographs, taken with four apparatuses were drawn. They constitute a single testimony, seen interior, living conditions in detention.

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