Signals of survival: radio technology and communication in WWII camps: introduction

Today, the Stalag XB prisoner-of-war camp is the site of a museum that commemorates the suffering endured by thousands of prisoners who were interned there during the Second World War. From September 1939 to April 1945, the camp imprisoned thousands of military and civilian internees of over fifty different nationalities. Many of the wooden barracks that once housed thousands of World War II prisoners are long gone, but those that remain are a poignant testament to the suffering endured by those who were once imprisoned in their dark confines. These stark structures stand as silent witnesses to the hardships and resilience of the individuals who endured unimaginable conditions during the darkest days of the twentieth century. They serve as a cautionary signal from history that should remind us to be vigilant against its recurrence.

Construction of the Stalag X B Prisoner of War camp began in the 1920s on the outskirts of the village of Sandbostel, which lies forty miles from the German city of Hamburg. Throughout the war, the station at the nearby village of Bremevörde received trainloads of prisoners who had been transported from across the Third Reich. There were Polish, Italian, French, Soviet, Ukrainian, British and Irish prisoners, among many other nationalities. On arrival at Bremevörde, they would trek ten miles through the flat and open countryside of lower Saxony, passing by the picturesque medieval homes of the local people. Among those prisoners was a young Italian man—Aldo Quarisa. Born in the province of Treviso in 1918, Aldo was a young man serving in the Italian army when Italy capitulated to the Allies on the 8th of September 1943. He would spend the next two years imprisoned in various camps as an ‘Italian Military Internee’. After his liberation at the end of the war, Aldo began a long walk home back to Italy, where he worked as a teacher and married Lina Contin. He is survived by four daughters.