Stalag IV-A Hohnstein LIBERATION

[PhilBeeNZ]

I'm trying to find
(a) the date this POW camp was liberated, and
(b) which unit liberated it.
I've turned the internet upside down and tried all the usual avenues, to no avail! So now I'm hoping YOUR relation may have been a "guest" in the camp and can remember these details...or perhaps he was part of the liberating unit...?
In April 1945, Stalag IV-A Hohnstein (20km E of Dresden) was close to the Russian advance, but Gnl.Patton's 3rd.US Armoured Division was also near. VE Day was 8th.May 1945 and it's unlikely the POWs were still captive after that, so their liberation must've been sometime between 1st.April and mid-May.
Any help or hint would be very much appreciated!

[Alan333]

Hi
My father was an Australian in the British Hospital Section at StalagIVA, in the winter of 1945 they transferred, by train for about a week in cattle trucks being shuttled backwards and forwards across Germany and Czechoslovakia and finally settled on 28 Feb 1945 in Hohenstein-Ernstahl in Swiss Saxony. They were liberated by the Americans around the 10th May 1945

[Carole EM]

Hi
My father was an Australian in the British Hospital Section at StalagIVA, in the winter of 1945 they transferred, by train for about a week in cattle trucks being shuttled backwards and forwards across Germany and Czechoslovakia and finally settled on 28 Feb 1945 in Hohenstein-Ernstahl in Swiss Saxony. They were liberated by the Americans around the 10th May 1945

Hi, beware there are 2 different camps, STALAG IV A  Elsterhorst, and STALAG IV A Hohnstein. These are not similar.

Both camps were some 30 to 50 km located near the city of Dresden in the far East of Germany in a region called Saxen (Saxony), nothing to do with Switzerland. Switzerland was neutral and never housed any POW camps. Dresden is a German city, by the way much bombed, and close to the Czech border.

My grand-uncle was a prisonner there and the camp was liberated for sure by the then Soviet army, not by the Americans. It seems this occurred in April 1945, sometime before the end of the war and as the Red Army advanced towards the West.

Beware that this camp also housed officers (normally  STALAGs did not house officers) and as far as my research, the officers were marched westwards by the Germans prior to the advance of the Red Army troops, therefore the "liberation" of the camp (i.e. what country/which forces took care of your relative) may not be the same whether your relative was an officer or not, was marched out or not. Later, in April, the Red Army arrived to the camp and liberated the remaining prisonners.  As far as my research, by this time there was no fitghting for the camp and it handed itself over or something like that. It seems the camp "illegally" had housed officers which is the reason of this forced march so they could be removed and not fall in the hands of the Red Army (officers= regarded as trading value when conflicts end).

And after the Red Army had liberated the camp,the Red Army remained on site; the camp facilities were used by the Russians to house the newly captured German POWs.

[Fallaver]

My father, a New Zealander, was in Oflag Iva, hohnstein at the end of the war. he had been captured at Al Elamein. He told me that at the end of the war the guards simply opened the gates and left. Dad said they were also starving. He said they were decent guys. Dad never mentioned meeting up with either the Americans or Russians. Dad and a couple of mates got to Czechoslovakia , stole a car (survival at any cost) and then drove to Paris.

[RachelWynn]

I am also looking for a family member - a French POW at Stalag IV Hohenstein. He fathered my mother while at the camp - however the details around his relationship with my oma (a German) are lost to history. My oma lived in Forst (there was an ammunitions factory nearby called Forst Scheuno Ammunitions Factory - https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprengchemie_Forst-Scheuno). But not sure if Henri worked there. My mother was born in March 1944. His name was Henri Six. I have one photo of him. He was blond and was working on watches in the photo. Can anyone help me understand more about French POWs at the camp; and ideally to find out more about him.