Theatre productions in camp were a big boost to prisoner morale and stand as testament to the fortitude and spirit of men in captivity.   The prisoners had a ready stock of talent to choose from,  amateur and semi professional actors,  building trades joiners and electricians,  tailors, furniture makers and the list goes on.   The shows were attended  not only by the prisoners in camp  themselves but allied medical staff from outside the camps,  often German Officers would also attend.  The production value of the shows was so high that comparison was often made with shows being presented in the London theatres.    One such comment was by Capt. Dr John Borrie,  New Zealand Medical Corp. POW 23912.   He wrote a book after the war  'Despite Captivity'  he mentions in the book that he attended the production 'Pirates of Penzance'  at BAB21 and that it equalled any theatre production he had seen i...

The following list contains approx 600 names of men captured during May and June 1940, and admitted to Bau und Arbeits Battalion 21. After capture,  the men were marched and entrained into captivity being admitted for registration at       camps in Poland.  Stalag XX1B.   XX1D.  XX1C.  XX1C/H.  Interestingly,  apart from a few exceptions the majority of the prisoners admitted to BAB21 all had low POW numbers.  The higher numbers could have been admitted at a later date.

BAB21 sited to the north of of the I.G. Farben factory complex and BAB20 sited to the south, were both subjected to heavy bombing during 1944 as the Allies tried to halt production at the plant.   The photographs below show bombing runs over the factory which was an important contributor to the German war effort.  The whole area was heavily defended by anti aircraft guns. All photographs courtesy USAAF  and   USAF The following set of photographs illustrate the dangers of a bomb run and what the aircrews had to endure.     The photograph are of other targets and not Blechhammer.