Seeking oral histories from those imprisoned at Stalag 5-A

Hello Mr. Morris!

I was able to find two oral histories:

http://memory.loc.gov/diglib/vhp/story/loc.natlib.afc2001001.06760/ at 24:42

& https://www.ww2online.org/view/dominick-sgobbo#captivity-and-liberation at 1:20:26 (this one is not very detailed though).

Here may also be a start: https://catalog.archives.gov/search?q=%22Stalag%20V-A%22&tabType=online

& https://catalog.archives.gov/search?q=%22Stalag%205-A%22

You may be able to research some of the names that are associated with Stalag V-A to find oral histories gathered from other museums, veterans projects, etc. that you might be able to use.  Below is one such file in the search listed above:

Hope this helps and best of luck with your research!

Dear Mr. Morris,

Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!

We searched the National Archives Catalog and located the series Stalag Name Index to the Series "Case Files, 1944-1949" in the Records of the Office of the Judge Advocate General (Army) (Record Group 153) that includes the names of prisoner-of-war camps, case numbers, and summaries of information relating to possible war crimes. We also located the series European Name Index to the Series "Case Files, 1944-1949" in Record Group 153 that contains 29 references to Stalag V-A and 7 references to Stalag 5-A. Each card contains the name of an individual, a case number, a summary of information from the case relating to the individual, the letter "V" (victim), "W" (witness), or "A" (accused). Both indexes relate to the series Case Files, 1944-1949 in Record Group 153 that include records such as transcripts of interviews, witness statements, and testimony that may be relevant to your research. The name index has been digitized and may be viewed online via the Catalog, but the other records have not been digitized. For information about the non-digitized records, please contact the National Archives at College Park - Textual Reference (RDT2) at archives2reference@nara.gov.

Next, we located the series Persons and Places Dossier Files, 1945-1948 in Record Group 153 that includes the file 100-443 - Stalag V-A (Ludwigsburg, Germany). Plus, we located the series Subject Files, 1939-1955 from the General Records of the Department of State (Record Group 59) that includes the file Stalag V A in the that may be of interest. Further, we located the series Subject Files, 1942-1946 in the Records of the Office of the Provost Marshal General (Record Group 389) contains the files Stalag VA and Camp Reports: Germany: Stalag 5A (Ludwigsburg). These records have not been digitized. Please contact RDT2 for assistance with them.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and pursuant to guidance received from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), NARA has adjusted its normal operations to balance the need of completing its mission-critical work while also adhering to the recommended social distancing for the safety of NARA staff. As a result of this re-prioritization of activities, you may experience a delay in receiving an initial acknowledgement as well as a substantive response to your reference request from RDT2. We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your understanding and patience.

Finally, we identified several oral history projects online that may be of interest to you, including the Veterans History Project (Library of Congress), the Oral Histories - World War II (US National Park Service), the Oral History Resources (National World War II Museum), and the Oral History Project (Smithsonian). You may wish to contact these institutions directly for any additional assistance.

We hope this is helpful. Best of luck with your research!