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Germany

Halbmondlager

Low
Verified 29 May 2026
Fresh · 1d ago

Data is aggregated from public sources and may be incomplete or out of date. Always verify with primary sources before acting on any figure. See data sources.

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How to send mail, money, and visit Halbmondlager

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Photograph of Halbmondlager

Gallery

From Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA where not otherwise stated).

  • El Dschihad Nr. 60.jpg

    Photo by Ute Franz-Scarciglia via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)

  • Wünsdorf Infotafel Gefangenenlager.jpg

    Photo by Assenmacher via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

  • Wünsdorf Infotafel Stammlager Zossen-Wünsdorf.jpg

    Photo by Assenmacher via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

  • 10 Pfennig Zossen - Halbmondlager-Front.jpg

    Photo by Unknown authorUnknown author via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

  • 10 Pfennig Zossen - Halbmondlager.jpg

    Photo by Unknown authorUnknown author via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

  • 2 Mark Zossen-Weinberge-back.jpg

    Photo by Unknown authorUnknown author via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

  • Al-Dschihad 24-11-1915 Tartar Nr21.png

    Photo by Unknown authorUnknown author via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

  • Al-Dschihad Journal 1915.jpg

    Photo by Otto Stiehl via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

Background

The Halbmondlager was a prisoner-of-war camp in Wünsdorf (now part of Zossen), Germany, during the First World War. The name translates as Crescent Camp or Half-Moon Camp (sometimes also used as a name in English publications) and refers to the crescent, a symbol of Islam. The camp housed approximately 30,000 Arab, Indian, and African prisoners of war from the British and French allied armies. The primary purpose of the camp was to persuade detainees to wage jihad against the United Kingdom and France, in line with the 1914 Ottoman jihad proclamation, serving as a showcase for Germany's war propaganda. To that end, "detainees lived in relative luxury and were given everything they needed to practise their faith".

Source: Wikipedia article lead, CC-BY-SA.

Capacity

Current population

Occupancy

Year opened

Operational

Facility profile

Operator

Population held

Mixed/unknown

Opened

Region

Security level

Death-row facility

No

Conditions

No conditions summary available yet.

Visiting

No visiting information available.

Mailing

No mailing information available.

Practical info

Contact the operator's website for inmate-specific procedures.

Known issues

No major issues documented in our database.

Contact & address

No public contact details available.

Conditions Risk Score

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Insufficient data
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Data completeness

16%

How many of our profile fields are populated. We surface this so families and researchers know the limits.

Sources