Holzminden prisoner-of-war camp
Data is aggregated from public sources and may be incomplete or out of date.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.
For families
How to send mail, money, and visit Holzminden prisoner-of-war camp
Step-by-step guidance using the Germany system — addresses, money services, visit booking, what to bring on your first visit.

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

Photo by James Whale via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

Photo by auteur inconnu via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

Photo by H. G. Durnford (Life time: Unknown: active 1920) via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

Photo by Unknown photographer, c1918 via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

Photo by Unknown photographer (Life time: Unknown: active 1918) via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

Photo by Unknown (Life time: active 1918) via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

Photo by James Whale (Life time: 1889-1957) via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

Photo by Unknown: possibly C.E.B. Bernard (Life time: Unknown: active c1919) via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Background
Holzminden prisoner-of-war camp was a World War I prisoner-of-war camp for British and British Empire officers (Offizier Gefangenenlager) located in Holzminden, Lower Saxony, Germany. It opened in September 1917, and closed with the final repatriation of prisoners in December 1918. It is remembered as the location of the largest PoW escape of the war, in July 1918, when twenty-nine officers escaped through a tunnel, ten of whom evaded recapture and managed to make their way back to Britain. The prisoner-of-war camp is not to be confused with Holzminden internment camp, a much larger pair of camps (one for men, and one for women and children) located on the outskirts of the town, in which civilian internees were held. The internees mainly comprised Polish, Russian, Belgian and French nationals, as well as a small number of Britons.
Source: Wikipedia article lead, CC-BY-SA.
Capacity
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Current population
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Occupancy
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Year opened
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Operational
Figures from official sources · verified 29 May 2026 · methodology
Facility profile
Operator
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Population held
Mixed/unknown
Opened
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Region
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Security level
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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.
Notable inmates
James Whale1889–1957 · film directorJames Whale (22 July 1889 â 29 May 1957) was an English film director, theatre director and actor, who spent the greater part of his career in Hollywood.
- Hugh George Edmund Durnford1886–1965 · military officer
Source: Wikidata + Wikipedia.
Contact & address
No public contact details available.
Conditions Risk Score
Derived signal — not a judgement. How it's calculated
Related facilities
Same country, matched on type + security level where possible.
- JVA München (Stadelheim)MunichMixedJustizvollzugsanstalt93% occupancy
- Hungerturm Nähe TurmstraÃe in GroÃostheim
- Trebnitz concentration campConcentration camp
- Jugendarrestanstalt NurnbergNürnberg
- Valka-Lager
- Klinik fur Forensische Psychiatrie
Data completeness
16%How many of our profile fields are populated. We surface this so families and researchers know the limits.
Sources
- Wikipedia — Wikimedia Foundation
- Wikidata — Wikimedia Foundation
- Wikidata (Q5887277)
- Wikipedia
- Wikimedia Commons
- See /data-sources for our overall methodology.
Cite this page
Under CC-BY-4.0. Include the URL and access date; the site is a living reference and entries can change.
World Prisons. (2026). Holzminden prisoner-of-war camp. Retrieved October 25, 2026, from https://worldprisons.com/prisons/holzminden-prisoner-of-war-camp
"Holzminden prisoner-of-war camp." World Prisons. Accessed October 25, 2026. https://worldprisons.com/prisons/holzminden-prisoner-of-war-camp.
@misc{worldprisons-holzminden-prisoner-of-war-,
author = {{World Prisons}},
title = {Holzminden prisoner-of-war camp},
year = {2026},
url = {https://worldprisons.com/prisons/holzminden-prisoner-of-war-camp},
urldate = {2026-10-25}
}