Barbed wire from a German POW camp
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 11.000 inches (27.94 cm) | Width: 1.000 inches (2.54 cm)
Archival History
The barbed wire was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2015 by Maxim Alekseev, U.S.-Russia Joint Commission on POW/MIAs.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Maxim Alekseev, U.S.-Russia Joint Commission on POW/MIAs
Funding Note: The cataloging of this artifact has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
Scope and Content
Piece of barbed wire from the site of a German prisoner of war camp in Rzhev, Soviet Union (now Russia). The camp operated from 1941-1943 and this piece was excavated in 2014 by the U.S.-Russia Joint Commission on POW/MIAs. Rzhev was located on the Volga River along the Moscow-Riga railway. Nazi Germany launched a surprise attack on its former ally, the Soviet Union, in June 1941. Rzhev, a city of about 50,000, was taken by the Germans in October. It was the site of several fierce battles, from the Soviet offensive in January 8, 1942, until March 22, 1943, during the German retreat from Russia. Soviet losses are estimated at 500,000 - 1,000,000.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Barbed wire segment
Subjects
- World War, 1939-1945--Prisoners and prisons, Russian.
- Prisoner-of-war camps--Russia--Rzhev.
Genre
- Object
- Tools and Equipment