Inside of a graveyard in England are the bodies of a German soldier who was brutally murdered
by his fellow German military members whilst inside of a prisoner of war camp.
The conditions of British POW camps aren’t known for being particularly brutal, in fact
the survival rates were very good for Germans and Italians who were sent to Britain and
were held.
A number after the war would fall in love with local women and would get married, and
others would return home to their countries having spent years picking potatoes and producing
food.
But the story of Sergeant Major Wolfgang Rosterg is one which was barbaric, in which other
German prisoners turned on him and battered him to death.
But what is the story of this?
Join us today as we look at the execution of Wolfgang Rosterg, and as always to support
our channel please make sure to subscribe.
Cultybraggan Camp was established as a prisoner of war camp, and was designated POW camp 21.
It would hold around 4000 prisoners following D-Day and many prisoners who were sent there
were transferred from other prison camps in Britain.
Amongst the prisoners were ordinary German soldiers who had been conscripted into the
war, and others who were ardent nazis.
Each day new arrivals were coming to the camp, and one day Feldwebel or Sergeant Major Wolfgang
Rosterg came into the camp.
He was a man who was rather old for being a soldier, and one who was transferred later
and he tended to stick out.
He wore thick black glasses and was the son of a wealthy German industrialist.
He had been imprisoned elsewhere, before on the 17th December 1944 he arrived at Cultybraggan
Camp but five days later he would be found dead.
Inside of the camps, there were rumours that there was possible uprising and that many
prisoners would try to escape to gain there freedom, to get back to fighting in the war
and to in particular see action during the Ardennes Offensive or the battle of the bulge.
Because of this, the British may have placed someone in the camp to stifle the plot, and
it has been theorised that Wolfgang Rosterg may have been working in this capacity inside
of the camp.
He had been captured shortly before this and he had seen a lot of the conflict, and it’s
believed was disaffected with the nazi cause.
He realised that the war was lost and may have been trying to save himself some prison
time by helping the British intelligence.
It’s not known for certain is Rosterg was working for the authorities or not, but when
he got to the camp it was a very busy scene.
He had his identification and numbers processed and checked against other documents, and Rosterg
following a medical exam was then allocated Hut 4, Compound B where he was part of a prisoner
population made up of 80 dangerous fanatical nazis.
They were young and were brutal, and many walked in their uniforms and they were also
very antisemitic.
These were the most dangerous prisoners inside of Cultybraggan, and two days after Rosterg
arrived another German Major was found dead having been executed by hanging in the woods
under mysterious circumstances.
The prisoners were allowed newspapers, but after reading about the Ardennes offensive
and it’s failings the Germans of this hut rose up, and Rosterg may have voiced his opposition
to Hitler and with this he was turned upon.
The Nazis gathered together a court martial for Wolfgang Rosterg as he was after all a
Sergeant Major, and he was questioned.
They asked him a number of inquiries including whether he was a spy and what his opinions
were on the war, but if his answers did not meet expectations he was beaten on the head
with an iron bar which had been heated on a fire.
Following this, other Nazis would beat and kick his body, and he was even jumped and
sat on.
It was clear these Nazis smelt blood and wanted to kill Rosterg, and that is what they did.
They continued to attack him, and they smashed his head off the kerb stones in front of the
barracks but the guards had not noticed what was going on.
He was then dragged from the barracks to the toilets, where he was hanged backwards over
a water pipe and he would then die from this bloody execution.
His body was discovered at 9am on the 23rd December 1944, the very next day by Polish
guards who were working there and he had been gagged throughout his ordeal so no-one heard
anything.
He was quite literally ‘thrown into a lions den, when the lions were angry,’ and investigations
took place regarding his brutal and barbaric death.
It was said of the camp, ‘The atmosphere in the camp was extremely violent and threatening.
Only the fact that the guards were Poles and were absolutely ready to crack down on these
men who had destroyed their homeland held the line.”
It was found that Rosterg had read some of the articles he had translated as he could
speak English, and his fellow countrymen flew into a rage and went wild at the bearer of
bad news.
8 prisoners were charged with his murder with the oldest being 21, and they were taken to
London for trial.
6 were found guilty, and two were acquitted and five of these were sentenced to death
and were hanged at London’s Pentonville Prison on the 6th October 1945.
But the fate that Sergeant Major Wolfgang Rosterg suffered was a brutal one.
Thanks for watching
To support please subscribe
Once again thanks for watching