The Internment of German Civilians in Bedburg-Hau

After conquering German territory west of the Rhine, the newly established Military Government  concentrated the remaining civilian population in Bedburg-Hau near Kleve. From February to April 1945, a large hospital complex served as a an internment camp. Thousands lived in cramped conditions in the buildings of the sanatorium in Bedburg-Hau and in large tent camps erected nearby.

British and Canadians encounter German Civilians

When launching "Operation Veritable" on February 8th, 1945, British and Canadian troops advanced onto German soil west of the Rhine and encountered German civilians who had stayed put despite the threatening military situation. The Allies viewed Germans primarily as enemies: people they could not trust and for whom they showed little compassion. However, decisions had to be taken about the way troops should deal with the local population. Initially, there were no clear orders. In the first days of the offensive, numerous German civilians were brought from the immediate border area to the Netherlands. In Nijmegen, they were imprisoned in a youth reformatory known as the “Tuchtschool”. This was to remain an exception, as the transport of German civilians to the Netherlands had been prohibited following previous negative experiences. After ten days, these first "internees" were brought back across the border – to a place called Bedburg-Hau. This location would play a central role in dealing with the local population in the following months.

German Population under Allied Control

West of the Rhine, British and Canadian troops initially concentrated civilians in school buildings, churches, and monasteries such as church in Materborn and the Capuchin Monastery in Kleve, the latter temporarily housed 500 people. In Vornick, on the eastern outskirts of Goch, a camp was established to accommodate 600 people under canvas, while in early March, around 500 people were housed in the St. Bernhardin Monastery in Hamb near Kapellen. Later reports on these camps describe the supply of food  as adequate while the hygienic conditions were very poor. By mid-February 1945, British troops had captured Kleve and the area around Bedburg-Hau. In the ruins of Kleve, the British encountered approximately 1,000 remaining civilians. There were no clear orders regarding their further whereabouts, and they finally made their way to Bedburg-Hau, just four kilometres away. There, numerous residents of Kleve had previously sought refuge in a large hospital complex called the “Provinzial Heil- und Pflegeanstalt”. Situated in a large, wooded area, this sanatorium comprised approximately 80 largely undamaged buildings. This institution was to play a vital role in accommodating German civilians.

The Psychiatric Hospital Centre in Bedburg-Hau

The sanatorium in Bedburg-Hau began operations in 1912. It was intended to house and treat the mentally ill according to the standards of the time. A total of 36 newly constructed, multi-story, spacious buildings were built on a wooded area of just under one square kilometre, ready to receive an care for approximately 2,200 patients. In addition, there was a large administrative building, numerous staff residences, a large kitchen building, a laundry, several workshops, a slaughterhouse, a bakery, a church, an event hall and two farms producing foodstuff for the institution. A power plant and water supply works made the hospital centre largely self-sufficient. The original facility still exists and is open to visitors. Today, the LVR Bedburg-Hau Clinic is located here, specializing in the treatment of psychiatric and neurological illnesses. The site also houses several closed and fenced forensic psychiatric wards.

Military Use of the Institution

The special value of this large facility was recognized during the First World War, and some parts were used as a military hospital. This use was resumed during the Second World War – from March 1940, a Wehrmacht hospital was established in the sanatorium. It is indicative of the criminal nature of Nazi rule that as early as September 1939, a total of 356 mentally ill patients had been transported from Bedburg to so-called killing centres. Euthanasia, the state-organized murder of the mentally ill, was systematically practiced in Hitler's Germany since the beginning of the war. Another 1,600 patients were taken away in early 1940 – records prove that at least half of these were murdered soon after. Thus, in Bedburg-Hau there now was sufficient space for the Wehrmacht. From the summer of 1941, the facility housed a Navy hospital with 1,170 beds. It was relocated in September 1944, when the front drew ever closer following the Allied airborne landings at Arnhem and Nijmegen. After a bombing raid on Kleve at the end of September 1944, patients from the civilian Kleve hospital were transferred to two hospital buildings at the Bedburg sanatorium. After Kleve was largely destroyed in another bombing raid on October 7th, 1944, numerous survivors initially sought refuge in the Bedburg-Hau hospital centre. During this phase of the war, some of its buildings also housed two field hospitals receiving casualties from  Wehrmacht units fighting just across the border in the Netherlands.

The Internment Camp in Bedburg-Hau

Since mid-February 1945, the hospital grounds were under British control and the Military Government immediately  recognized the value of the facility. More and more German civilians fled from the close-by frontlines and made their way to Bedburg. By the end of February, 8,000 refugees had found shelter in the sanatorium. They shared it with approximately 1,000 patients, who were still housed in the clinic with their nursing staff. After the initial influx, almost every building was overcrowded. In March 1945, when allied forces had occupied almost the entire western bank of the Lower Rhine region, a new situation called for new measures: The Allies prepared for a major offensive across the Rhine. To keep their military activities secret they completely evacuated a broad swath west of the Rhine. All Germans who had stayed put in villages and farms were now ordered to move to Bedburg-Hau. The sanatorium became the evacuation centre for the population remaining west of the river in the Lower Rhine region.

A City under Canvas

The buildings of the psychiatric hospital centre were already occupied by about 8,000 refugees when – from March 10th, 1945 - more people were to be interned in Bedburg-Hau. Figures vary, but it is estimated that up to 28,000 German civilians were eventually gathered there. New arrivals could no longer be move into in the hospital buildings. To make matters worse, some buildings had to be evacuated because the British and Canadians were setting up three field hospitals (“Casualty Clearing Stations” in British terminology) on the grounds in preparation for the Rhine crossing. So, for many thousands of civilians the Military Government set up seven "districts" around the hospital, each comprising 100 to 200 tents with a capacity to accommodate 10 to 15 people each. These districts equipped with tentage were to accommodate the majority of internees in the coming weeks. The Military Government appointed a German administration for the entire Bedburg evacuation centre to tackle the difficult challenges that lay ahead.

Difficult Conditions in the Camp

The people interned in Bedburg mostly recall very poor conditions in the camp – first-hand accounts speak of a time of great hardship. Initially, the hygienic conditions were horrific as  in the tent camps only open latrines were available. Moreover, extremely cramped conditions led to the spread of diarrhoea and respiratory diseases. A total of 367 people died during their internment in Bedburg – mostly elderly people, but among the dead were 57 children who had contracted diphtheria. For the majority of the internees, the poor supply of food remained the main problem. The British Army provided basic foodstuff, and supplies were collected from the surrounding abandoned villages. Stray livestock was slaughtered, and the institution's large kitchen operated in three shifts to prepare soup for everyone. By and by, people settled in, improvised their own cooking stoves, and collected additional food from the area around the camp. Men fit to work were assigned to labour details and were rewarded with special rations of food and tobacco.

The Bedburg Sanatorium after the Dissolution of the Camp 

By the end of March 1945, the Allies had crossed the Rhine on a broad front. On April 3rd, 1945, the repatriation of the internees to their homes began. Housing the returning population was difficult, as cities like Kleve and Goch were largely destroyed. However, within three weeks, the camp was completely emptied of German civilian internees. The grounds of the Bedburg-Hau sanatorium continued to be used to cope with the consequences of the war. From April to September 1945, “No. 77th British General Hospital" was established on the site. This large military hospital unit initially cared for British soldiers who had become casualties in the final weeks of the war and had been transferred to the rear. After the war had ended, the British hospital also cared for a different category of war victims: Parts of the Bedburg institution temporarily housed so-called "displaced persons" (DPs) – people who during the war had been deported by the Germans to labour camps or to concentration camps. After the war, they had to stay in DP-camps in Germany until they could return to their home countries or received visas to emigrate to other countries. Simultaneously, parts of the Bedburg sanatorium also housed a German-run hospital for German prisoners of war in British custody who had fallen ill. Moreover, the civilian administration of the Kleve district was housed in Bedburg-Hau. Later, parts of the sanatorium became a centre for the medical rehabilitation of German POW returning from camps in the Soviet union. These manifold uses of the facilities in Bedburg-Hau continued until 1949.