POLSKA	POLAND
województwo: Dolnośląskie	voivodship: Lower Silesia
powiat: Bolesławiec	county: Bolesławiec

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Świętoszów (Neuhammer am Queis) is situated at an elevation of 139 m on the river Kwisa (German: Queis) in the northwest of the district (powiat) Bolesławiec in the northwest of the Dolnośląskie (Lower Silesia) voivodship in the southwest of Poland.

The pictures on glass no. 1650 [left] show the military training area at Neuhammer a. Q. around 1900. The lower left image shows the officers' mess, the lower right image shows the commandant's mansion.

During World War II the Nazis built a series of P.O.W. camps in Żagań (Sagan) and its vicinity. The camps were governed by the 8th Military district of the Wehrmacht based in Wrocław (Breslau). The P.O.W. camp at Neuhammer (Stalag VIII E) was originally meant to accomodate only Polish prisoners of war, later also French soldiers were detained here. The first Soviet P.O.W.s arrived in the camp in July 1941 and were soon to become the majority in the camp. In 1942 Stalag VIII E held more than 100,000 prisoners and became a branch of Stalag VIII C in Żagań. It was used as an extermination camp and many thousands of Russian soldiers found their death here.