Oflag 64 was a World War II German prisoner-of-war camp for officers located at Szubin a few miles south of Bydgoszcz, in Pomorze, Poland, which at that time was occupied by Nazi Germany.

They were then moved out to other camps, the Commonwealth flying personnel to Stalag Luft III Sagan, others to Oflag XXI-C Ostrzeszów.

The saga of 1st Lt. J. T. Williams from Garland, TX, was typical of the Oflag 64 POWs who decided to go it alone rather than stay with the column as it headed west.

Lt. Williams (3rd Bn, 357th Inf, 90th Div) was leading a nine-man patrol to test German defenses on the Mahlman Line on July 6, 1944, near Beaucoudray, France, when they were ambushed.

He remained in a recently evacuated POW camp for Polish and French officers and dodged German patrols for five days until "recaptured" by Russian troops.

Depending on handouts of food and clothing from Polish civilians and Russian soldiers, he at one point shared a boxcar with Jewish refugees recently released from nearby death camps.

After a week, he was able to board a train for Odessa, Russia, arriving on March 1, where they were immediately placed under Russian armed guard in a warehouse.

After transferring ships in Istanbul, Port Said, Egypt, and Naples, Italy, he arrived in Boston aboard the SS Mariposa (1931) on April 8, 1945.

[5] After the Armistice of Cassibile in September 1943, Oflag 64/Z in Schokken became the camp where most Italian general officers captured by German troops during Operation Achse were gathered.

[6][7][8][9][10] Considered "traitors" due to their refusal to swear allegiance to the Italian Social Republic, the generals were mistreated and underfed; five of them (Alberto de Agazio, Umberto di Giorgio, Davide Dusmet, Armellini Chiappi and Rodolfo Torresan) died during captivity at the camp, whereas Admirals Inigo Campioni and Luigi Mascherpa were handed over to RSI authorities, tried and executed for having opposed the German takeover in the Dodecanese.

Most remained in Schokken till late January 1945, when they were transferred westwards with a forced march through the snow; during the march, six generals (Carlo Spatocco, Alberto Trionfi, Alessandro Vaccaneo, Ugo Ferrero, Emanuele Balbo Bertone, and Giuseppe Andreoli) were shot by the SS for being unable to keep pace with the other prisoners.