The German Army founded a training area near Hohenfels, Bavaria in 1938.

At first it was used for Allied NCOs and named Oflag IIIC but was later renamed Stalag 383 as it expanded with other ranks.

More were built towards the end of the war as prisoners were moved in from other camps as the Russian front advanced from the east.

[3] The name, Oflag III-C, was reassigned to a camp at Lübben (Spreewald) and operated between August 1940 and June 1942.

[4] On April 24, 1945, Major General Stanley Eric Reinhart's 65th Infantry Division captured Hohenfels.