It was opened as a POW camp in September 1939 and housed mainly Belgian and Polish officers. With an area of about 7 hectares (17 acres) the camp was divided into two compounds : Lager A which contained four three-storey prisoner blocks, and an administration and canteen block, and Lager B which contained various garages and workshops, some of which were used as additional prisoner accommodation. The camp was surrounded by a double barbed-wire fence with seven watchtowers.[1]