Food distribution in the Nagymegyer prisoner of war camp

The population of Nagymegyer experienced the consequences of the outbreak of World War I in a spectacular way as early as September 1914, when the first prisoners of war arrived in the city. The first six thousand Serbian prisoners of war from the Balkan front arrived at the port of Kolozsnéma, from where they marched on foot to Nagymegyer. No prepared buildings awaited the prisoners. They spent the entire winter under the open sky on the outskirts of the city, in piles of straw. The construction of the first wooden barracks on today's Tábor Street only began in January 1915. The camp was gradually built up. With the opening of the Italian front, a large number of Italian prisoners of war were brought to Nagymegyer. According to contemporary documents, 15-20,000 prisoners of war arrived in the camp. The camp commander was Lieutenant Colonel Ferenc Walkner.