In a courtyard outside an existing prison. Marker

A chiseled stone about 5 feet high with a plaque on top.

The memorial remembers those interned in Camp Wauwilermoos, also known as Straflager Wauwilermoos or Punishment Camp, during World War 2.

Unlike the other Internment Camps located in Switzerland, such as Adelboden or Davos, Camp Wauwilermoos was used for more difficult prisoners under much more harsh conditions.  134 American interned at Wauwilermoos were granted POW status in 2014; the other ~1400 interns located at other camps, were not granted this same POW status. 

Extracted From the Swiss Internees Association Website about Straflager Wauwilermoos:

Wauwilermoos Military Prison was located in Lucerne, Switzerland. The prison held many nationalities, as Switzerland hosted military refugees of virtually all the belligerent countries in Europe. Surrounded by several rows of barbed wire, the compound was patrolled day and night by armed sentries with guard dogs. The barracks were wooden single-wall construction, and prisoners slept on boards covered with straw. American internees were often sent to Wauwilermoos with little due process, and trials were conducted on them in absentia. The airmen were kept there indefinitely until the U.S. Legation and the U.S. State Department lodged formal protests to the Swiss foreign minister in November 1944. Although the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) inspected the camp on a few occasions, the inspection team simply noted that sanitary conditions could be improved, and the prisoners were not aware of the length of their sentences or why they were in the camp in the first place. Only just prior to the removal of the commandant in 1945 did they find the camp conditions unsatisfactory, in spite of the fact that Wauwilermoos was the subject of official protests by the United States, Great Britain, Poland, Italy, and prevented normalization of diplomatic relations with the USSR. 

The commandant of Wauwilermoos was Swiss Army Captain André Béguin.. In 1946, Beguin was court-martialed in a trial that lasted 149 days. He was convicted of administrative misdemeanors, dishonoring the Swiss and her army. The U.S. War Crimes Office also collected multiple war crimes accusations against Beguin, but the Allied powers never attempted to prosecute him due to lack of jurisdiction.

Note: Over 1500 US Service members, mostly aircrews, were interned in Switzerland during the war; the 134 internees held at the Wauwilermoos Camp were recognized as POWs in the US in 2014.

Special thanks for the B-17 Museum in Utzenstrorf, Switzerland for the photos of this memorial and for information concerning this crash.  For more on the B-17 Museum Utzenstorf, see the museum website at https://www.b17museum.ch

The text is written in German and reads:

Ein Gedenkstein gegan das Vergessen

-Image of a Camp-

Internierten Straflager Wauwilermoos

1941-1945

Translation:

A Memorial Stone- Never to Forget

-Camp Image-

Internment Camp- Punishment Camp Wauwilermoos

1941-1945