On arrival, all prisoners were searched in the Quartermaster's bureau. According to the Geneva Convention, they were allowed to keep personal belongings, in reality it was different: "They took from the one, what they left the other; sometimes they left the watch, but took the cane - particularly if it was self-carved and decorated. And, obviously, all the money was taken."
The receipt given for the valuables was worthless, because, according to a former guard, the clerks in the QM bureau had arranged among themselves, how many watches, rings etc. were allowed to disappear in private channels. Next, the newcomers went to registration and then to desinfrction, the latter repeated regularly. In front of the desinfection hut "completely open to wind and rain, the orisoners were agthered. In every season and weather, they had to strip naked and wait, sometimes hours, till it was their turn. (-)in groups of 80 till 100 we did step under the showers, after being shaved by a Nazi hencman with a razor, which only had the name common with this instrument. The showers were only lukewarm.

After barely two minutes, shouts of "Los! Los!" sent us in an other room, where a German lifted our genitals with a riding-crop, to check for lice. Whoever did show signs of shame, got a strike with the crop. Next we had to file in front of a German who painted genital and anus with some sort of brush, soaked in desinfectant."
Then, after many hours of waiting, their luggage and clothing, after searching and desinfecting, was returned to themand they were led to their huts. Intheory, the prisoners were provided with clothing from the camp's stores. Concerning this, the International Red Cross comments in 1942, that 75% of the POWs had only wooden shoes instead of leather ones. "Most of them own no shirt and 50% no sweater."
The food, too, wasn't as it should be. Those who got parcels from home were in a better situation. From 1941 onwards, the nutrition became notably worse. In March 1945, the IRC did report: " The POWs are now undernourished. The daily rations have become so small and the Support Prcels so rare, that the prisoners' lives are in danger. The situation is deteriorating rapidly and signs of famine have appeared, even deaths have been reported."

Out of two reasons, the prisoners were sent into the camp. Either as stopover on the way to the Work Detachments or as intermediate halt on the return journey home. Stalag XB did administrate a maximum of 780 External Detachments, where the POWs had to work in groups of 10 to 40 men. Accomodation was in barbed-wire surrounded barns, warehouses or dance-halls from inns. Rules of the Geneva Convention, a signatory of which Germany was, were ignored. For example, the employment of POWs in the armament industry was forbidden. But from Stalag XB men were sent to work in the U-Boat shipyards at Bremen.
Also the stipulated times of work were exceeded regularly. NCOs, who, according to the Geneva Convention were exempt from work duties, were nevertheless pressed to work. If they did refuse, the notorious arrest huts and the penalty camp did wait for them.

About 90% of the prisoners did work in agricultural, but also in industrial and trade companies. On the
farms, treatment was quite good, normally. A prisoner's day in a Work deatchment at, e.g., Bargstedt was like this:
5.00 Reveille
5.20 Moving off to work
6.00 Work starts
7.00 Breakfast
10.00 Luncheon
12.30 - 13.00 Lunch
16.00 Luncheon
19.30 Dinner
20.00 Return to Accomodations
The guards were instructed to " ensure maximum use of work force".