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POW Camps in America

AmateisGal

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,126
Location
Nebraska
Hello all -

It's been far too long since I've been at the Lounge. I've sure missed it, and I'm definitely glad to be back.

I did want to let you all know that The History Press published my book, Nebraska POW Camps: A History of World War II Prisoners in the Heartland last year. It's about the German and Italian POWs held in Nebraska during the war. I originally wrote my master's thesis on Fort Robinson, a camp in northwest Nebraska, but my publisher asked me to include all the Nebraska camps for the book.

I was quite pleased with how it turned out, though if I'd had a choice, it would have been MUCH longer. My publisher capped my word count at 40k, so I didn't get to delve as deeply as I wanted to in some subjects.

powcamps.jpg

I've also been writing articles for America in WWII magazine. My latest article is on the war dogs of World War II.

dogs.jpg
 

Stearmen

I'll Lock Up
Messages
7,202
Those are great, congratulations! Very interesting subjects. We had a POW camp at Camp Carson, with almost 9,000 German and Italian prisoners. A bit of irony, the camp was also used in the later part of the war to train Free Italian troops to fight the Germans!
 

AmateisGal

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,126
Location
Nebraska
Those are great, congratulations! Very interesting subjects. We had a POW camp at Camp Carson, with almost 9,000 German and Italian prisoners. A bit of irony, the camp was also used in the later part of the war to train Free Italian troops to fight the Germans!

Thanks, Stearmen!

Yes, there were Italians also held in Camp Scottsbluff in Nebraska. Those Italian POWs who volunteered to be part of the Italian Service Units were actually threatened by Italian Fascists within the camps themselves.
 

Dennis Young

A-List Customer
Messages
439
Location
Alabama
Cool! There are some interesting stories about POW camps here. One story about which some German POWs escaped (temporarily). :)
 

AmateisGal

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,126
Location
Nebraska
Cool! There are some interesting stories about POW camps here. One story about which some German POWs escaped (temporarily). :)

I think the most interesting escape story I heard of in my research was a couple of German POWs who made it from Scottsbluff, Nebraska, all the way to Philadelphia. They were caught there and sent to different camps. I'm not sure how they made it all the way there...that was quite the haul!
 

Stearmen

I'll Lock Up
Messages
7,202
On a funny side note. There were a lot of U-boat crews kept in Arizona, and apparently this was their favorite song. The hard core NAZIs would get furious when the men started singing it! [video=youtube;BjLQ0p_3PFI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjLQ0p_3PFI[/video]
 

AmateisGal

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,126
Location
Nebraska
On a funny side note. There were a lot of U-boat crews kept in Arizona, and apparently this was their favorite song. The hard core NAZIs would get furious when the men started singing it! [video=youtube;BjLQ0p_3PFI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjLQ0p_3PFI[/video]

Love it! :eusa_clap
 

WorkingHard

New in Town
Messages
11
Location
Paris
I would love to read your book, or perhaps get it for my father for his birthday. Thanks for the link. My Masters in History was largely directed towards WW1 and I'Ve writen a few published papers on POW camps myself. I am in the process of creating a blog, do you have one? I've bought a domain and server of these guys, and hope to be live in the up and coming days.
 

AmateisGal

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,126
Location
Nebraska
I would love to read your book, or perhaps get it for my father for his birthday. Thanks for the link. My Masters in History was largely directed towards WW1 and I'Ve writen a few published papers on POW camps myself. I am in the process of creating a blog, do you have one? I've bought a domain and server of these guys, and hope to be live in the up and coming days.

Yes, I do! I have two blogs - they're in my signature (below).
 

AmateisGal

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,126
Location
Nebraska
If anyone is interested, here is a lecture I gave on Nebraska's POW Camps during World War II. (I refuse to watch it...can't stand to see myself on film! LOL).

[video=youtube;eO67TSgSL40]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eO67TSgSL40&list=PLacZ6_f2bf0XNPamlezS2eU_9EZSTll0f[/video]
 

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