POWs in America

[MelissaAnne]

Hi all -

I did my graduate history thesis on the WWII German POW camp at Fort Robinson, Nebraska. I'd be interested to hear if any of you had a camp near your home since they were scattered throughout the United States. Unfortunately, most of them were torn down quite quickly. Fort Robinson has preserved the area where the camp was, but no buildings remain.

Just curious if anyone else has any stories to share...

Glad to be here! It's great to find other like-minded individuals.

Melissa

 

[shoeshineboy]

here is one that is just a few miles from my home...I remember some of my elders speak of it as a child. I remeber that some of the prisoners didn't want to leave, becasue they loved this area so much. They were German and Italians...what is humorous about the Italians not wanting to go back, is that area is full of vineyards and wineries.

http://stegenevieve.net/content/view/165/74/

good story for you to read here, too.

mark the shoeshine boy

 

[clevispin]

Ich bin nicht Yankee!!!

This might be worth looking into - may be urban (rural) legend but there is a story about a granny from down South with a dbl barreled shotgun drawing-down on a trespasser whom she thought was a yankee. When she discovered that he was an escaped german POW - she fed him.

m

 

[MelissaAnne]

Great link, Mark! Thanks so much.

We had a POW "satellite" camp in my hometown (Fort Robinson was 150 miles to the north of where I grew up) that had mostly Italian POWs. My grandfather, (the son of Italian immigrants) would tell us stories about going to town and picking up the POWs to come work on the farm with them.

It amazes me how much U.S. guards trusted them - there is a story of one guard at Fort Robinson who was rather rotund. When he had trouble climbing into the truck box, he gave his gun to one of the POW's to hold while they lifted him up.

 

[MelissaAnne]

M -

Ha! :eusa_doh: Gotta love little anecdotes like that.

I find it interesting that there are only a few documented incidences of a POW escaping. I think during the three years of the Fort Rob camp's existence, only one POW escaped. He made it about 400 miles, then walked into a bar and proceeded to order a beer - in German.

 

[Story]

Growing up, my next-door neighbor had been too old for the Infantry and was drafted into the Military Police. His first assignments were stateside (Kansas?), guarding PWs.
Don't know how true the story is, but one of the German PWs lifted a sleeping guard's shotgun, used it to take some rabbits and returned it empty, without being caught. The rabbits were smuggled back into the camp.

Have you seen these ? -
http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/GG/qug1.html
http://www.lakewabaunsee.com/Prisoner1.htm
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0878391134/102-6881963-9832139?v=glance&n=283155

 

[MelissaAnne]

Story -

Thanks for the links. I've found that there are quite a few stories out there about POW camps - you just have to dig to find them. Most of the histories are done by local people who wanted to keep a record of the POW camps. Most of the scholarly studies undertaken on the camps are few and far in between, which is unfortunate.

I'm hoping to write the entire history of the Fort Rob POW camp - the curator of the museum did all the research in the D.C. archives for the War Dept. records, so I have all of that. He decided he didn't want to write the book and suggested I do it. But finding the time is another thing altogether.

 

[fortworthgal]

There were quite a few German camps located in Texas. Texas had twice as many camps as any other state, because of our size and our climate - since a lot of the POWs were captured in North Africa.

One of the better known ones is Camp Robertson located in Hearne:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~txrcfch/CampHearne.htm

There was also one in the Fort Wolters area of Mineral Wells, Texas. The military base has long since been abandoned by the military, although most of the buildings are still there. Some of them are occupied by varying businesses. I grew up in the town next door, so I spent a lot of my teenage years driving around the base looking at the buildings and the area. Several of the buildings still have the original bunks and wall artwork in them! I'm one of those people who is just fascinated by abandoned buildings! The base sits next to a state park, and I believe the land where the POWs were held is part of the park - although I have not been able to find any official records or information confirming the area. On a visit to the park, I did once find an area - well hidden behind some fences, and very overgrown - with several old wooden buildings and some old furniture. It didn't fit in at all. When I went to get a closer look (I know, bad, but I couldn't resist!) - a park ranger got pretty snippy with me. I'd love to know more about this particular area if anyone has any information!

Interesting article about the camps in Texas here:
http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/GG/qug1.html

 

[scotrace]

VERY interesting!

Thanks for the link, Melissa - though I have now frittered away TOO much time!!

 

[MelissaAnne]

Fortworthgal -
Thanks for the links. I know that Texas did have quite a few POW camps. I'm always amazed by how many camps were in America, and how so few people even know of their existence today.

Scotrace - It's always a challenge to justify my time spent frittering away online - but sometimes the stuff you come up with is just too interesting to pass by.

 

[Big Man]

There was a fairly large POW camp at "Camp Butner" in north-central N.C. After the war, this camp was renovated and opened as John Umstead State Hospital (one of NC's four state-operated psychiatric hospital's). John Umstead Hospital is still in operation, but is scheduled to be replaced by a new hospital that will serve the population of JUH in Butner and the old Doretha Dix psychiatric hospital in Raleigh. The new hospital, located in Butner, is scheduled to open sometime in 2007.

There was also a smaller POW camp in the mountains of western NC near the town of Tryon in the Rutherford/Polk county area. I am sure that there were more of these camps across the state, but do not have any information on them.

 

[Twitch]

In general terms the camps were a reverse Hogans' Heros with the kindly American guards befriending the German POWs and vice versa.

 

[MelissaAnne]

Big Man - It's interesting that some camps were renovated for use as something else. In my hometown, the camp was actually in the fairground buildings, and those are still there.

Twitch - Yup, I'd have to agree with you. The POWs in America had everything they could need or want here. Sadly, Allied POWs in Europe and Japan had a very different experience.

 

[Big Man]

"Them" vs "Us" ...

I would be interested in reading what actual Axis POW's had to say about conditions/experiences in American POW camps.

 

[J.B.Saxon]

German POW

MelissaAnne,
sorry, but I can´t tell you any thing about american POW camps in the states because I am german.
Nevertheless I can tell you that my Dad was a POW in an american camp in France, at Zimming/ Moselle, at the age of 19. It is funny that you started this thread these days, because just this weekend my mother gave me all papers of my Dads wartime. I got his camp pass, that authorized him to circulate outside the enclosure, a certificate which certifies that he was employed as Officer´s Orderly and Bartender and the Certificate of Discharge as well - he was ground crew of the German Luftwaffe. The year he lived there formed his life so much that my education allways was american oriented. Maybe that´s the reason why I am interrested in american history for decades now.
So if you are interrested in copies of this documents for future researches or graduations, feel free to contact me.

Semper Fi

 

[scotrace]

Have a look at the Lake Wabaunsee KS link above /\. Excellent reading and gives the POW perspective.

 

[J. M. Stovall]

Hi MelissaAnne. I just remebered that an episode of the History Detectives on PBS featured digging up facts on an old camp, it might have some intresting info if you can find it.

 

[D-Day-Doll]

I've always thought this was a really interesting subject! One of my grandfathers was a POW guard here in the states. I think he was in Louisiana and South Carolina. He said crews from U-Boats were some of the occupants in his camp. He passed away a few years ago so unfortunately I can't get any other information.

 

[Story]

http://vikingphoenix.com/public/rongstad/military/pow/axispow.htm

Nice long list.

 

[MelissaAnne]

Hi J.M. -

I LOVE the History Detectives show! Unfortunately, I've missed quite a few episodes. I'll have to do some digging and see if I can't find the episode of which you spoke.

D-Day - So sorry to hear of your grandfather's passing. I'm sure you have lots of wonderful memories of him.