Less well known are the prisoner of war camps that sprang up in rural communities across the country to house combatants from Europe and Japan. Italys surrender in 1943 changed the status of the Italian POWs, who remained here but were granted more freedom, including occasional trips to the Hill neighborhood. 6 & 7, Chesterfield, MO 63017. Some camps had printing presses that churned out newsletters penned by POWs. Labor unions, however, regarded them as competition for returning U.S. forces and demanded their expulsion. About 15,000 German and Italian prisoners of war were confined in Missouri, and a few tried to escape. Photo by Jack Gould of the Post-Dispatch, Two Italian POWs hang out their laundry at Camp Weingarten in June 1943. Genevieve. Camps were built on military bases, like Fort Leonard Wood, and within the base there would be a prisoner-of-war compound. As author David Fiedler explains in his book "The Enemy Among Us: POWs in Missouri During World War II," the state was once home to more than 15,000 German and Italian prisoners of war. Straussberg fled into the woods, but he didnt get far. The Army selected the Neosho site for the post . However, POW Camp Road is not about the road itself. Camp Clark was established in 1908 and was used as an assembly point for troops serving in Central America, in the Mexican border war, and in World War I. This book concentrates on the Missouri camps - main camps and satellite work camps - and their German and Italian captives. See the World War II POW camps near St. Louis. "Established at Weingarten, a sleepy little town on State Highway 32 between Ste. The POW was then moved to a camp in the United Kingdom before being placed on a troopship bound for Canada in October the same year. 9 0 obj Now home to the CMP Headquarters and Gary Anderson competition center. 11 0 obj And it was the Germans, Nazi and non-Nazi, who defined camp life more than any other group of captives. A number of prisoners of war did later return as immigrants and about a dozen of those immigrants settled in St. Louis. The foundational objectives of the Convention were to "prevent indignities against enemy soldiers" and to ensure that, through the humanitarian treatment of enemy soldiers, American POWs would be equally protected when held by enemy nations. With a weekly newsletter looking back at local history. Access Conditions . Coal mining was prominent in the late 1870s to the 1950s. Also the site of training for "The Ritchie Boys", European refugees trained there to go back into Germany and sabotage the war effort. Located between Farmington and Ste. Camp was located in North Thibodaux along Coulon Road. With Glidden is Lt. Lawrence Ponetretti, an Army interpreter. MVSC 940.5472 F45e. Now Tampa International Airport and Drew Park. (POW) camp in 1943. Over time, the POWs not only proved themselves capable workers troublemaking Nazis aside they also earned the trust and admiration of many of their private employers. Although some in Congress decried this apparent "coddling" of the POWs, the War Department, as noted by HistoryNet, remained confident that news of the benefits enjoyed by the POWs would reach Germans still fighting overseas and encourage their surrender. let us know the episode date and topic and contact Alex Heuer About 100 POWs lived there and worked on area farms, replacing Americans who had gone to war. A few concrete ammunition bunkers are the last remnants of the POW camp. The road is in an area called the POW Camp Recreation Area in the De Soto National Forest. That was four days afterthe surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, which killed 2,403 Americans, and three days after the U.S. declared war on the Empire of Japan in retaliation. McDowell noted the cigarette case is not only a beautiful piece that serves as a link to the past, but represents a story to be shared of the state's rich military legacy. It was an enormous and complex task, but over the next three years, the War Department succeeded in housing more than 400,000 POWs in some 500 camps. During July and August 1943, Camp Weingarten, Mis-souri, sent approximately 300 Italian POWs to Shenandoah.11 Those POWs handled most of DeKalb's . Boatmen's Bank building, Saint Louis, 1941 Photogrammar/ Edward Gruber On, December 23rd, 1941, the bits and pieces of needed war goods exhibit opened in the Boatmen's Bank building. |-T'T5Z A 120 feet (37m) nearly completed escape tunnel was discovered by authorities. mi. Readmore storiesfrom Tim O'Neil's Look Back series. From San Pedro, Gaertner, who spoke fluent English, traveled north undetected, taking a series of odd jobs on the West Coast, including fruit picker, logger, and ski instructor. Prisoner-of-war camps in the United States during World War II. Photo by Buel White of the Post-Dispatch, The main avenue at Camp Weingarten lined by small barracks buildings in June 1943. When returning to camp, one of the POWs with whom Taylor had established a friendship was given the pie pan and used it to demonstrate his abilities as an artist and craftsman by fashioning it into a cigarette case. When labor shortages due to enlistment hit the American economy, however, the War Department rethought its strategy and greatly expanded POW labor. Two were caught by an El Paso railroad detective just before reaching the border. The camp was named for General Harvey C Clark, Missouri's adjutant general and commander of Missouri's National Guard. A few escapees eluded capture for many years. Carl Reiner was stationed at Camp Crowder in the 1940s and when he created the 1960s-era The Dick Van Dyke Show, he made the post the setting where Rob and Laura Petrie, portrayed by actors Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore, met; Rob was a sergeant in Special Services and Laura was a USO dancer. Genevieve Camp Crowder, outside of Neosho, Missouri Camp Clark, outside of Nevada, Missouri Click here for a state map showing camp locations The photo was taken in March 1945, shortly after radio commentator Walter Winchell told his national audience that POWs from Gumbo could sneak across the river and blow up the munitions plant at Weldon Spring. Another episode involved entertainer Lena Horne, who, while performing at an Arkansas camp, became enraged when she saw that Black servicemen had been seated behind the POWs. POW Camp, Co.1, Tooele (original postage). The front gate of the POW camp at Hellwig Brothers Farm on Gumbo Flats, part of the Missouri River bottomland in St. Louis County. List of World War II prisoner-of-war camps in the United States. POW Camp Road is a typical graded gravel road in the Gulf Coastal Plains of southern Mississippi. Although the POW camps opened and closed with little fanfare, their unique design and deployment in painful contrast to the Japanese internment camps have earned them their own notable place in the war's history. Sunday, Dec. 11, marks 75 years since the United States declared war on Germany and Italy. Consequently, the POWs had little concern about getting caught. <>/Metadata 855 0 R/ViewerPreferences 856 0 R>> See. The United States had officially entered World War II. endobj Following World War II, the facilities were taken over by the Veterans Administration with both a hospital and large domiciliary complement. The Enemy Among Us: POW's in Missouri during World War II Hardcover - Illustrated, December 15, 2010 by David W. Fiedler (Author) 48 ratings See all formats and editions Hardcover $29.95 12 Used from $13.29 2 New from $25.00 During World War II, more than fifteen thousand German and Italian soldiers came to Missouri. Post-Dispatch file photo, The front gate of the POW camp at Hellwig Brothers Farm on Gumbo Flats, part of the Missouri River bottomland in St. Louis County. Missouri figured into this equation, housing some 15,000 prisoners of war from Germany and Italy inside state lines. in Newton and McDonald counties. 7 0 obj Her research led her to Arnold Krammer, who ended up writing a tell-all book with Gaertner. Other POWs were transported to work on farms and canneries in neighboring communities. POW Photos in US. It was noted that many of the Italians were semi-emaciated when arriving in the United States because of a poor diet. Glidden (left), commander of Camp Weingarten, looks across part of the 960-acre prisoner-of-war compound in Ste. Back at camp, fellow POWs hailed them as heroes. I dont want to imply that people just accepted what the government did, but the ordinary citizen did realize this was a unique time, Fiedler said. Although her uncle passed away in 1970, records accessed through the National Archives and Records Administration indicate he was drafted into the U.S. Army and entered service at Jefferson Barracks on November 10, 1942. The Convention allowed the display of swastikas, and some POWs were buried in local military cemeteries with Nazi flags and with swastikas engraved on their headstones. His hometown really wasnt all that far from Camp Weingarten, she added. Although her uncle died in 1970, records accessed through the National Archives and Records Administration indicate he was drafted into the U.S. Army and entered service Nov. 10, 1942, at Jefferson Barracks. After the war was over, prisoners of war were not allowed to stay in the United States. Japanese and German POWs; Japanese, Italian, and German internees; now, Constructed for prisoners, later reused for housing after the war, Fortuitously located outside a city where many locals still spoke German. Photo by Buel White of the Post-Dispatch. <> Helmuth Levin and Private Rudolf Straussberg left notes of explanation on their bunks. Kurt Rossmeisl escaped on 4 August 1945 and surrendered in 1959. Five weeks after Germanys surrender, American security had become a bit haphazard. The installation housed around 900 Germans, who worked as gardeners and maintenance men around the base and surrounding community. The farmer did not want to respond by letter but his daughter did, which would eventually result in a marriage. The prison camps were identical to housing areas that our own troops occupied.. In 1985, Gaertner surrendered to the INS and, as a publicity stunt, to Bryant Gumbel on "Today." Many locals recognized the vital role the POWs played in their local businesses, and quite a few befriended their captive employees, continuing relationships even after the war, as noted in HistoryNet. aka: POW Camps (World War II) During World War II, the United States established many prisoner of war (POW) camps on its soil for the first time since the Civil War. [7]:272. Shortly after Taylor received assignment to Camp Weingarten, Italian prisoners of war began to arrive at the camp in May 1943. CHESTERFIELD Cpl. 4 0 obj Had program to instill democratic values in Germans based on newspaper. 2 0 obj "I will someday donate the cigarette case to a museum for preservation and display, and I believe my brother, Harold McDowell, would agree. Earlier that evening, a English-speaking fellow prisoner heard an American radio broadcast suggesting that German POWs be dispatched to the uncertain care of the Soviet army. In Kansas, for example, some farmers invited their POW workers for meals and allowed them to go hunting or pony riding unattended. 2,000 German POWs were houses at seven locations on the. Copyright 2017 Vernon County Historical Society - All Rights Reserved. Prisoners of war did basic farm work such as harvesting corn or potatoes. Little remains of the once sprawling POW camp located approximately 90 miles south of St. Louis, with the exception of a stone fireplace that was part of the Officer's Club. As the NKPA retreated farther north, they were forced to evacuate their prisoners with them. The camp buildings are preserved in. Following World War II, the facilities became the. Some were transferred to a special camp for Nazi incorrigibles in Oklahoma. According to the Coloradoan, Gaertner had decided to escape because he knew that upon his release, he would be repatriated to eastern Germany, where his family lived. <> $.' You can also listen to this Radiolab piece called Nazi Summer Camp, about prisoners of war in Idaho, or read this Smithsonian article about the nationwide POW movement. Genevieve Camp Crowder near Neosha Camp Clark near Nevada Attached to these main camps were branch camps to which they sent prisoners. The photo was taken in March 1945, shortly after radio . Wxi7Enw{)}$yIOJ }E>kZkz6v;_c-dPc=lJeVP 2d}$uDOZeWEB{WHV>'HXDkX9F$j#h"6&U&Y{@G;hdGtDIWbRTo(BaA`cEln!PjYYN0S UJW)G)E*}!2HfK?8`P According to theSociety for Military History, because the Geneva Convention limited how differently one POW could be treated from another, camp authorities initially made "no distinction between ideologically hardened prisoners and those who are 're-educated.'" Post-Dispatch file photo, Two German POWs watch the film of Nazi atrocities during a mandatory assembly at their camp at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri. Two escaped. Fiedler recounted the tale of one Italian gentleman who, after he returned to his home country, wrote to a farmer he worked for in Sikeston remarking on how much he liked working with him. Post-Dispatch photo, German POWs on a "boat camp" in the St. Louis area play chess and relax on the deck in 1945. :_Z";co?0N1mx@a_ ES[0 While the core of the post was retained, many of the wood temporary barracks were declared surplus and sold. In one incident, Black servicemen were barred from entering a restaurant at a Texas train station while POWs were invited inside to dine with their white captors. Recaptured: Roanoke, Va. Largest all-new prisoner of war compound ever constructed on American soil. The POWs were required to watch the film during an assembly in June 1945, one month after Germany surrendered. Transcripts for St. Louis Public Radio produced programming are available upon request for individuals with hearing impairments. You have permission to edit this article. Genevieve and Farmington, Missouri, (Camp Weingarten) had no pre-war existence," Fiedler wrote. With that entry, few realize that the nation would open its borders to house prisoners of war from the Axis powers for the remainder of the war. Post-Dispatch photo, German POWs on a "boat camp" in the St. Louis area play chess and relax on the deck in 1945. For those that did return to Europe, the United States government hoped they would bring the memory of their equitable experience in the camps here back with them. Jeremy P. Amick Most of the POWs went to large camps, including one covering 960 acres near Weingarten in Ste. As all work done by POWs was forced labor, work regulations, including details like job locations and hours, hazards, and pay rates, were a major concern of the 1929 Geneva Convention. German and Italian POW Camp during 19421945 housing mostly Africa Corps Officers and Italians enlisted from the Torch Campaign. Last chance! The POW Camps in Missouri during World War II included: Clark (Camp), Nevada, Vernon County, MO (base camp) Crowder (Camp Enoch), Neosho, Newton County, MO (base camp) Weingarten (Camp), Sainte Genevieve County, MO (base camp) Wood (Fort Leonard), Pulaski County, Missouri (base camp) Enemy alien internment camp: The permanent barracks, were obtained as surplus and formed the core of the community college campus for Crowder College in 1962. ", The Untold Truth Of America's WWII German POW Camps, History of Prisoner of War Utilization by the United States Army 1776 to 1945, American Reeducation of German POWs, 1943-1946, Icons of Insult: German and Italian Prisoners of War in African American Letters During World War II, Returning to America: German Prisoners of War and American Experience. The case not only had a specially crafted latching mechanism, but was also etched with an emblem of an eagle on the cover with barracks buildings and a guard tower from the camp inscribed upon the inside. Also offered was circus and acrobatic instruction, including trampoline jumping, taught by professional circus performers. Held German POWs. In the years after the war, McDowell said, her mother kept the cigarette case tucked away in a chest of drawers but since both of her parents have passed, she now believes the historical item should be on display in a museum. Likewise, hundreds of thousands of American GIs were returning to the states and would need the jobs the prisoners of war would be filling so they were no longer needed for their labor efforts, Fiedler said. Jeremy P. Amick writes on behalf of the Silver Star Families of America. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. e-mail ", "August 1943 description of the Camp Maxey", "World War II Camp Had Impact on CIty" by Michael Hawfield, The News-Sentinel 15 December 1990, Camp Thomas A. Scott - Fort Wayne, Indiana - WWII Prisoner of War Camps on Waymarking.com, https://web.archive.org/web/20220720230229/https://www.unionleader.com/nh/travel/historical_markers/roadside-history-camp-stark-nhs-wwii-german-pow-camp-housed-about-250-soldiers/article_9dd52830-ef9f-57d6-9ef3-ce2472704b70.html, "Waterloo Township officials say rundown prison camp is a hazard and should be razed", "Uboat.net - the Men - Prisoners of War - German POWs in North America", "Fomer [sic] Site of the Caven Point Army Depot - Jersey City, New Jersey", The German POW camps of Michigan during WWII, Map of WWII POW Camps in the US with links, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_World_War_II_prisoner-of-war_camps_in_the_United_States&oldid=1129515906, Originally an Army Airfield flight training facility. As Fiedler put it: Who wanted to rush back into the war? 10 0 obj endobj After the war it became a men's dormitory for. endobj This report was prepared with help from our Public Insight Network. 200 German POWs were interned at the Tri-City Airport (now known as South Wood County Airport) from July to November 1945. In fact, much of life that prisoners of war led in Missouri during that time was like that of U.S. Army privates serving in those camps: they received the same food and housing, ate meals in the mess halls, were given days off and performed duties ranging from laundry to cooking to working as orderlies in the Officers Club. at aheuer@stlpr.org. 8 0 obj Waste material generated from the former Fort include aviation and vehicular fuels, oils, greases, metals, paints and solvents. Around Geneseo. During the 1970sthe Rev. Chapter . Photo by Buel White of the Post-Dispatch, One of two boats, known as "boat camps," moored in the St. Louis area to house prisoners of war who worked on levees and other river projects. In the United States at the end of World War II, there were prisoner-of-war camps, including 175 Branch Camps serving 511 Area Camps containing over 425,000 prisoners of war (mostly German). In the United States, at the end of World War II there were 175 Branch Camps serving 511 Area Camps containing over 425,000 prisoners of war (mostly German). Located between Olympia and Tacoma, Washington. "During one of my uncle's visits back to Alton, he asked his mother for an aluminum pie pan," McDowell said. As of July 1, 1944, there were 353 camps in 39 states with 18 more camps under construction. All Rights Reserved. Camp Ritchie also served as a U.S. Army Training Camp from WWII until it was closed under BRAC during the 1990s to the early 2000s. POW Camps in the USA POW Camps in Missouri. To disguise its purpose, The Factory POW staff interspersed pro-democracy tracts with fiction and other entertaining fare. <> The camp, located south of Neosho, Missouri, was established in 1941. The Italian and one German POW who committed suicide rather than be repatriated are buried just outside the post cemetery boundaries. d3K/,diWAgCZ,7Y>&WqU(lt1iJ5cuy#}iv^L),ybY[Y="Ni' i~l + The Missouri National Guard retained 4,358 acres of Camp Crowder for use as a training site. Close to Fort Lincoln and held over 5,000 soldiers. When Levin and Straussberg fled Hellwig farm on June 16, 1945, they were among roughly 100 German POWs who lived there. May 7, 2018 at 12:00 a.m. Groundwater and soil contamination has been identified in various areas of the base's original property boundaries. In the early 1950s, local congressman Dewey Jackson Short, (R-7th District of Missouri) senior member of the House Armed Services Committee secured authorization and initial funding to build two permanent barracks and a disciplinary barracks and reactivate the post as a permanent installation, Fort Crowder. Similar scenes played out across rural America, but over time, as noted in The Washington Post, many of these small communities adjusted to the POW presence. Weingarten was the location of a large prisoner of war camp during WWII. Camp Weingarten, Missouri 2: Camp Weingarten Italian POW Rosters in US: POWs in the US: POW Death Index in US: WWII: UT POW CD: POW Photos in US: POW and ISU Camps and Hospitals in US: Genealogical Research: ISU Units and Installations in US: . Troopers nabbed Levin in an empty clubhouse. When a group of female columnists informed Eleanor Roosevelt about the situation, she vowed to investigate and take action. The only difference, of course, was large barbed wire fences, search lights and guard dogs, Fiedler said. Consider reading Fiedlers book, which you can find here. They made it 10 miles south to the Meramec River, but farmers saw them and called the Highway Patrol. In a memorable encounter, a little girl would leave her bicycle in a certain place every night only to find it moved in the morning. The base's movie theatre was disassembled and reassembled on the campus of what is today the University of Missouri Kansas City where it was the University of Kansas City Playhouse until being torn down for a new theatre. Prisoners of War were not confined solely to the upkeep of their own numbers: many were put to work in the service of U.S. military operations at the camps themselves.