WWII German Prisoners of War in U.S.

To 107th Calvary and Jim West I never went fishing there. Just been there when driving to Brown County Indiana. We have always liked that area of Indiana. Thanks for sites and history on Camp Atterbury. Also appreciate the photos.

I have written my older cousin. He lived with my Grandparents and was about 8 years old when the POWs would have worked as farm hands on my Grandfather's farm. Going to see what he remembers. i know my Dad told me my Grandparents thought they were good workers. My Dad was in New Guinea at the time. He was in the Army and served in the Pacific. Thanks again for all the feed back. The POWs are an interesting subject. d. gaddie

 

Take a look at "Nazi Prisoners of War in America" by Arnold Krammer. You can buy a used copy on Abebooks.com. and probalbly other online booksellers. An interesting book.

 

Thanks to members, Cowboy 6 and OpanaPointer for name of book and site. In meantime heard from my cousin. She remembers about 5 German Prisoners working on our Grandfather's farm in Lexington, Ky. She said that after the war they wrote letters to the family for many years. Her Mother (my Aunt) kept them for years. My Aunt is deceased. I am going to try to find out what happened to the letters. They could contain interesting information. d. gaddie

 

My family's farm was in Christian County (Hopkinsville), Kentucky, near Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Going through my parent's papers recently, we found a form with the names of the German POWs who worked on the farm for one day. My parents have told the story many times. The soldiers helped harvest the corn. My older brother and sister, close to the ages of 6 and 4 at the time, were with my parents the day the POWs worked. The POWs were guarded by our soldiers as they worked, and the civilians were not allowed to give them food or anything. One of the soldiers, upon seeing my brother, was able to indicate to my mother that he, too, had a young son. I want to do research to find any of the POW survivors and/or their families.

I know of one other family farm where POW's worked that my parents spoke of. As I recall, my parents said one of the POWs visited the family after the war and retained a life-long relationship.

I was not yet born, so I can only recall the story as my parents reflected upon those times. I can assume German POWs worked on numerous farms around Christian County.

 

Here's a link on a local one:

Papago Park POW prisoner of war camp in Phoenix Arizona

and another good site

http://www.gentracer.org/powcamps.html

 

really interesting story.. I wonder what the story behind those German POW 's and who they were.

intersting, thanks for sharing.

 

Farmer's Daughter, That is really great that you have the paper work after all those years. I am afraid the letters that my Aunt had were thrown away after her death. I would have really liked to have some names so I could do some research. If you are interested in German prisioners of war in Ky, I have learned that the University of Ky,'s library has some material. My Grandfather had his farm in Fayette County, near Lexington. There was a detention center in Lexington that housed German prisoners. My cousin who was about 4 or 5 years old remembers them working on our Grandfather's farm. d. gaddie

 

You might try that second link I gave for the names you have of POWs. That site is set up to help geneology reserach on family members.

 

Since writing this thread, I have done a lot of research on German POW's in Ky. I have read the Book "German Jackboots on Kentucky Bluegrass" by Antonio Thompson. I finally was able to obtain it thru, inter library loan. To Farmer's daughter. I highly recommend this book. There is a lot on Fort Campbell and farmers who employed the POWs. He did interviews with farmers who employed the POWs and some former German POWs. Actually one farmer he interviewed in Fayette County was a neighbor of my Grandfather. Another good article is "Swastikas in the Bluegrass State Axis Prisioners of War in Ky. 1942 - 1946" by Dr. Richard Holl. d.gaddie

 

Excerpt veteran's memoir:

I came across this paragraph in a veteran's memoir and at first reading I did not pause long enough to consider the status of Italian PW's in 1944. I am posting this before I do any research. I expect there are some interesting legal and practical matters.

 

You're not kidding. Italians who agreed to join the Allied forces after the country surrendered in 1943 were given "co-belligerent" status, hence the "Italy" shoulder flashes in the above quote. They enjoyed equal status with other Allied troops. Those who didn't remained PoWs.
And that's very brief summary.

 

Same rules applied for the Soviet Union soldiers. In-fact, Russian were seen as heroes after WWII.

 

There were even German POWS in Melbourne Victoria, not sure if they worked on Farms or help out in the community. Would Germans POWS be allowed in general public areas? such as, etc...outside of prison camps and farms to help build roads, houses, clean up bomb mess?

 

The only reason why the Russians turned 'Allied' is because Hitler attacked and invaded SU. Hitler never invaded/attacked Russia you wouldn't be saying the Russian were heroes. Russians received a 'Got out of jail card' at Hitler expense. Today, only the Germans are seen as evil in WWII but the fact are; two other nations, SU and Italy were in full favor of NS Germany and NS Italy and communist SU Europe. Which the Allies were dead against from the very start of WWII. No, I do not see Russians as heroes, though, with Hitler screwing up, the extra Russians were so beneficial to the Allied war effort' it swan the war over to the Allies side.