WWII German Prisoners of War in U.S.

German and Italian PoWs were classified according to their political beliefs-
Non-Nazis= 'A' or 'White'
Unclear= 'B' or 'Grey'
Nazi/Fascist= 'C' or 'Black'.
Under the Geneva Convention of 1929 Officer PoWs couldn't be forced to work (although they could volunteer), whereas other ranks could. They could not be used in work directly related to the war effort, or that was considered dangerous (ie mining).
In practice only whites and greys were sent out to work under guard, blacks being considered too dangerous/unreliable until well after the war finished. They were paid by the government for their work (a portion of which was usually in money or tokens which could only be spent in camp, the rest being credited to their personal account which was paid in full upon repatriation).
http://www.iwm.org.uk/history/german-and-italian-prisoners-of-war-in-the-united-kingdom

 

I'm doing research on a "branch" camp in Danville. There were actually TWO "branch camps" in Lexington. Antonio Thompson's book, German Jackboots on Kentucky Bluegrass, is great for this topic.

 

I think there was one in kentucky, Breckinridge? Or something along those lines.

I did a bit of research apparently a fort campbell and a fort knox (Questioning the legitimacy of knox)

 

We had a similar thread that I cannot find but I posted about the POW camp in Opelika, Alabama, about 8 miles from where I live. POW's definitely worked on farms and in various industries in the area for compensation. They were furloughed on Sunday and could eat in restaurants, go to the movies, shop in stores, etc. Interestingly the Tuskegee Airman trained about 20 miles to the West of me but they could not eat in "white only" places not go to movies or drink at a public water fountain . The POW's were offered classes by what is now Auburn University and created an orchestra with instruments they bought or were given by the town people. In turn they provided concerts attended by locals. A couple of barracks existed as well as a guard tower, when I first moved here in 1974 but the area is now an industrial park.. I gather it was making the best of the situation by all concerned.

I read, somewhere that fractionally more German POW's died in our camps than American POW's did in Germany but cannot find the source. Anyone know anything about that? It would seem the opposite would be true given the worsening conditions in Germany. It may not be true but more information would be interesting. ( Just found a figure saying .15% of German POW's died in US camps so the difference would have to be slight and says my recollection may be wrong, have to go work so will check back later.

Another POW camp was located in rural West Alabama at Aliceville. It even held reunions of guards and POW's until a number of years ago. The POW's there largely worked on farms.

 

The POW's had reunions lol

 

" The POW's had reunions lol " Indeed they did. For a number of years some returned to Aliceville and being a very small town they stayed in local houses as guest. They meet with each other, some now living in the US and with their friends in town.

http://www.cityprofile.com/alabama/aliceville-pow-museum-and-cultural-center.html

Aliceville has a population of about 2500, I am guessing it was probably 1500 during WW2 so the camp exceeded the town in size. There was lots of interaction.
It is in west Alabama, very rural and the poorest part of Alabama. the camp was big business .

Gaines

 

lots of Germans died in American "camps" set up in Germany itself right at the war's end. These were usually just holding camps - open fields mostly- where there were no facilities or even food/water for days at a time, perhaps this is what you might be referring to...

 

The one I know of and have seen a memorial to was at Remagen...We have a few threads on this subject if you wish to search em out.

 

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