pow camps in missouri

Five weeks after Germanys surrender, American security had become a bit haphazard. Post-Dispatch file photo, A German POW on a boat camp in St. Louis relaxes and reads on his bunk. Complementing that were screenings of carefully selected movies, including horrifying footage showing the liberation of Nazi concentration camps. Cole Camp: June 19, 1861 Benton County: American Civil War Benton County Home Guard-600, Missouri State Guard-300 43 KIA, 85 WIA, 25 POW United States vs. Missouri (Confederate) Confederate victory Carthage: July 5, 1861 Near Carthage: American Civil War Union-1,100, Missouri State Guard-6,000 244 United States vs. Missouri (Confederate) Salvatore E. Polizzi had become a national figure for his work in The Hill neighborhood of St. Louis. Approximately 1,000 Japanese Americans were kept there, under tight security, behind multiple layers of barbed wire fence. A few escapees eluded capture for many years. All buildings but one have been demolished. Originally, when the government agreed to bring them here, they were concerned about security, Fiedler said. endobj As noted in Humanities Texas, the first big batch of POWs arrived in the spring of 1943 following the surrender of Germany's Afrika Korps. A 150 feet (46m) electrically lighted escape tunnel was discovered by authorities. Post-Dispatch file photo, German POWs march into the mess hall at their small work camp on the Hellwig Brothers Farm on Gumbo Flats, the Missouri River bottomland now called Chesterfield Valley, in March 1945. The result of the First Lady's initiative was the Prisoner of War Special Projects Division, led by Lt. Col. Edward Davison out of Camp Kearney in Rhode Island. The author further explained, (T)he camp was enlarged to the point that some 5,800 POWs could be held there, and approximately 380 buildings of all types would be constructed on an expanded 950-acre site.. Jeremy P. Amick writes on behalf of the Silver Star Families of America. The camp was just east of the village of Weingarten, on Missouri Highway 32, west of Ste. Many of the camps where they were held have faded into distant memory as little evidence remains of their existence; however, one local resident has a relic from a former POW camp that provides an enduring connection to the service of a departed relative. Here are some rare photos that show what living in the state of Missouri during this time looked like. This report was prepared with help from our Public Insight Network. Subscribe with this special offer to keep reading, (renews at {{format_dollars}}{{start_price}}{{format_cents}}/month + tax). Other citizens wrote angry letters to the editor and staged protests. d3K/,diWAgCZ,7Y>&WqU(lt1iJ5cuy#}iv^L),ybY[Y="Ni' i~l + If there was no one around to work the potato fields or the corn was rotting and the local growers association could secure the labor of 100 POWs to pick them and the sheriff felt fine about it, it was not seen as a great concern. Hollywood movies and cartoons were screened. 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. As chronicled by AP, on a September night in 1945, POW Georg Gaertner escaped from New Mexico's Camp Deming by slipping under a fence and hopping a train bound for San Pedro. Photo by Jack Gould of the Post-Dispatch, Two Italian POWs hang out their laundry at Camp Weingarten in June 1943. The road is in an area called the POW Camp Recreation Area in the De Soto National Forest. Some camps had printing presses that churned out newsletters penned by POWs. Four years later, the government offered the buildings at auction to relieve the post-war shortage of housing. 200 German POWs were interned at the Tri-City Airport (now known as South Wood County Airport) from July to November 1945. They were much less formal, much less heavily guarded, and there were much more opportunities for social interaction.. The camp was named for General Harvey C Clark, Missouris adjutant general and commander of Missouris National Guard. Genevieve County in June 1943. Two escaped. In Kansas, for example, some farmers invited their POW workers for meals and allowed them to go hunting or pony riding unattended. By 1943, Arkansas had received the first of 23,000 German and Italian prisoners of war, who would live and work at military installations and branch camps throughout the state. 9 0 obj Had program to instill democratic values in Germans based on newspaper. A walled patio and fireplace with masks of Comedy and Tragedy were built near the theater and are still landmarks on the university campus. 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 Officers Club. POWs mounted theatrical productions and played concerts. Straussberg fled into the woods, but he didnt get far. "His hometown really wasn't all that far from Camp Weingarten.". 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. Post-Dispatch file photo. 5 0 obj St. Louis on the Airbrings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. Unfortunately, while the U.S. generally honored the Convention, neither Japan, which never signed the agreement, nor Germany, which chose to ignore it, did. A few concrete ammunition bunkers are the last remnants of the POW camp. Beginning as a reception center for newly inducted draftees and enlistments who were issued the initial uniform clothing allowance and transferred to other army posts for initial testing and subsequent assignment to a basic training command. 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. Indirectly, though? With a weekly newsletter looking back at local history. Shortly after Taylor received assignment to Camp Weingarten, Italian prisoners of war began to arrive at the camp in May 1943. endobj They slipped past the guards at night and fled through the vegetable fields they tended. To request a transcript for St. Louis on the Air, POW Camps in the USA POW Camps in Missouri. The author further explained, "(T)he camp was enlarged to the point that some 5,800 POWs could be held there, and approximately 380 buildings of all types would be constructed on an expanded 950-acre site.". Branch camps in Missouri were: Chesterfield Ex Satellite Pow Camp is a superfund site located at T 45 N, R 4 E, Sect. From July to December 1945, 450 German POWs were housed in the Sheboygan County Asylum, which was built in 1878 and abandoned in 1940 when a new facility was completed. 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. A year later, the American government auctioned the buildings and fixtures, including 52 floodlights, at Camp Weingarten. Copyright 2023, News Tribune Publishing. Labor unions, however, regarded them as competition for returning U.S. forces and demanded their expulsion. Taylor and his fellow soldiers, most of whom were assigned to military police companies, maintained a busy schedule of guarding the prisoners held in the camp, but also received opportunities to take leave from their duties and visit their loved ones back home. By the war's end, the average reached 60,000 POWs per month. endobj Fielder said that, by and large, the prisoners of war coexisted positively with their American neighbors. 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. Chapter . Last chance! No one was happy to be a prisoner of war, but many were glad to bide time to count the days until they got back home, Fiedler said. People didnt get in the car and drive 75 miles: it was a locally-focused world. Trichloroethylene contamination in soils and groundwater has been documented at the site and may include off-site contamination in a number of private wells. As of July 1, 1944, there were 353 camps in 39 states with 18 more camps under construction. About 15,000 German and Italian prisoners of war were confined in Missouri, and a few tried to escape. The level of instruction was so high that some German universities offered full credit to returning POWs. Fort Leonard Wood, in central Missouri Camp Weingarten, near Ste. xwcy[9R^Z hF/!\Zf7!%% Some fought floods with sandbags. All buildings have since been demolished, the only structure left standing is the base of one stone pillar where the main gate of the camp stood. The U.S. government initially did not separate what Fiedler referred to as dyed-in-the-wool Nazis, who were committed to the National Socialist movement under Adolf Hitler. You have permission to edit this article. From 1942 through 1945, more than 400,000 Axis prisoners were shipped to the United States and detained in camps in rural areas across the country. The caption information from 1945 does not identify the boat as the one on the Missouri River, near today's Chesterfield, or the one at the foot of Arsenal Street. Four years later, the government offered the buildings at auction to relieve the post-war shortage of housing. A 120 feet (37m) nearly completed escape tunnel was discovered by authorities. 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. 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 Now a fraction of its WWII size, the camp currently has a full-time staff of 11 employees a sharp . To disguise its purpose, The Factory POW staff interspersed pro-democracy tracts with fiction and other entertaining fare. 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. :_Z";co?0N1mx@a_ ES[0 Working POWs earned 80 cents per day, and sometimes could buy beer at prison canteens. With Short's defeat in the 1956 election, the fort lost its legislative patron and was deactivated again in 1958. 1 0 obj Coal mining was prominent in the late 1870s to the 1950s. The Chicago Tribune reported Oct. 23, 1943, that the prisoners at Camp Weingarten soon "put on weight" by eating a "daily menu superior to that of the average civilian.". As described in The Washington Post, the War Department, believing that a happy POW was a pliant POW, went above and beyond when it came to POW food, education, and entertainment. June 16, 1945 The day German POWs escaped their camp near St. Louis. For one thing, they were needed to help rebuild European infrastructure. As noted by Time, until 1948, the U.S. military was, like much of America, a segregated institution. The 1929 Geneva Convention, recognizing that it is the duty of prisoners to attempt escape, contains numerous regulations limiting the severity of punishments for escapees. Between 1861 and 1865, American Civil War prison camps were operated by the Union and the Confederacy to detain over 400,000 captured soldiers. 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. Genevieve and Farmington, Missouri, (Camp Weingarten) had no pre-war existence," Fiedler wrote. 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). Two were caught by an El Paso railroad detective just before reaching the border. St. Louis on the Air hostDon Marshand producersMary Edwards,Alex HeuerandKelly Moffittgive you the information you need to make informed decisions and stay in touch with our diverse and vibrant St. Louis region. 6 0 obj ", As a result of Truman's order, many POWs ended up in the "unfriendly hands" of France and England. From the start of the Civil War through to 1863 a parole exchange system saw most prisoners of war swapped relatively quickly. This document may not be reprinted without the express written permission of News Tribune Publishing. Camp Weingarten quickly grew into a sprawling facility to house Italian POWs brought to the United States and, Jefferson City resident Carolyn McDowell explained, was the site where one of her uncles spent his entire period of service with the U.S. Army in World War II. Germany's "Great Escape" was from a 200 feet (61m) tunnel by 25 prisoners on 24 December 1944. The following October, the former POW camp was closed and many of the buildings were dismantled, shipped and reassembled as housing for student veterans at colleges and universities throughout the United States. Area Camp with 9 Branch Camps. During World War II, more than fifteen thousand German and Italian soldiers came to Missouri. As McDowell went on to explain, her uncle remained at Camp Weingarten until his discharge from the U.S. Army in December 1944. The camp had no pre-war existence, and unlike the other major camps in the state, it never served any military function other than a pen for Italian POW's. The first POW's, all Italian, arrived on May 7, 1943. Consider reading Fiedlers book, which you can find here. The main camps supported a number of branch camps, which were used to put POWs where their labor could be best utilized. 339-351. The, This camp had a guard fire on and kill several German prisoners. Located where the present day Cleburne Conference center is located in the 1500 block of West Henderson(business HWY 67), Housed German POWs from the Afrika Korps after their defeat in North Africa. In New England, they harvested peas, cabbage, and apples. ",#(7),01444'9=82. ", 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. Genevieve. Weingarten is a small town in southern Missouri, outside of St. Genevieve. Attached to these main camps were branch camps to which they sent prisoners. Romantic relationships remained off limits and strictly forbidden, Fiedler said. As McDowell went on to explain, her uncle remained at Camp Weingarten until his discharge from the U.S. Army in December 1944. 8 0 obj Photo by Buel White of the Post-Dispatch, The chow line on a boat camp at St. Louis in 1945. {{start_at_rate}} {{format_dollars}} {{start_price}} {{format_cents}} {{term}}, {{promotional_format_dollars}}{{promotional_price}}{{promotional_format_cents}} {{term}}. Short tried to have it designated a permanent home for the Army's military police training school. Levin and Straussberg were among the 420,000 German and Italian prisoners of war who spent part of World War II under guard in the United States. About 2,600 German POWs were held there during World War II. As a result, their supervision relaxed, sometimes to the point of being unguarded and unwatched. Even as conditions worsened for American POWs held in the European theater of World War II and word spread around the United States about Hitlers efforts to exterminate the Jews, the U.S. government remained firm that prisoners of war should be treated according to the Geneva Conventions. Now Tampa International Airport and Drew Park. Genevieve County. | As Fiedler put it: Who wanted to rush back into the war? During the 1970sthe Rev. Most of these POWs were transferred from Camp Roswell, which was a base or main POW camp for New Mexico. Having experienced the "American way of life," some POWs sought U.S. sponsors or worked for U.S. occupational forces in Germany in order to return to the U.S. POW John Schroer recalls that he made his decision to immigrate upon seeing the Statue of Library as he departed New York. 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. Indeed, in correspondence, one POW described his camp as a "goldener Kafig," or golden cage, while another wrote home to say imprisonment was like a "rest-cure. Sub Camp of Camp Forrest - April 1944 to March 1946 - 331 German Prisoners. $.' 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. The Army selected the Neosho site for the post . Held German POWs. Missouri figured into this equation, housing some 15,000 prisoners of war from Germany and Italy inside state lines. 2 0 obj POW Photos in US. Black soldiers experienced institutionalized discrimination both at home and overseas, and their prejudicial treatment occurred at the hands of not only white Americans but white POWs as well. "It is a beautifully crafted cigarette case, but the irony of it all is that my father never smoked," she jokingly added. Life as a POW in the thirty camps scattered across Missouri was a surprisingly pleasant experience. As author David Fiedler explained 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 (POW). However, POW Camp Road is not about the road itself. From the Stars to the Steamers, from the Billikens to the World Cup, St. Louis has a storied soccer tradition. 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. However, from 1863 this broke down following the Confederacy's refusal to treat black and white Union prisoners equally . According to Smithsonian Magazine, in 1942, as Great Britain was running out of places to hold Axis prisoners, the U.S. began work on creating its own network of POW camps. 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. Last chance! 600 German POWs were interned in the Schwartz Ballroom from October 1944 to January 1946. Two German POWs watch the film of Nazi atrocities during a mandatory assembly at their camp at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri. The 3,600 prisoners planted tomatoes and took over cooking, attracting American guards with their spicy enhancements to GI fare. While still adhering to the Convention, the POW camps supplied local industries and businesses with laborers. Consequently, the POWs had little concern about getting caught. Groundwater and soil contamination has been identified in various areas of the base's original property boundaries. The camps were located all over the US, but were mostly in the South, due to the higher expense of heating the barracks in colder areas. Interestingly enough, no marriages were a direct result of the prisoners time in Missouri. This movements became known as the "Tiger Death March," so called for the brutal treatment that the prisoners . Transcripts for St. Louis Public Radio produced programming are available upon request for individuals with hearing impairments. The farmer did not want to respond by letter but his daughter did, which would eventually result in a marriage. Later known as an anti-Nazi camp where many intellectuals, artist, writers were among the POWs. Others were confined in small outposts such as Hellwig Brothers Farm, near U.S. Highway 40 on the Missouri River bottomland then known as Gumbo Flats. The camp, located south of Neosho, Missouri, was established in 1941. The majority of escapees were captured quickly and without incident. {{start_at_rate}} {{format_dollars}} {{start_price}} {{format_cents}} {{term}}, {{promotional_format_dollars}}{{promotional_price}}{{promotional_format_cents}} {{term}}, 4 killed, 4 critically injured in crash at South Grand Boulevard and Forest Park Avenue, Parents push back on allegations against St. Louis transgender center. All Rights Reserved. When labor shortages due to enlistment hit the American economy, however, the War Department rethought its strategy and greatly expanded POW labor. 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. The men ate well and were quartered under the same conditions as the Americans assigned to guard them, and the prisoners often enjoyed a great deal of freedom. Between then and mid-1944, an average of 20,000 POWs arrived each month, then after the Normandy invasion, the average rose to 30,000. Post-Dispatch file photo, Three Italian POWs paint and draw during free time at Camp Weingarten in June 1943. POW Death Index in US. "It was a beautiful day, all looked so peaceful. <>/ExtGState<>/XObject<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text/ImageB/ImageC/ImageI] >>/Annots[ 9 0 R] /MediaBox[ 0 0 612 792] /Contents 4 0 R/Group<>/Tabs/S/StructParents 0>> Troopers nabbed Levin in an empty clubhouse. stream "Established at Weingarten, a sleepy little town on State Highway 32 between Ste. Each man had food and a change of clothing. ", "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. CHESTERFIELD Cpl. See the World War II POW camps near St. Louis. About 100 POWs lived there and worked on area farms, replacing Americans who had gone to war. 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. 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. Pages . Back at camp, fellow POWs hailed them as heroes. The prison camps were identical to housing areas that our own troops occupied.. 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. Blacks in the military expressed outrage that, after risking their lives fighting Nazis, they were considered beneath their white enemies back home. 4 0 obj U.S. Army to establish a temporary side camp, under the ad-ministration of a larger main camp in Missouri, to house POWs at the old Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp near Shen-andoah. Pfc. Jean remained unaware of his secret until impending retirement required she obtain his birth certificate. Camp Crowder was a military installation named in honor of Major General Enoch H. Crowder, provost marshal of the United States during World War I and author of the 1917 Selective Service Act. About 500 American soldiers were assigned to guard 3,600 Italians at the camp. Helmuth Levin and Private Rudolf Straussberg left notes of explanation on their bunks. Post-Dispatch file photo, Three Italian POWs paint and draw during free time at Camp Weingarten in June 1943. 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. POW and ISU Camps and Hospitals in US. People got in trouble for it: prisoners expressing affection through love notes were intercepted. PublishedDecember 8, 2016 at 3:26 PM CST, Credit Kelly Moffitt | St. Louis Public Radio. The last German POWs didnt head home until 1946. 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. oW5( *wh};yeErfRV8n#z Originally CCC Camp Lakewood built in 1936, Housed 3,500 Italians and later 10,000 Germans, Formerly the county courthouse, is now the headquarters of the. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. "My uncle then gave the cigarette case as a gift to my father, who was living in Jefferson City at the time and working as superintendent of the tobacco factory inside the Missouri State Penitentiary," McDowell stated. The camp was just east of the village of Weingarten, on Missouri Highway 32, west of Ste. "He then took it back to camp with him and that's when he gave it to one of the Italian POWs.". Italians went to Camp Weingarten, at the German-heritage village of 99 residents. A few continued into the early 1970s in Las Animas County where Trinidad is located. Consequently, fanatical Nazis were thrown in with anti-Nazis. The elder Hennes was captured by Americans in Europe in the fall of 1944. The Missouri National Guard retained 4,358 acres of Camp Crowder for use as a training site. To ensure its success in the camps, the project was kept top secret. Aware that POWs were actually eating better than many civilians, the War Department, sensitive to public perception, cut back severely on the POWs' rations. Her research led her to Arnold Krammer, who ended up writing a tell-all book with Gaertner. About 15,000 of them were sent to 30 camps scattered across Missouri. Southeast Missouri State University Cape Girardeau, MO 63701 Phone: (573) 651-2245; Fax: (573) 651-2666; Email: semoarchives@semo.edu Guide to the Weingarten P.O.W Camp Collection . These camps housed more than 142,000 Germans, 15,000 Italians, and 500 Japanese. Thousands of Axis POWs worked in the fields, replacing American farm boys gone to war. endobj This was no invasionary force; rather these were prisoners of war, part of a flood of almost a half-million men captured and sent to the United States, held here until the end of the war. May 7, 2018 at 12:00 a.m.

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