Members of the German military were interned as prisoners of war in the continental United States during both World War I and World War II. A total of 425,000 German prisoners lived in 700 camps across the United States during World War II.
World War I Hostilities ended six months after the United States saw its first major combat action in World War I, and only a relatively small number of German prisoners of war reached the U.S."America in the Great War," EyeWitness to History, www.eyewitnesstohistory.com, retrieved March 28, 2011 Many prisoners were German sailors caught in port by U.S. forces far away from the European battlefield."Blow Up Corman, Interned Gunboat," The New York Times, April 8, 1917. Retrieved March 28, 2011 The first German POWs were sailors from SMS Cormoran, a German merchant raider anchored in Apra Harbor, Guam, on the day that war was declared.
The United States Department of War designated three locations as POW camps during the war: Fort McPherson and Fort Oglethorpe in Georgia and Douglas in Utah.Yockelson, Mitchell, "The War Department: Keeper of Our Nation's Enemy Aliens During World War I," Presentation to the Society for Military History Annual Meeting, April 1998. Retrieved March 28, 2011 The exact population of German POWs in World War I is difficult to ascertain because they were housed in the same facilities used for German-American internment, but there were known to be 406 German POWs at Fort Douglas and 1,373 at Fort McPherson.Cunningham, Raymond K., Jr.,"Fort Douglas War Prison Barracks Three Prisoners Of War" , University of Utah Records Center. Retrieved March 28, 2011Cunningham, Raymond K., Jr.,"German Prisoners 507 Strong, Join Interned Comrades" , University of Utah Records Center. Retrieved March 28, 2011 The prisoners built furniture and worked on local roads. The few dozen who died while incarcerated as POWs were buried at Ft. Douglas, Utah, the Chattanooga National Cemetery, and Fort Lyon, Colorado.Lloyd, R. Scott, "Wreath-laying honors WWI German prisoners buried at Fort Douglas", Deseret News, November 14, 2010. Retrieved March 28, 2011.Copeland, Susan, "Foreign Prisoners of War" , The New Georgia Encyclopedia. Retrieved March 28, 2011Janiskee, Bob, "Pruning the Parks: Chattanooga National Cemetery", NationalParksTraveler.com, December 25, 2009. Retrieved March 29, 2011"Cemeteries - Fort Lyon National Cemetery," United States Department of Veterans Affairs. Retrieved March 29, 2011
World War II
Background After the United States entered World War II in 1941, the government of the United Kingdom requested American help with housing prisoners of war due to a housing shortage in Britain, asking for the US to take 175,000 prisoners.Bowman, Michael, "World War II Prisoner of War Camps", The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture. Retrieved March 28, 2011. The United States reluctantly agreed to house them, although it was not prepared. Its military had only brief experience with a limited POW population in the last world war, and was unprepared for basic logistical considerations such as food, clothing and housing requirements of the prisoners.Krammer, Arnold, "German Prisoners of War", Handbook of Texas Online. Published by the Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved March 28, 2011 Almost all German-speaking American men of military age were engaged overseas directly in combat efforts, and the American government feared the presence of native Germans on U.S. soil would create a security problem and raise fear among civilians.
Despite many "wild rumors" about how the Allies treated their prisoners, some Germans were pleased to be captured by the British or Americans; fear of being captured by the Soviets was widespread, as more than a million German POWs died in Soviet captivity. The prisoners were usually shipped in Liberty Ships returning home that would otherwise be empty, with as many as 30,000 arriving per month to ports in New York or Virginia, where they were processed for distribution to camps. While they risked being sunk by their own U-boats on the ocean, good treatment began with the substantial meals served aboard. Upon arriving in America, the comfort of the Pullman cars that carried them to their prison camps amazed the Germans, as did the country's large size and undamaged prosperity.
The Geneva Convention
The camps
The Office of the Provost Marshal General (OPMG) supervised the 425,000 German prisoners. They stayed in 700 camps; government guidelines mandated placing the compounds away from urban, industrial areas for security purposes, in regions with mild climate to minimize construction costs, and at sites where POWs could alleviate anticipated farm labor shortages.Corbett, William P., "Prisoner of War Camps" , Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. Oklahoma Historical Society. Retrieved March 28, 2011 Most camps were in the southern or southwestern United States, away from important war factories, but 46 of 48 states hosted camps. A complete list may not exist because of the small, temporary nature of some camps and the frequent use of satellite or sub-camps administratively part of larger units; a minority, like Camp Ruston in Louisiana, were built specifically for prisoners.
Other than barbed wire and watchtowers, the camps resembled standard United States or German military training sites, with prisoners segregated by service branch and rank. The Geneva Convention of 1929 required the United States to provide living quarters comparable to those of its own military, which meant 40 square feet (3.7 m2) for enlisted men and 120 square feet (11.1 m2) for officers. If prisoners had to sleep in tents while their quarters were constructed, so did their guards. The three admirals and forty generals in custody were sent to Camp Clinton and Camp Shelby in Mississippi, where each had his own bungalow with a garden.
Work
The Geneva Convention's mandate of equal treatment for prisoners also meant they were paid American military wages. They could work on farms or elsewhere only if they were also paid for their labor, and officers could not be compelled to work. As the United States sent millions of soldiers overseas, the resulting shortage of labor eventually meant that German POWs worked toward the Allied war effort by helping out in canneries, mills, farms, and other places deemed a minimal security risk.
A typical day for a German prisoner in Garden Grove, California:
5:30 am - Reveille 7:30 am - Work begins at fruit orchards around Orange County, California. Quota is 36 boxes of oranges per prisoner Noon - Lunch. Prisoners who had already filled their quotas returned to camp 4:30 pm - End of work day 5:30 pm - Dinner Evening - Educational classes, films, and live performances by prisoners 10 pm - Bedtime
Prisoners could not be used in work directly related to the military, or in dangerous conditions. The minimum pay for enlisted soldiers was a day, roughly equivalent to the pay of an American private. In 1943 the government estimated that prisoner labor cost 50 to 75% of normal free labor. While language differences, risk of escape, and sometimes unreliable work were disadvantages, prisoner workers were available immediately on demand and in the exact numbers needed. While prisoners on average worked more slowly and produced less than civilians, their work was also more reliable and of higher quality. Prisoners who did not meet work quotas were imprisoned with bread and water as rations.
Part of the prisoners' wages helped pay for the upkeep of the POW program, while they could use the rest at the camp canteen,Garcia, Malcolm J.,"German POWs on the American Homefront", Smithsonian.com, September 16, 2009. Retrieved March 28, 2011. where fellow prisoners sold snacks, reading and writing material, playing cards, and tobacco products. They were paid in scrip; all hard currency in their possession was confiscated, along with other personal possessions during initial processing, for return after the war as mandated by the convention. The concern was that money could be used during escape attempts. The government received $22 million in 1944 from prisoner wages, and that year it estimated that it had saved $80 million by using prisoners in military installations.
Newspaper coverage of the camps and public knowledge were intentionally limited until the end of the war, in part to comply with the Geneva Convention and in part to avoid the fear of an enemy presence in such large numbers. While most citizens living near camps accepted the prisoners' presence, the government received hundreds of letters each week protesting their good treatment. Many demanded that the POWs be immediately killed, a sentiment the regular casualty lists in American newspapers encouraged.Sytko, Glenn, "German POWs in North America: The Journey to Prison Camps", Uboat.net. Retrieved 2012-09-06 The government had difficulty in persuading the public that treating the prisoners according to the Geneva Convention made it more likely that Germany would treat American prisoners well in return. Labor unions were the largest opposition to the use of prisoner workers, citing the War Manpower Commission's rules that required union participation in worker recruitment whenever possible. Given the wartime labor shortage however, especially in agriculture, many valued their contribution; as late as February 1945, politicians in rural states asked the government for 100,000 more prisoners to work on farms.
Labor reports
Twice each month each camp was required to fill out WD AGO Form 19-21 and mail it to the Office of the Provost Marshal General, Washington 25, D.C., Attention: Prisoner of War Operations Division.
The report included the camp's name and address, the nationality of the prisoners, the total number of prisoners broken down by the number of officers, NCOs and privates, and the number of man-days worked by project in that camp during the reporting period. Sometimes additional remarks were included on the back of the form. For example, the additional remarks from Dos Palos POW Branch Camp for the period ending 12 February 1946 stated "1692 [German POWs] waiting for Repatriation CAMP CLOSED 12 February 1946."
Camp life There were insufficient American guards, especially German speakers. They mostly supervised the German officers and NCOs who strictly maintained discipline. After an American guard who had fought in the Battle of the Bulge killed prisoners in Texas, other guards were given psychiatric tests and removed from duty if necessary.