General Discussion

LanternWaste

(37,748 posts)

109. Studs Terkel's 'The Good War'

Fri Jan 4, 2013, 03:05 PM

Jan 2013

Studs Terkel's 'The Good War' is an oral history of WW2 taken from American, German, British and Russian soldiers, officers, generals, POW's, Rosie Riveters, etc.

One of those interviewed was a German POW imprisoned in the US for the duration (and the German POW's in the US were treated better that the black US soldiers stationed in the same camps and towns). Enlightening book, and a must-read if you're into that sort of thing.

Many camps throughout the American southwest, very few in the north or northeast. Internment camps too limited to the southwest for some reason.

Edit history

Please sign in to view edit histories.

140 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

German prisoner of war camps in the US??? [View all] babylonsister Jan 2013 OP

U mean prisoners of war during WWII. Yes. German and others. Some stayed after the war. bluerum Jan 2013 #1

A lot stayed after the war and received better treatment than black returning vets. kelliekat44 Jan 2013 #44

+1. Pete Jordan (Dishwasher) wrote about it. n/t FSogol Jan 2013 #115

name of book? nt kelliekat44 Jan 2013 #135

a list of the camps niyad Jan 2013 #2

Wiki had nothing on any of the sites I wanted to check out madokie Jan 2013 #85

There were several German POW camps scattered around the U.S. during WWII. dflprincess Jan 2013 #3

That is true. No one wanted the Russians to get them. southernyankeebelle Jan 2013 #8

the Von Braun excuse Larrymoe Curlyshemp Jan 2013 #75

So what is wrong with not wanting to die in the hands of the Russians if you know southernyankeebelle Jan 2013 #84

The Eastern Front during WWII was an awful place to be taken prisoner by either side.... OldDem2012 Jan 2013 #88

Well I remember my father-in-law telling me a story when he was in WWII. He said you be southernyankeebelle Jan 2013 #89

With the way the Germans treated the Russians, you couldn't blame them Victor_c3 Jan 2013 #93

It sounds like you may have been stationed at Bamburg. Jenoch Jan 2013 #107

I was actually in Vilseck and Grafenwoehr Victor_c3 Jan 2013 #126

Germans made Gerber's baby food in the original Fremont, Michigan, plant amandabeech Jan 2013 #77

My mother grew up near a camp in Lufkin Tx... rppper Jan 2013 #113

Same deal, different climate! amandabeech Jan 2013 #116

East Texas is still the "pretty" part of the state... rppper Jan 2013 #117

Actually, I lived in Tyler for a year. amandabeech Jan 2013 #121

Tyler is the church capital.... rppper Jan 2013 #122

I'm a ways south of Tyler. It's horrible all over East Texas. Manifestor_of_Light Jan 2013 #139

It's not the same east Texas I grew up in... rppper Jan 2013 #140

Same here. madinmaryland Jan 2013 #4

I think one was outside of Ayre Mass at Ft Devens. My barracks there was part of the POW camp, at alfredo Jan 2013 #45

Not to long ago I say last week or so I think it was on the History channel they did southernyankeebelle Jan 2013 #5

Here's an article about three internment camps in Texas: kentauros Jan 2013 #105

They said they made sure the children were treated well. southernyankeebelle Jan 2013 #108

What I've read so far is that they were all treated well, kentauros Jan 2013 #110

What I saw on the show was that even within each nationality they had problems. Like in southernyankeebelle Jan 2013 #111

yeah there was even a book that was widely read in schools dsc Jan 2013 #6

And that little girl grew up to be... Bucky Jan 2013 #15

I think Rove is Norwegian. amandabeech Jan 2013 #79

Summer of my German Soldier----Bette Greene, was the book. We virgogal Jan 2013 #41

'Summer of My German Soldier'. TwilightGardener Jan 2013 #43

Yes I was aware of this. northoftheborder Jan 2013 #7

Wow I bet your dad had alot of interesting stories. southernyankeebelle Jan 2013 #9

What do you think we did with the prisoners? Bucky Jan 2013 #10

I didn't know we farmed them back here. I'm aware of babylonsister Jan 2013 #19

They were much less of an escape risk here than if they had been interned in the U.K. Aristus Jan 2013 #49

Plus, having them here and in Canada meant that their food, amandabeech Jan 2013 #80

The "Japanese" camps were for US citizens obamanut2012 Jan 2013 #97

See my post above. Some made baby food. n/t amandabeech Jan 2013 #81

Oh my God! We cooked them and fed them to babies?! That's just terrible!! Bucky Jan 2013 #123

LOL!!! n/t amandabeech Jan 2013 #124

Soylent Reich was my favorite pinboy3niner Jan 2013 #125

we fed them good and put them to work datasuspect Jan 2013 #103

Yes, absolutely. Pine Camp (now Fort Drum) was the first such camp in New York State... Earth_First Jan 2013 #11

+1 JustAnotherGen Jan 2013 #101

We had one about 12 miles north of us in Central NY... Cooley Hurd Jan 2013 #12

I assume you reference the camp in Letchworth, outside Castile? Earth_First Jan 2013 #17

Howland's Island, Cayuga County Cooley Hurd Jan 2013 #20

Quite right... Earth_First Jan 2013 #23

The trail is still navigable, but not much of the camp remains... Cooley Hurd Jan 2013 #30

My uncle was one of the soldiers responsible for guarding prisoners during transport bluestate10 Jan 2013 #13

There were multiple POW camps in the US during the war. n/t RomneyLies Jan 2013 #14

Thanks, everyone. My ignorance is noted! babylonsister Jan 2013 #16

My grandfather was the one who told me about it. Adsos Letter Jan 2013 #52

Darlin'! How the hell are you? Nice to see you! babylonsister Jan 2013 #63

I'm fine, so's the family. Adsos Letter Jan 2013 #94

I found out about them by watching Lars39 Jan 2013 #65

Actually, the prison authorities tried to separate the gung-ho Nazis from the amandabeech Jan 2013 #82

German prisoners in AZ built a tunnel and escaped ChazII Jan 2013 #74

There were many all over the midwest. The Velveteen Ocelot Jan 2013 #18

Not watching Rachel but DURHAM D Jan 2013 #21

The father of a good friend sarisataka Jan 2013 #22

And Italians jberryhill Jan 2013 #24

In the early '70s I knew an Italian former POW pinboy3niner Jan 2013 #25

Perhaps one of the most famous young adult fiction books of all time covers this topic alcibiades_mystery Jan 2013 #26

that's the book I was thinking of dsc Jan 2013 #32

There was one in the Napa Valley, California, just south of Rutherford! Adsos Letter Jan 2013 #27

Yeah, mostly Kriegsmarine Recursion Jan 2013 #28

My mom is from a small town in upstate New York, Catskill, LibertyLover Jan 2013 #92

More cool info on German POWs: many joined the French Foreign Legion and ended up in Indochina alcibiades_mystery Jan 2013 #29

No kidding... Earth_First Jan 2013 #36

I have heard several anecdotes sarisataka Jan 2013 #39

The Wehrmacht and SS were not trained to deal kindly with anyone alcibiades_mystery Jan 2013 #48

I think it depended on the country. sofa king Jan 2013 #73

Yes alcibiades_mystery Jan 2013 #83

Not to mention the probability that many German FFL volunteers already spoke Aristus Jan 2013 #51

My BIL was a German soldier who was held in a French POW camp after WWII ended. SDjack Jan 2013 #130

Indeed alcibiades_mystery Jan 2013 #131

Yes. They picked veggies for one of my great-uncle's farms. nt msanthrope Jan 2013 #31

When I lived in small towns Germany and Austria, I occasionally met men who JDPriestly Jan 2013 #33

There were German prisoners of war working the orange groves and orange processing plants rzemanfl Jan 2013 #34

just to give you an idea of the scope of this operation niyad Jan 2013 #35

They were all over the place. hobbit709 Jan 2013 #37

I'm an hour's drive away from two World War II POW camps in Texas derby378 Jan 2013 #38

The Handbook of Texas Online has an excellent article kentauros Jan 2013 #100

I saw this on the history channel years ago kimbutgar Jan 2013 #40

This message was self-deleted by its author kimbutgar Jan 2013 #42

Here's a fairly extensive list of WWII POW camps in the US.... OldDem2012 Jan 2013 #46

They were doing jobs Americans wouldn't do thelordofhell Jan 2013 #47

I was just talking to someone about this last week newfie11 Jan 2013 #50

I remember meeting German POWs at my grandparent's house procon Jan 2013 #53

You didn't know that? Cleita Jan 2013 #54

No, I didn't know that, Cleita. That's why I asked, and got a great education! nt babylonsister Jan 2013 #70

A nice one at Kandlers hotel elfin Jan 2013 #55

A guy was talking about one of those camps in Ohio a few weeks ago. doc03 Jan 2013 #56

Sure there were. They got treated a lot more humanely than POWs in Europe, iirc. Hekate Jan 2013 #57

There was a large camp just west of Greeley, Colorado. madamesilverspurs Jan 2013 #58

In Louisiana we had Camp Ruston. The POW provided agricultural labor. RB TexLa Jan 2013 #59

I'm impressed how many of you remember, some of you first-hand! Hekate Jan 2013 #60

Thank you all! I'm so astounded at this response. THIS is what DU is good at! babylonsister Jan 2013 #61

There was a German POW camp in Janesville WI too. myrna minx Jan 2013 #62

There were several POW camps in Upper Michigan Kaleva Jan 2013 #64

I had 4 near me including 3 at or very near to West Point... Historic NY Jan 2013 #66

There was a Pow camp in my home town in Michigan Silver Swan Jan 2013 #67

They were all over the place. Lots in Texas sammytko Jan 2013 #68

POW who returned home Bavorskoami Jan 2013 #69

I was born in Joplin Missouri HeiressofBickworth Jan 2013 #71

there were also internment camps for German civilians reorg Jan 2013 #72

My mother-in-law's family is of German ancestry MannyGoldstein Jan 2013 #76

Summer of My German Soldier, the movie was the first I ever heard of the camps... 1monster Jan 2013 #78

Yes, there were several in Alabama. trof Jan 2013 #86

Brooke Army Medical Center, San Antonio, TX Paladin Jan 2013 #87

Yes, there were German and Italian prisoner of war camps in the US LibertyLover Jan 2013 #90

I am a German American and I had vaquely heard that there were such camps but did not know jwirr Jan 2013 #91

And one for Italians, too obamanut2012 Jan 2013 #95

German POWs could eat where Black US citizens couldn't obamanut2012 Jan 2013 #96

I have posted on the subject here several times in the past grantcart Jan 2013 #98

It's a fascinating story. X_Digger Jan 2013 #99

Camp Waterloo,, only about 4 miles for me. Turned it into a Dept. of Corrections camp after the Purveyor Jan 2013 #102

my land Go Vols Jan 2013 #104

We had them in my area. People still talk about them. nt Courtesy Flush Jan 2013 #106

Studs Terkel's 'The Good War' LanternWaste Jan 2013 #109

I had great-uncles in German POW camps in both the US and Russia. FightForMichigan Jan 2013 #112

One of my grandfathers spent time working in one joelbny Jan 2013 #120

There are lots of things we don't know about our country Blue_In_AK Jan 2013 #114

Many German and Czech speakers in Texas. Manifestor_of_Light Jan 2013 #118

A bunch of Yankees in the 1850s encouraged German immigration to Texas Bucky Jan 2013 #127

Fort Hunt Park in Alexandria, VA, between DC and Mt. Vernon. WorseBeforeBetter Jan 2013 #119

There was one in my hometown in East Texas Jane Austin Jan 2013 #128

google is your friend madrchsod Jan 2013 #129

The 3rd Geneva Convention Libertas1776 Jan 2013 #132

My first awareness of this was from an episode of the Waltons. Scruffy Rumbler Jan 2013 #133

Here's a good book with oral histories: Z_I_Peevey Jan 2013 #134

Germans Treated British and US Prisoners OK, Most Prisoners of Japanese Died a Horrible Death JPZenger Jan 2013 #136

Again, the Geneva Conventions... Libertas1776 Jan 2013 #138

This thread is unreal-thanks to everyone for the education. babylonsister Jan 2013 #137