The German Prisoner of War

How many of you were aware of German prisoners of war in WWII being brought to the US and used as labor? Where else were there POW camps during this time?

As a history major in college, I had a lot of opportunities to learn about this historical event, but never did. Of course, I had never hear about the Tulsa burning of the Black community either. So much history can be told through a good story.

I was aware that there were POW camps in the US but didn't know that there were any in NC. I goggled it and found a long list of states that had camps for German soldiers.

A long time ago I was assigned to read several middle-grade books as part of a Master's program. One of those books was Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Green, and the German POW camps in Arkansas were integral to the plot. This would still be an excellent book for early MG readers; it deals with racism and abusive parents in addition to the history of German POW camps.

I had no idea there were German Prisoner of War camps in the US. This was not taught in any history classes when I was in school. My grandparents immigrated from Germany in the 1890's. My dad born in 1895 fought for the US against Germany in WW 1 and I have often wondered what he or his parents thought about that. It was never discussed in our home nor did I ever think to ask him that question. I wonder now if German families living in the US during WW1 and 2 were discriminated against because of their nationality. So much is missing from our educations.