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). Because the branch camps were often short-lived, and some records have been lost or destroyed in the sixty years that have since gone by, it is likely that a couple have been omitted. 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. While the core of the post was retained, many of the wood temporary barracks were declared surplus and sold. Later known as an anti-Nazi camp where many intellectuals, artist, writers were among the POWs. 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. 330 German POWs lived in a tent city around the Louis Glunz dance hall and worked on farms and in area canneries during the 1945 harvest. Detention records maintained by Sesenna show he departed Canada on December 3, 1942, and was with the first group of Italian POWs to arrive at Camp Clark near Nevada, Missouri, nine days later. Post-Dispatch file photo, The main avenue at Camp Weingarten lined by small barracks buildings in June 1943. In the early 1950s, local congressman Dewey Jackson Short, (R-7th District of Missouri) senior member of the House Armed Services Committee secured authorization and initial funding to build two permanent barracks and a disciplinary barracks and reactivate the post as a permanent installation, Fort Crowder. From 1942 to 1945, more than 400,000 Axis prisoners were shipped to the United States and detained in camps across the nation. As noted by Time, until 1948, the U.S. military was, like much of America, a segregated institution. In 1942, the camp was reopened as a prisoner-of-war camp to house Italian and German prisoners. ",#(7),01444'9=82. 7 0 obj at [email protected]. endobj In 1985, Gaertner surrendered to the INS and, as a publicity stunt, to Bryant Gumbel on "Today." Missouri had four POW camps,. American commanders said it couldn't happen. In Section B of Fort Custer National Cemetery, there are 26 German graves. To ensure its success in the camps, the project was kept top secret. Genevieve and Farmington, Missouri, (Camp Weingarten) had no pre-war existence, wrote Fiedler. Prisoners of war did basic farm work such as harvesting corn or potatoes. xwcy[9R^Z hF/!\Zf7!%% <> Carl Reiner was stationed at Camp Crowder in the 1940s and when he created the 1960s-era The Dick Van Dyke Show, he made the post the setting where Rob and Laura Petrie, portrayed by actors Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore, met; Rob was a sergeant in Special Services and Laura was a USO dancer. <>/Metadata 855 0 R/ViewerPreferences 856 0 R>> The complex, serviced by a spur of the Kansas City Southern Railroad, included a main manufacturing facility, an engine testing area (ETA) for the live fire testing of rocket engines, a component testing area (CTA), and a former Camp Crowder warehouse, Building 900, as a warehouse and later engine overhaul and manufacturing. Eventually, every state (with the exceptions of Nevada, North Dakota, and Vermont) had at least one POW camp. Following World War II, the facilities became the. |-T'T5Z "His hometown really wasn't all that far from Camp Weingarten.". As McDowell went on to explain, her uncle remained at Camp Weingarten until his discharge from the U.S. Army in December 1944. stream ", 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. In addition, Article 43 of the Convention required the appointment of POW administrators, and often, Nazi officers would assume this role, becoming in effect, camp commandants. 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. About 100 POWs lived there and worked on area farms, replacing Americans who had gone to war. Coal mining was prominent in the late 1870s to the 1950s. After completing his initial training, he was designated as infantry and became a clerk with the 201st Infantry Regiment. This document is not available online. endobj ", As a result of Truman's order, many POWs ended up in the "unfriendly hands" of France and England. Large German pow camp 2 miles outside of Thomasville. 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. 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. Photo by Buel White of the Post-Dispatch, The main avenue at Camp Weingarten lined by small barracks buildings in June 1943. Camp Crowder, outside of Neosho, Missouri, Click here for a state map showing camp locations, Columbia fraternity houses on the MU campus, Hannibal housed in tents in Clemens Field, Riverside housed in the former Jockey Club racetrack facility. Consequently, fanatical Nazis were thrown in with anti-Nazis. 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. A 150 feet (46m) electrically lighted escape tunnel was discovered by authorities. Camps in the St. Louis area included Gumbo Flats in the Chesterfield Valley, Jefferson Barracks, riverboats, and an Ordinance Depot in Baden. Not only was racism detrimental to Black servicemen's morale, it also became a Nazi propaganda talking point. Also housed several hundred German POWs who worked in nearby agricultural farms. Thats why I want to tell the story of its creation its history, so that its association to Camp Weingarten is never forgotten., Jeremy Amick is one of the authors writing for WAR HISTORY ONLINE. "Established at Weingarten, a sleepy little town on State Highway 32 between Ste. 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. 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. The Bushwhacker military exhibit honors those Vernon County citizens who have served in armed conflicts, and especially those who have given their lives in service to their country. The Italian and one German POW who committed suicide rather than be repatriated are buried just outside the post cemetery boundaries. About 2,600 German POWs were held there during World War II.. However, not all towns and townspeople were happy hosts. Genevieve and Farmington, Missouri, (Camp Weingarten) had no pre-war existence," Fiedler wrote. POW and ISU Camps and Hospitals in US. The camp was enlarged to the point that some 5,800 POW's . In late October of 1950, over 800 POWs left Manpo for village camps closer to the Chinese border near Chungung, known as the Apex Camps. These camps housed more than 142,000 Germans, 15,000 Italians, and 500 Japanese. 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. A 120 feet (37m) nearly completed escape tunnel was discovered by authorities. The town was chosen for its relative isolation There's a small museum north of Concordia near the guard tower. A walled patio and fireplace with masks of Comedy and Tragedy were built near the theater and are still landmarks on the university campus. 1942-1946: German POWs. As documented in by theSociety for Military History, between September 1943 and April 1944, in camps across the country, "6 murders, 2 forced suicides, 43 'voluntary' suicides, a general camp riot, and hundreds of localized acts of violence occurred." Click here to learn more or join our conversation. 600 German POWs were interned in the Schwartz Ballroom from October 1944 to January 1946. Camp Weingarten, Missouri. let us know the episode date and topic and contact Alex Heuer 6 0 obj Incidents like Black soldiers being forced to dispose of the POWs' human waste and POWs refusing to follow instructions from Black work supervisors infuriated Black servicemen. Copyright 2017 Vernon County Historical Society - All Rights Reserved. As Fiedler put it: Who wanted to rush back into the war? Transcripts for St. Louis Public Radio produced programming are available upon request for individuals with hearing impairments. A handpicked group of intellectual American officers joined forces with anti-Nazi POWs, and the democracy-promoting strategies of The Factory, as it became known, were devised. POW Photos in US. Photo by Buel White of the Post-Dispatch, One of two boats, known as "boat camps," moored in the St. Louis area to house prisoners of war who worked on levees and other river projects. A few continued into the early 1970s in Las Animas County where Trinidad is located. The facility constructed and tested engines for the Mercury and Gemini programs until its contract ended in 1968. Missouri figured into this equation, housing some 15,000 prisoners of war from Germany and Italy inside state lines. The main camps supported a number of branch camps, which were used to put POWs where their labor could be best utilized. The rules werent too lax in that regard, actually. Photo by Buel White of the Post-Dispatch, One of two boats, known as "boat camps," moored in the St. Louis area to house prisoners of war who worked on levees and other river projects. He then took it back to camp with him and thats when he gave it to one of the Italian POWs.. Not only did POWs dine well, they took college courses, set up libraries, and formed orchestras and soccer leagues. A few concrete ammunition bunkers are the last remnants of the POW camp. A year later, the American government auctioned the buildings and fixtures, including 52 floodlights, at Camp Weingarten. With a weekly newsletter looking back at local history. Other POWs were transported to work on farms and canneries in neighboring communities. Troopers nabbed Levin in an empty clubhouse. Army Col. H.H. Of the 2,222 POWs who attempted escape, Gaertner was the only one to have eluded capture. The, This camp had a guard fire on and kill several German prisoners. During one of my uncles visits back to Alton, he asked his mother for an aluminum pie pan, said McDowell. Approximately 1,000 Japanese Americans were kept there, under tight security, behind multiple layers of barbed wire fence. q2JShr6 Groundwater and soil contamination has been identified in various areas of the base's original property boundaries. With Glidden is Lt. Lawrence Ponetretti, an Army interpreter. Almost all of the WWII Camp structures have since been demolished. One of the first three designated camps for anti-Nazis, along with. Missouri figured into this equation, housing some 15,000 prisoners of war from Germany and Italy inside state lines. | endobj In Oakland, he landed a steady salesman job, and in 1964, he met his wife Jean. The Enemy Among Us: POWs in Missouri During World War II. ", As noted in Returning to America: German Prisoners of War and American Experience, of the more than half million Germans who immigrated to America between 1947 and 1960, several thousand were former POWs. Waste material generated from the former Fort include aviation and vehicular fuels, oils, greases, metals, paints and solvents. Educational programs were varied. Kelly Moffitt joined St. Louis Public Radio in 2015 as an online producer for St. Louis Public Radio's talk shows St. Louis on the Air.