German POW Re-Education at Camp White | Joe Peterson

[@PacoOtis]

Excellent! Thanks so much for your efforts. We learned a lot!

[@motherofangels1710]

Great historical data. In 2010-11 (can't seem to recall which of those 2 years), I was fortunate enough to load a flat bed semi-truck with the desks and wooden kit lockers that were housed in one of the long buildings towards the back (I think the far left). It took my fiance and I about 4 hours to load the lot by ourselves. I am unsure if they were going to demolish the building or renovate it. The interior was in very sad shape and had several spots 10' X 10' or larger that had significant water damage. Some areas had standing water & there was a long hallway/corridor that had partially collapsed. There were still random things strewn about, like one large room up front with double doors half intact that had several hospital style beds scattered about. Some of the rooms that we pulled the kit lockers/ wooden closets out of had writing on the walls behind them (pen & carvings) with soldiers rank name and other random writing (it was very neat to find). The building itself was a little creepy to stand in by yourself especially after experiencing door slamming shut on their own. Lots of practice rounds were scattered throughout the halls and one of the large open areas in the front. My fiance's father had gotten the lot in an auction, I still have one of the wooden kit lockers, they were built very sturdy and quite heavy. Anyway, thanks for sharing.

[@StoriesofSouthernOregon]

Wow! You experienced a nice bit of local history there, didn't you?

[@MegaMantim]

Enjoyed this very much...I'm heartened by the fact the POW'S were treated according to the Geneva accord...I'm sure it didnt hurt the Democracy efforts in Western Germany after the war...The POW's doubted it would work but their Humane treatment by in large, moved things along...

[@genearbogast7525]

Great presentation Joe. Is this a course of research and documentation that are still focused on? If so.I might have some interesting and relevant info for you....Please respond if you are interested

[@toosiyabrandt8676]

Hi This was an excellent talk! My father was an Afrika Korp POW in Colorado from 43 to 47, when he returned to my mother in Berlin. I had no idea that ' Democratisation' was thought by the POWs to not work in Germany after the war! I was born in 48 and for me there was never anything BUT Democracy in Germany! It certainly took off like the proverbial rocket! LOL! Shalom to us only in Christ Yeshua.

[@adammosel4895]

"Democracy" was not an alien concept in Germany before 1933. Germany had universal male suffrage since 1871, almost 50 years before Britain.

[@jeep146]

What I hoped was he would cover more when the prisoners were returned. I thought they had to be sent back to there homes. Since half of Germany was under Soviet control were they forced to return there. I also heard but not related was Germans captured by the allies were sometimes shipped to France for labor. The stories are similar to the ones here in Texas. We have many people of German decent and back then could speak German which made things easier for them.

[@maytc2011]

Fascinating

[@StoriesofSouthernOregon]

Thank you!

[@pcbacklash_3261]

Actually, though the working prisoners made only 80 cents a day, adjusted for inflation that would be $12.43 a day in 2020, or $62.15 a week. Still not a lot, but when room, board, transportation and medical and dental are already taken care of, it's not too bad...

[@blakelowrey9620]

That's more than prisoners can make today

[@adammosel4895]

Curious, the U.S. military was segregated during WWII, but were African-American POWs segregated from white American POWs in Germany? Once heard a Tuskegee airman tell of his capture by the Germans after surviving his plane being shot down. He said that he was treated well by the Germans, but he didn't mention whether his POW camp was desegregated or not. If the POW camps were segregated, was that at the behest of the white American prisoners?

[@StoriesofSouthernOregon]

I am not sure, but I will forward you question to Joe Peterson

[@shaunyip2153]

That old-timey music tho....