By Daniel Welch
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Introduction
During World War II (WWII), more than 400,000 Axis soldiers, mostly German, were held as prisoners of war (POWs) in the United States.1, 2 Today, memory of their incarceration has faded and little remains of the camps besides crumbling foundations and the buried debris of daily prison life. Most research concerning German POWs in the United States during WWII has focused on the system of POW camps from the perspective of the U.S. government and the oral histories of German POWs that were collected in the postwar years. This project opens a new avenue of historical research to understand the U.S. POW camps during the war by analyzing the letters, diaries, and sketches made by German POWs during their time in the U.S. camps. Such documents provide a more humanistic perspective of camp life in order to better understand the personal experiences of the German POWs. |
FIGURE 1. George Füssl’s depiction of Tunisia, where he was captured in May 1943.
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In early 1942, U.S. Army planners began to organize the incarceration of Axis POWs in ways that focused on adherence to the Geneva Convention of 1929. That convention established international law that required the host nation to treat enemy POWs as similar to their own soldiers during wartime. Those provisions included financial compensation for the labor allowed by the convention, housing in barracks equivalent to that of the host nation’s own soldiers, and adequate food for the POWs. By holding themselves strictly to the provisions of the conventions, the U.S. government hoped that Nazi Germany would also follow international laws in their treatment of U.S. prisoners overseas.3
Many U.S. citizens criticized the “coddling” of enemy prisoners who had only months before been engaged in combat against their sons, husbands, and fathers. For that reason, the U.S. POW camps were satirically called the “Fritz Ritz,” combining a semiderogatory term of the period used to refer to Germans and a slang term for a luxurious standard of living.4
In November 1942, the U.S. Army was introduced into the North African campaign during the Operation Torch landings. By then, the North African campaign had already been raging between the British and German forces for nearly 2 years. Together, the American and British forces encircled and trapped the German Afrika Korps near Tunis by April 1943 (Figure 1).5,6 The German Army could not resupply its forces by air, because of Allied aerial superiority, and could not transport its soldiers to Italy, because the Allied naval forces dominated the Mediterranean Sea. After years of intense desert warfare, the Afrika Korps was finally forced to surrender in early May 1943. As a result of that campaign, more than 275,000 German and Italian soldiers became POWs and required transportation to camps in the United States.7,8
Many U.S. citizens criticized the “coddling” of enemy prisoners who had only months before been engaged in combat against their sons, husbands, and fathers. For that reason, the U.S. POW camps were satirically called the “Fritz Ritz,” combining a semiderogatory term of the period used to refer to Germans and a slang term for a luxurious standard of living.4
In November 1942, the U.S. Army was introduced into the North African campaign during the Operation Torch landings. By then, the North African campaign had already been raging between the British and German forces for nearly 2 years. Together, the American and British forces encircled and trapped the German Afrika Korps near Tunis by April 1943 (Figure 1).5,6 The German Army could not resupply its forces by air, because of Allied aerial superiority, and could not transport its soldiers to Italy, because the Allied naval forces dominated the Mediterranean Sea. After years of intense desert warfare, the Afrika Korps was finally forced to surrender in early May 1943. As a result of that campaign, more than 275,000 German and Italian soldiers became POWs and required transportation to camps in the United States.7,8
...MEMORY OF THEIR INCARCERATION HAS FADED AND LITTLE REMAINS OF THE CAMPS... |
During 1942 and the first half of 1943, U.S. construction crews worked at a furious pace to meet the demand for new prisoner camps. The camps were strategically placed in labor-starved agricultural regions because the Geneva Convention permitted the use of enlisted POW labor in non–war-related industries such as agriculture.9 Also the camps were intentionally placed in regions that would make escape attempts by the POWs virtually impossible.
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While held in the POW camps, the German soldiers were given many opportunities for recreation and education. During their free time, they were allowed to participate in sporting events, play in the camp orchestra, create artwork, and engage in various other activities. POWs also were given the opportunity to take courses through local U.S. universities for credit that could be transferred back to Germany after the war.10
Discussion
This project focuses on the personal documents of two German soldiers, George Kellermann and George Füssl, who were captured in North Africa in May 1943 and incarcerated in the United States until early 1946. Kellermann was a 41-year-old Gefrieter (private first-class) and Füssl was a 21-year-old Unteroffizier (sergeant). Both soldiers arrived in the United States through the U.S. Navy port in Norfolk, Virginia, and were transported by rail and truck to separate POW camps in Texas and Oklahoma. We chose those two soldiers from the translated sample because they had the most information available and could be compared to each other on the basis of their different positions within the German military structure.
Upon arriving at Camp Huntsville, Texas, Kellermann was immediately assigned to work in the local agricultural industry. For that work, he was paid 80 cents per day in camp Post Exchange coupons in addition to the $3.00 in coupons per month that all German prisoners received. Those coupons could be used at the Post Exchange to purchase items such as candy, tobacco, soft drinks, limited amounts of alcoholic beverages, stationery to write letters, and U.S. government–approved books. Kellermann chose to spend much of his earnings on extra stationery to write to his family in Germany. After examining the letters, we found that Kellermann had a wife, Marie, and a son, Otto, who lived just outside Creglingen, Germany, during his incarceration in the United States.
This project focuses on the personal documents of two German soldiers, George Kellermann and George Füssl, who were captured in North Africa in May 1943 and incarcerated in the United States until early 1946. Kellermann was a 41-year-old Gefrieter (private first-class) and Füssl was a 21-year-old Unteroffizier (sergeant). Both soldiers arrived in the United States through the U.S. Navy port in Norfolk, Virginia, and were transported by rail and truck to separate POW camps in Texas and Oklahoma. We chose those two soldiers from the translated sample because they had the most information available and could be compared to each other on the basis of their different positions within the German military structure.
Upon arriving at Camp Huntsville, Texas, Kellermann was immediately assigned to work in the local agricultural industry. For that work, he was paid 80 cents per day in camp Post Exchange coupons in addition to the $3.00 in coupons per month that all German prisoners received. Those coupons could be used at the Post Exchange to purchase items such as candy, tobacco, soft drinks, limited amounts of alcoholic beverages, stationery to write letters, and U.S. government–approved books. Kellermann chose to spend much of his earnings on extra stationery to write to his family in Germany. After examining the letters, we found that Kellermann had a wife, Marie, and a son, Otto, who lived just outside Creglingen, Germany, during his incarceration in the United States.
FIGURE 2. George Füssl’s sketch of Camp Tonkawa, Oklahoma.
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Füssl, however, was not required to do physical labor by the Geneva Conventions because he was a noncommissioned officer, or noncom. When he arrived at Camp Tonkawa, Oklahoma, Füssl devoted much of his abundant free time to developing an art school for other POWs in the camp and continuing to work on his own artistic pieces (Figure 2). He also used the camp’s educational programs to learn about things such as Native American culture and U.S. history. While incarcerated in Florence, Arizona, in 1945 and 1946, Füssl volunteered at the camp’s club for U.S. noncoms and painted murals on the walls of buildings in the town. Much of the inspiration for the art he created during the war was preserved in a sketchbook that his widow donated for research in the early 2000s.
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While at the Texas POW camp in Huntsville, Kellermann made some notes about U.S. daily life that he observed among the guards and farmers he worked with. The most striking of those observations were his descriptions of the African American huts he saw on his way to and from the agricultural fields. He describes the houses as being very run down, the families as disheveled, and the general quality of life as being even less than that of the German POWs: “There are sometimes people in such states that you cannot imagine if you have not seen it. Every now and then you could see a white family who made a different impression. There were blacks who were very clean, but rarely. These blacks had to work for the farmer, they are so-called slaves.”11
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THERE ARE SOMETIMES PEOPLE IN SUCH STATES THAT YOU CANNOT IMAGINE IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN IT. |
Those observations were not unique to Kellermann’s diaries and letters; many other German POWs and U.S. citizens also noted them during the war. Such observations during the war led to a heightened awareness of the need to abolish segregation in the postwar United States.
FIGURE 3. George Füssl’s depiction of a bored POW in the barracks
at Camp Florence, Arizona.
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Füssl’s sketches show his distinct curiosity for the other cultures he came into contact with during the war. In North Africa, he made sketches depicting desert life, while his diary indicates that he was learning about Islam and studying the Arabic language during his free time. After his capture, many sketches focused on Native American culture in the western United States. He also made several depictions of the camps themselves and of his comrades in the barracks. Those sketches offer a uniquely humanistic opportunity to view the U.S. POW camp system through the eyes of the German POWs (Figure 3). Füssl’s sketches show the daily monotony of camp life alongside the POWs’ exciting opportunities to learn new things and meet new people through their incarceration. However, Kellermann’s agricultural work in the Texas and California camps was not enough to prevent him from constantly worrying about the well-being of his family in Germany. His wife’s letters often took longer than 6 months to reach him in the United States, during which time he constantly worried that she and his son could be in danger from the Allied bombings and their approaching armies. He wrote in his diary that one of his fellow POWs in Camp Huntsville committed suicide: “On April 20, the birthday of the Führer, we had again a funeral of a comrade from the 3rd Company. He had received bad news from home. One evening, he walked away from the camp, and after 10 days they found him. He ended his life by hanging on a tree.”11
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In general, however, the postal system served to ease the emotional burdens placed on the German POWs and their families from their prolonged separation.
Conclusion
A great deal of potential information about the personal experiences of German POWs can be gained from translating and analyzing their letters and diaries.
Using that information, researchers can better understand the complex system of U.S. POW camps during WWII. Although these two men by no means represent
the experiences of most German POWs during the war, their personal experiences are invaluable in developing a comprehensive understanding of camp life during
that period.
While incarcerated, German POWs, including Kellermann and Füssl, were given the opportunity to labor for wages, take university classes, and participate in recreational activities. They used those activities to distract themselves from the daily boredom of camp life and from the loneliness they experienced because they
were separated from their families in Germany with limited potential for communication. As evidenced in Kellermann’s diary, that loneliness was a major problem
for many POWs and was occasionally overwhelming to the point of suicide.
Together, those documents tell the unique stories of two German soldiers who were taken into captivity in a foreign land, learned how to adapt to their new
surroundings, and ultimately applied what they learned through their experiences as POWs to influence changes in postwar Germany. After returning to Germany,
the POWs used their education from the camps and the skills that they learned while laboring to revitalize the German economy from the ground up. Because of their
generally positive experiences in U.S. POW camps, many POWs came away from the war with a favorable view of the United States. Continued research into the personal documents of other German POWs could offer a unique perspective on how Germany’s postwar social and economic structures developed. Despite popular negative stereotypes of German soldiers during WWII, their letters and diaries are filled with stories of loss, discovery, and perseverance that anyone can find relatable.
A great deal of potential information about the personal experiences of German POWs can be gained from translating and analyzing their letters and diaries.
Using that information, researchers can better understand the complex system of U.S. POW camps during WWII. Although these two men by no means represent
the experiences of most German POWs during the war, their personal experiences are invaluable in developing a comprehensive understanding of camp life during
that period.
While incarcerated, German POWs, including Kellermann and Füssl, were given the opportunity to labor for wages, take university classes, and participate in recreational activities. They used those activities to distract themselves from the daily boredom of camp life and from the loneliness they experienced because they
were separated from their families in Germany with limited potential for communication. As evidenced in Kellermann’s diary, that loneliness was a major problem
for many POWs and was occasionally overwhelming to the point of suicide.
Together, those documents tell the unique stories of two German soldiers who were taken into captivity in a foreign land, learned how to adapt to their new
surroundings, and ultimately applied what they learned through their experiences as POWs to influence changes in postwar Germany. After returning to Germany,
the POWs used their education from the camps and the skills that they learned while laboring to revitalize the German economy from the ground up. Because of their
generally positive experiences in U.S. POW camps, many POWs came away from the war with a favorable view of the United States. Continued research into the personal documents of other German POWs could offer a unique perspective on how Germany’s postwar social and economic structures developed. Despite popular negative stereotypes of German soldiers during WWII, their letters and diaries are filled with stories of loss, discovery, and perseverance that anyone can find relatable.
Daniel Welch '17Daniel Welch is a 2017 Texas A&M graduate from Gun Barrel City, Texas, with a double degree in history and anthropology. Welch was inspired by his Great Uncle who endured the Bataan Death March during WWII and the untold stories of German soldiers from Camp Hearne. Welch’s long-term plans include returning to Texas A&M for graduate school and becoming a history teacher.
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References
1. Lewis, George G., and John Mewha. 1955. DA Pamphlet 20-213: History of Prisoner of War Utilization by the United States Army, 1776–1945, 90–91. Washington, DC: Department of the Army. 2. Krammer, Arnold P. 1979. Nazi Prisoners of War in America, 256. New York: Scarborough House. 3. ———, xiv. 4. ———, 28. 5. Stokesbury, James L. 1980. A Short History of World War II, 217–231. New York: HarperCollins Publishing Company. 6. Liddell Hart, B.H. 1970. History of the Second World War, 171. Old Saybrook, CT: Konecky and Konecky. 7. Weinberg, Gerhard L. 1994. A World at Arms: A Global History of World War II, 446. New York: Cambridge University Press. 8. Millett, Allan R., Peter Maslowski, and William B. Feis. 2012. For the Common Defense: A Military History of the United States from 1607 to 2012, 401. New York: Free Press. 9. Lewis, George G., and John Mewha. DA Pamphlet 20-213: History of Prisoner of War Utilization by the United States Army, 1776–1945, 126. Washington, DC: Department of the Army. 10. Waters, Michael R. 2004. Lone Star Stalag: German Prisoners of War at Camp Hearne, 27–51. College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press. 11. Diary of George Kellerman, translated by Dieter Brückner. Digital file available at Texas A&M Department of Anthropology. |