This documentary tells the story of the German prisoners of war who were shipped to Camp Ruston in Northern Louisiana in 1943. The prisoners housed at the camp include two German U-Boat Crews, Kreigsmarine in German, and German soldiers from the elite North Afrika Korp under the command of General Erwin Rommel, who were considered the best in Hitler's Third Reich. The program includes photos and other archival material along with re-enactments of the activities at the camp.
VIDEO HERE (28:21 minutes)
Kinda neat. This is where I live and have been there many times. Had friends that worked making that film and knew the narrator. Much of it is now gone but you can still see enough to give some insight. Not well publicized as far as tourism type stuff but really interesting
ReplyDeleteA friend of mines father was a POW guard stateside. He said the POW's were served chicken every Sunday with all the trimmings. I've lots a mixed feelings about that for sure.
ReplyDeleteFuck the natzis,roll the Blus Brothers clip when they meet on the bridge.....
ReplyDeleteThat attitude, unfortunately, is prevalent among Americans. The Germans treated American POW's with respect. Not so much among the Germans in the Rhine Valley right after the war. Look it up yourself. Learn before you comment. Hybo
DeleteHold on, Hybo. So because some Germans (notably the Luftwaffe) treated some POWs nicely we should diminish, if not outright ignore, the atrocities done by the NAZIs which resulted in millions of lives lost? Please explain yourself because right now it seems you are willing to excuse the NAZIs.
DeleteTreatment of German prisoners in American POW camps was by the Geneva Convention and vis versa for the most part until the wars end. There were many American, British, and Canadian service men held as prisoners along with Germans and Italians throughout the war. In the majority of captures, both the Axis and Western Allies cared for prisoners out of mutual respect, rules of war, and fear of retribution against captured servicemen. Germany and Russia did not have such an arrangement. Surrender on either side of that conflict usually meant an eventual brown hole in the back of the head. I spoke with a B-17 pilot years ago who was taken prisoner after being shot down in February of '45. He told me the Germans guarding them were actually starving and they were treated far better than he expected. He also said if wasn't for locals bringing food and milk to the camp both the POWs and the Germans probably would have starved. A good read from both the American and German perspective is a book titled "Our Guests Behind the Barbed Wire". It deals with events leading up to and the dismantling of the POW camp in Aliceville, Alabama (the largest POW camp in the U.S.). The History Channel also did a piece on Aliceville a while back.
DeleteI am saying that the Germans, in Germany, did treat American pow's well , as well as apparently in these camps here in America. But in the Rhine Valley, immediately after the war, German soldiers were not treated humanely. Yes, got off topic.
DeleteThat is very true Anon. There were thousands (some say over a million) of German POWs that died of exposure and malnutrition/starvation after the surrender. Some believe this was intentional. I met a German officer who lived in Huntsville, AL. He was captured ten days after D-Day. He was held in a makeshift pen on the Normandie beach until he was transferred to a camp in England and eventually ended up in camp in Colorado. This officer said it was easy to tell when the war was over and Germany had lost as the quality of care was dropped, especially in their daily food rations. Copy and paste the link below.
Deletehttps://allthatsinteresting.com/rheinwiesenlager#:~:text=What%20has%20largely%20escaped%20the%20victors%E2%80%99%20history%20books%2C,them%20to%20death%2C%20according%20to%20the%20highest%20estimates.
I had a friend who was in a German pow camp, they ate bugs alive to get nourishment.....
DeleteUnless he was Soviet, that's bullshit.
DeleteGerman POWs in Colorado liked the place so much many of them moved back after the war.
ReplyDeleteI was a volunteer docent at the Aliceville, Alabama German POW camp museum and was compiling all the names and dates of incarcerations and the prisoners work duties and barrack assignments. It was interesting and the museum had numerous artwork and paintings prisoners created while there.
ReplyDeleteI actually new about Camp Ruston. The main reason being that it's mentioned frequently in Web Griffin's 'Men at War' series which takes place in the European, North African theaters and US too. Its about a pack of American spies doing spy shit like bagging German saboteurs on a NJ beach and sending them to Ruston. Excellent set of books - I highly recommend.
ReplyDelete/For that matter every one of Griffin's books is excellent.
I met a WWII american POW while waiting for my connecting flight for work. I think he was coming back from a POW reunion since he had his POW hat on. He was in a german POW camp and the russians over ran it and took control. The russians would not let them free because they were getting paid for each american pow returned. So him and others escaped. He talked about hiding under bridges and stuff till they got back to the US side.
ReplyDeleteIn 1990 I had a neighbor who was a German WWII POW. He was a submariner who was captured at 19 years old. He was in a POW camp in North Carolina and with "good behavior" could sign out of prison for a weekend in town. He took college classes as a POW and after the war ended married a woman from south Georgia. He had became a college professor and was retired when I met him.
ReplyDeleteMy grandparents used to "rent" POW's from the camp at Tagus Ranch, in Tulare County. My grandmother used to say "the hardest working hands she ever had were them Nazi's". I guess they got paid a small amount, and they'd get escorted to Sprouse-Reitz in Hanford to shop if they behaved.
ReplyDeleteI had an uncle who was captured during the Battle of the Bulge. He said he was treated fairly, but the Germans stole his class ring, wrist watch, etc. After the war Germany repaid him for all that was stolen.
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