camp was located at what is now Will Rogers World Airport at Oklahoma City. Caddo (a work camp out of Stringtown) opened July 1943; 60. Caddo to Tonkawa, and each would have its own unique history. In Augustof that year a unique facility opened at Okmulgee when army officials designated Glennan General Hospital to treatprisoners of war and partially staffed it with captured enemy medical personnel. On the Northeast Corner of Gardner and in the heart of downtown Sparta, the encampment was erected. and Okmulgee (Glennan General Hospital) as well. 4 reviews of POW Camp Concordia Museum "A very quiet but important piece of Kansas' WW2 and agriculture history! camp, called a Nazilager by many PWs in Michigan Prisoner of War Camps There were some suicides, but Arnold Krammer, writing in "Nazi Prisoners of War in America" suggests many of these might more accurately be described as induced deaths. , Where were the housed German POWs during WWII? A newspaper account indicates It first Glennan General Hospital, Okmulgee (a branch of Camp Gruber) August 1944 to July 1945; no totals listed. . At the same time, Corbett said, the British were still in Egypt. It was a branch of the Ft. Reno PW Camp and about 225 PWs It first appearedin the PMG reports on July 19, 1943, and last appeared on April 15, 1946. Reports of two escapes and one PW death have beenfound. It first appeared in the PMG reports on July 19, 1943, and last appeared on January 1, 1944. A branch of the Alva PW Camp, it According to Jerry Ellis, a selectman in Bourne and a co-director of the Cape Cod Military Museum who has given talks about Cape Cod during the war, many people he comes across have never heard of the POW camp. The first PWs arrived on July 31, 1943, and it was closed on November 15, 1945. bed of Lake Texoma which was just being completed. There were six major base camps in Oklahoma and an additional two dozen branch camps. Ultimately, more than 44,868 troops either served at or trainedat the camp, which also employed four thousand civilian workers and incarcerated three thousand German prisonersof war. the Camp Howze (Texas) PW Camp, and between The road is in an area called the POW Camp Recreation Area in the De Soto National Forest. A branch of the The following (as per The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition) is the preferred citation for articles:Bill Corbett, Prisoner of War Camps, The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=PR016. The town of Tonkawa built the camp buildings north of town, and the camp was in . Armories, school gymnasiums, tent encampments, and newly constructed frame buildings accommodated these detachments. Thiscamp was located five miles south of Pryor on the east side of highway 69 in what is now the Mid American IndustrialDistrict. camp was located north of the swimming pool that is east of Jefferson Street and north of Iris Street in Northeast All POWs returned to Europe except those confined to military prisons or hospitals.By mid-May 1946 the last prisoners left Oklahoma. Danny Steelman, "German Prisoners of War in America: Oklahoma's Prisoner of War Operations During World War II," The Oklahoma State Historical Review 4 (Spring 1983). Stringtown Alien Internment CampThis camp was located at the Stringtown Correctional Facility, four miles north of Stringtown on the west sideof highway 69. 26, 2006, Local residents, as well as visitors from both Kansas and Texas, took a step back Few visible traces remain of many of the Oklahoma camps that once housed prisoners of war during World War II. The most important thing about the post-war period was that many of the POWs went back to Germany and became And, am I ever glad I did! Most POWs who died in Oklahoma were buried During World War II federal officials located enemy prisoner of war (POW) camps in A base camp for a number of branch camps, it had a capacity of 5,750, but the greatest number of PWs About 300 PWs were confined About forty PWs were confined at the work camp from the McAlester PW There were no PWs confined there. "The Army at that time was building lots of military bases and POW camps across the nation," Kolise said. Except at Pryor, German noncommissioned officers directed the internal activities of each compound. This was the only maximum security camp in the entire program (whichincluded camps all over the United States.) It opened on about November 1, 1943, and last appeared in the PMG reports onJune 1, 1945. In autumn 1945 repatriation of prisoners of war began as federal officials transferred The camp had a capacity of 600,but on May 1, 1944, there were only 301 PWs confined there. POW Camp In Alva, Woods, Oklahoma. (Bio A German Prisoner of War, he was beaten to death by his fellow Nazi POWs for treason. 11, No.2, June 1966.Read in June 1964 by Mrs. John A, Ashworth, Jr.Mrs. under the authority of the War Assets Administration (WAA). Individual users must determine if their use of the Materials falls under United States copyright law's "Fair Use" guidelines and does not infringe on the proprietary rights of the Oklahoma Historical Society as the legal copyright holder of The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and part or in whole. At the end of the A book, "The Killing of Corporal Kunze," by Wilma Trummel Parnell was published in 1981. Most enemy prisoners were housed in base camps consisting of one or more compounds. It first appeared in It first appeared The only camps that were actually used to hold Opened 1 August 1944, closed 4 June 1946 Camp Cooke,Santa Barbara County, Opened July1944, closed May 1946. At Camp Alva a maximum-security camp for Nazis and Nazi sympathizers, disturbances occurred,and in July 1944 a guard fatally shot a prisoner during an escape attempt. Several of them picked cotton, plowed fields, farmed, worked in ice plantsor at alfalfa dryers. Wetumka PW CampThiscamp was located at the old CCC Camp north of Wetumka along the south edge of Section 15. It first appeared in the PMG reports on July16, 1944, and last appeared on October 16, 1944. The guards arrested the five men that had the most blood on them, according to Corbett, and the prisonerswere sent to Levinworth, where they were later hung. Research indicates the majority of prisoners kept in Oklahoma were German, sprinkled with a few Italian. Reports ofnine escapes have been found. To prepare for that contingency, officialsbegan a crash building program. Originally a work camp from the McAlester PW Camp,it later became a branch of the Camp Gruber PW Camp. This basecamp, called a Nazilager by many PWs inother camps, was located one mile south of Alva on the west side of highway 281 on land that is now used for theairport and fairgrounds. Many prisoners did make it home in 18 to 24 months, Lazarus said. And it was the Germans, Nazi and non-Nazi, who defined camp life more than any other group of captives. Forced to carry out slave labour on a starvation diet and in a hostile environment, many died of malnutrition or disease. Because of this, PWs were in great demand as laborers. Submit a Correction Haskell (a branch of Camp Gruber) December 1943 to December 1945; Hickory (a branch of the Camp Howze, Texas, camp) May to June 1944; 13. Morris PW Camp Thiscamp, located at the Watson Ranch, five miles north of Morris on the east side of highway 52, opened on July 5,1943. be treated with the same respect in Europe. He said that many of the German POWs came back to the United States in the 80s and 90s and always visited the relocation center, in U.S. history, camp in which Japanese and Japanese-Americans were interned during World War II. guilty and sentenced to death. The fences and buildings have been removed, but the Japanese aliens whohad been picked up in midwestern and north central states, as well as in South and Central American, were confinedthere; it did not hold any of the Japanese-Americans who were relocated from the West Coast under Executive OrderN. This They included both guard and prisoner barracks, Units of the Eighty-eighth Each compound held about 1,000 prisoners, divided into companies of about 250-men each. contractors built base camps at Alva, Camp Gruber, Fort Reno, Fort Sill, McAlester, and Tonkawa. It first appeared inthe PMG reports on August 16, 1944, and last appeared on November 16, 1945. Jan 31-(AP)-Newsweek magazine says in its Feb. 5 issue that five German prisoners of war have been sentencedto death by court-martial for killing a fellow prisoner at Camp Tonkawa, Okla., Nov. 5, 1943, and are awaiting"their doom in a federal penitentiary." It had a capacity of 600 and was usually kept full. Soldiers who are in a POW status are authorized payment of 50% of the worldwide average per diem rate for each day held in captive status. The Fort Sill camp was used for POWs for only a short time before being converted to a military stockade. camp, a work camp from the McAlester PW Camp, was located in the National Guard Armory, three blocks north of Main Eventually . It first appeared in the PMG reports on November 1, This camp, the site of the McAlester Alien Internment Camp, was located in Section 32, north of McAlester and lying A branch of the Camp Gruber PWs Camp,it held as many as 401 PWs at one time. There were three internment camps in Oklahoma a temporary camp at Fort Sill and permanent camps at McAlester and Stringtown. A book, "The Killing of Corporal Kunze," by Wilma Trummel Parnell was published in 1981. Trails History Group, Prisioner of War Camps in Oklahoma In addition, leaders in communities All POWs returned to Europe except those confined to military prisons or hospitals. Thiscamp was located north of the swimming pool that is east of Jefferson Street and north of Iris Street in NortheastHobart. [written by Richard S. Warner - The Chronicles of Oklahoma,Vol. Except at Pryor, German noncommissioned officers directed the internal activities of each compound. In November 1943 rioting prisoners at Camp Tonkawa It was a hospital for American servicemen until August 1, 1944, when it becamea hospital for the treatment of PWs and a branch of the camp Gruber PW camp. the articles of war the court had no choice but to pronounce the death sentence," the magazine adds. This afternoon we will turn back the hands of time to talk about the prisoner camps in Oklahoma, said Corbett. The cantonment area covers 620 acres, and ranges occupy 460 acres. 9066. For a while, American authorities attempted to exchange the condemned men with Germany They bunked in U.S. Army barracks and hastily constructed camps across the country, especially in the South and Southwest. It opened on October 20, 1944, and last appeared in the A machinist from the city of Hamburg, Germany, Kunze was drafted into the German Army in 1940 and sent to the AfrikaKorps in Tunisia, North Africa. for Allied soldiers, but ultimately all negotiations failed. This of commerce and local politicians lobbied representatives and senators to obtain appropriations for federal projects. Haskell PW Camp Thiscamp was locatd in the National Guard Armory on the southwest corner of Creek and Spruce streets in Haskell. It opened on October 20, 1944, and last appeared in thePMG reports on November 1, 1945. All POWs returned to Europe except those confined to military prisons or hospitals. It was a hospital for American servicemen until August 1, 1944, when it became Bob Blackburn, director of the Oklahoma Historical Society, which produces "The Chronicles," said the term was used to define an architectural style rather than the nationality of the prisoners housed there. Units of the Eighty-eighthInfantry "Blue Devil" Division trained at Camp Gruber. Colorado had four principal POW camps Trinidad, Greeley, one at Camp Carson in Colorado Springs and, later, one at Camp Hale, where the 10th Mountain Division trained for ski warfare. POWs are entitled to special protections. Thirteen PWs were confined there, and one man escaped. In 1973 and1982 2,560 acres and 6,952 acres, respectively, were added, for a total of 33,027 acres. Konawa PW Camp Thiscamp, a work camp from the McAlester PW Camp, was located in the National Guard Armory, three blocks north of MainStreet on North State Street in Konawa. Bixby (a branch of Camp Gruber) April 1944 to December 1945; 210. For more information about this and other programs and exhibits, contact the museum at 256-6136, or visit themat 2009 Williams Avenue in Woodward. William P. Corbett, "They Hired Every Farmer in the Country: Establishing the Prisoner of War Camp at Tonkawa," The Chronicles of Oklahoma 69 (Winter 199192). the Santa Fe Railroad's ice plant at Waynoka, cut underbrush and timber in the basin of Lake Texoma, served as Reports of two escapes and one PW death have been They held The government also wanted thecamps to be in rural areas where the prisoners could provide agricultural labor. Wewoka PW CampThis 200 and 300 PWs were confined there. They were then sent from New York on trains to various opened on December 1, 1943, closed on December 11, 1945, and was a branch of the Camp Gruber PW Camp. that it was used to house trouble-makers from the camp at Ft. Sill. The Greenleaf Lodge area is under National Guard authority and is not part of Greenleaf Lake State Park. Local residents, as well as visitors from both Kansas and Texas, took a step backin time Saturday afternoon while hearing a presentation by Dr. Bill Corbett, professor of history at NortheasternState University in Tahlequah, about the Oklahoma prisoner of war (POW) camps that hosted thousands of German prisonersduring World War II. Hobart (a branch of the Fort Sill camp) _October 1944 to the fall of 1945; 286. Gefreiter (Lance Corporal), German Army. , What did the Japanese do to American prisoners of war? 1943. The present camp coverseighty-seven square miles. The dates of its existence arenot known, but it was probably a work camp similar to the one at Caddo. No Japanese prisoners were brought here, despite the fact that some buildings in the POW camps were called Japanese barracks. In 1945 the Eighty-sixth Infantry "Blackhawk" Division was stationed The United States then were left with 275,000 German POWs It first appeared in the PMG reports on July16, 1944, and last appeared on October 16, 1944. They were forced into harsh labor camps. In a sense, this theory worked because although our troops were not None of the alien internment camps and PW camps in Oklahoma still exist, and the sites This At Tonkawa the sixty-foot-high concrete supports for the camp's water tank still stand, Reports of there; it did not hold any of the Japanese-Americans who were relocated from the West Coast under Executive Order The POW Camps in Oklahoma during World War II included: Alva (Camp), Woods County, OK (base camp) Bordon General Hospital, Chickasha, Grady County, OK (base camp) Glennan (James D.) General Hospital (PWC), Okmulgee, Okmulgee County, OK (base camp) (see POW General Hospital #1) Gruber (Camp), near Muskogee, Muskogee County, OK (base camp) Gruber, composer of "The Caisson Song." No prisoners were confined at Madill. During World War II federal officials located enemy prisoner of war (POW) camps inOklahoma. Fort Sill February 1944 to July 1946; 1,834. Some PWs from the ChickashaPW Camp may have worked at the hospital before this camp was established, working in maintenance. This camp was located adjacent to the town of Gene Autry, thirteen miles northeast of Ardmore. Major POW camps across the United States as of June 1944. authority over 31,294.62 acres from the WAA, and between 1948 and 1952 the U.S. Army regained control of 32,626 It first appeared in the PMG reports on April 16, 1945, and last appeared on May 1, 1945. American camp authorities sought to achieve these goals by enlarging POW camp libraries, showing films, providing prominent lecturers for the prisoners and subscribing to American newspapers and magazines, all with an emphasis on detailing American values.1 This program lasted until the spring of 1946, almost a year after the war in Europe had . German aliens, but some Italian and Japanese aliens also were confined there. Copyright to all articles and other content in the online and print versions of The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History is held by the Oklahoma Historical Society (OHS). camp was located on old highway 99 north of the Washita River and south of Tishomingo where the airport now stands. State University in Tahlequah, about the Oklahoma prisoner of war (POW) camps that hosted thousands of German prisoners Submitted by Linda Craig, "Corbett presents history The Ft. Sill Cemetery holds one enemy alien and one German PW who died there. It first appeared in the PMG reports on July No part of this site may be construed as in the public domain. captured in Europe. Thiscamp was located north of highway 60 and west of Public Street in the southeast quarter of Section 26 on the northside of Tonkawa. There are still seventy-five PWs or enemy aliens buried in Oklahoma. Thirteen PWs were confined there, and one man escaped. Camp 10, South River As hard as it may be to believe, there were at least two confirmed POW camps within Algonquin Park - possibly more. About 130 PWs were confined there. This camp was located at the fairgrounds on the south side of highway 62 east of Chickasha. Initially most of the captives came from North Africa following the surrender of the Afrika Korps. About 200 PWs were confinedthere, and two PWs escaped before being recaptured in Sallisaw. stenciled with "PW," German soldiers picked row crops and cotton, harvested wheat and broom corn, manned The first PWs arrived on October11, 1943, but the closing date is unknown. Between twenty and forty PWs were confined there, workingas ranch hands. The U.S. Army built six major base camps and two dozen branch camps in Oklahoma. The IJA also relied on physical punishment to discipline its own troops. of Oklahoma WW II Prison Camps", By Patti K Locklear Madill Provisional Internment Camp Headquarters. The first full-scale POW camps in the U.S. opened on Feb. 1, 1943 in Crossville, Tennessee; Hereford and Mexia, Texas; Ruston, Louisiana; and Weingarten, Missouri. Kunze's note ended up with camp senior leader, Senior Sergeant Walter Beyer, a hardened Nazi. During the 1929 Geneva Convention, About 130 PWs were confined there. PW camp, it later became a branch of the Ft. Reno PW camp. PW Camp, it held as many as 286 PWs. A base camp for a number of branch camps, it had a capacity of 5,750, but the greatest number of PWsconfined there was 4,702 on October 3, 1945. Prisoners were routinely beaten, starved and abused and forced to work in mines and war-related factories in clear violation of the Geneva Conventions. Reservation. It was a branch camp of the Camp Gruber PW camp, and three PWs escaped It was originally a branch of the Madill ProvisionalInternment Camp Headquarters, but later became a branch of the Camp Howze PW Camp. of war. The cantonment area covers 620 acres, and ranges occupy 460 acres. camp was located one-half mile north of Waynoka in the Santa Fe Railroad yards at the ice plant. It opened on April 29, 1943, and last appeared in the PMG reports onSeptember 1, 1944. Engineers. The train that pulled into the railway station at Madill, Oklahoma, on April 29, 1943,carried the first of thousands of prisoners of war who would spend all or part of the remainder of World War IIbehind barbed wire in Oklahoma. costs, and at sites where POWs could alleviate an anticipated farm labor shortage. At Camp Alva a maximum-security camp for Nazis and Nazi sympathizers, disturbances occurred, and in July 1944 a guard fatally shot a prisoner during an escape attempt. Beyer conveneda "court-martial" that night and after finding Kunze guilty of treason, the court had him beaten to death.MPs questioned the 200 German POWs, and five who had blood on their uniforms were arrested and charged with themurder. Will Rogers PW CampThiscamp was located at what is now Will Rogers World Airport at Oklahoma City. The prison started accepting internees on March 30, 1942 and was located four miles north of Stringtown, on the west side of highway 69. The base camps were located About forty PWs were confined at the work camp from the McAlester PWCamp. This camp was located at the fairgrounds on the south side of highway 62 east of Chickasha. In spring 1942 federal authorities leased the state prison at Stringtown. burials are enemy aliens who died in Oklahoma and 29 are PWs, both German and Italian, who died in PW camps in In autumn 1945 repatriation of prisoners of war began as federal officials transferredcaptives to East Coast ports. It started as a base camp, but ended as a branch of the Alva PW Camp. For a while, American authorities attempted to exchange the condemned men with Germanyfor Allied soldiers, but ultimately all negotiations failed. They picked such things as cotton and spinach and cleared trees and brush from the bed of what was to become Lake Texhoma. , Did American soldiers shoot German prisoners? Yodack is a website that writes about many topics of interest to you, a blog that shares knowledge and insights useful to everyone in many fields. Some of the concrete and stone monuments that were built by the PWs are also still standing there. Porter (a branch of Camp Gruber) September 1944 to November 1945; Powell (originally a branch of the Madill Provisional Internment Camp Headquarters, it late became a branch of Camp Howze, Texas, camp) April 1943 to September 1944; 600. Chickasha actually had two separate camps. During World War II federal officials located enemy prisoner of war (POW) camps in Oklahoma. This base Some PWs from the ChickashaPW Camp may have worked at the hospital before this camp was established, working in maintenance. admitted at their trial -- the first American court-martial involving a capital offense by German prisoners of A base camp, it had a capacityof 2,965, but the greatest number of PWs confined there was 1,834 on July 16, 1945. And so began four years of captivity for Charlie, through a series of POW camps in Africa; then to Camp Chaffee, Arkansas; on to Alva, Oklahoma, with a short side trip to Okmulgee; on to Fort Polk . Originallya branch of the Alva PW Camp, it later became a branch of the Camp Gruber PW Camp. There were two escapes, probably the reason for the closing of the camp. The only PW camp site where it is possible to visualize how a PW camp would have lookedis near Braggs at the location of the Camp Gruber PW Camp. "She said, 'No, no, no, it was an army camp right outside of Rockford called Camp Grant and, um, there were 100s of German POWs. The first PWs arrivedon August 17, 1944, and it last appeared in the PMG reports on November 16, 1945. There are:-1 items tagged McAlester POW Camp, Oklahoma, USA available in our Library. Reports ofnine escapes have been found. there. Road on the east side of Okmulgee. Reports of three escapes and It was established about March of 1942 and closed in the late spring of 1943. The camps were essentially a little The base camps were locatedin Alva, Fort Reno, Fort Sill, the Madill Provisional Internment Camp headquarters, McAlester and Camp Gruber. These incidents, combined with war wounds, for the treatment of Only PWs, it specialized in amputations, neurosurgery, chest surgery, plastic surgery, and The only PWs who One PW escaped. They were Walter Beyer, Berthold Seidel, Hans Demme, Hans Schomer, and Willi Scholz. 1, Spring 1986]. Street on North State Street in Konawa. , When were the last German POWs released? With . In 1939, the German troops invaded Poland, said Corbett. By 1953 virtually the entire 1942 reservation was in federal hands. World War, 1939-1945. Seventy-fiveto eighty PWs were confined there. Two of theburials are enemy aliens who died in Oklahoma and 29 are PWs, both German and Italian, who died in PW camps inother states.