[Mikolaj]

As many of you know, I am an archivist for the Feds.

The other day I got a request from a newspaper to look up images of WWII POW camps in South Carolina. So, and was looking at a ton of those, most of them had German prisoners.

Anyway, this was was what I saw:

-Prisoners could beautify the grounds around their barracks. The landscaping was immaculate. Prisoners could lounge around on adirondack chairs out front, looking over the land.
-Prisoners could print their own prison newspaper, which it looked like they really got into.
-They were allowed to put on their own plays and concerts.
-They were allowed to have their own cooks and German food.
-They could play sports outside, like volleyball and soccar.
-They could take classes to learn a trade, English, etc.
-They were PAID for their labor (80 cents a day)
-They had their own px for prisoners (a picture of this Nazi with a deer in the headlights look with a carton of Pall malls made me lol).

It seems more like summer camp than prison. Of course, I wonder how typical such things were, since a good deal of the images in our repository were used for psy-ops. So does anyone know what it was really like to be a German POW?

I did a little reading on my own because I was so interested in the subject. Apparently, they weren't sent back until 1948, and even then, they had to work in other prisons for the Allies. Prisoners unfortunate enough to be captured in the USSR were literally worked to death, and hundreds of thousands died. Prisoners didn't trickle back from there until 1956.

So, I guess this all proves we Americans are pretty humane and awesome

[Zagadka]

Sure they weren't waterboarded?

[Oblisk]

[filerba]

I have read various accounts of POWs being taken out of camp to go to church or the cinema.

[Praetor]

Are these requests you post about FOIA requests?

Cus I need one of those, but I hear they can take up to 18 months to get one through.

[Rancid]

It seems more like summer camp than prison. Of course, I wonder how typical such things were, since a good deal of the images in our repository were used for psy-ops. So does anyone know what it was really like to be a German POW?

I saw a history channel special on that. Many of them were shipped to the US, and were allowed to walk the streets on our towns and cities. They would go to the movies, etc. They had more rights than black folks in America.

[Zagadka]

They had more rights than black folks in America.

And Japanese.

[Rancid]

true true,

Hell some of the Germans POWs ended up marrying some local women in some of the POW towns. Most of these POW towns were scattered around the south of the US.

[Mikolaj]

Are these requests you post about FOIA requests?

Are you referring to requesting military persoonnel records? If so, I believe there's an online NARA form you have to fill out if you are not the veteran's next of kin. Also, you have to contact NARA's repository in St. Louis for those records.

Be warned:
There was a fire there in 1973 that destroyed 80% of Army and Air Force Records from the 20th century, so there's might not be anything for your WWII vet.

I also read that German-Americans (this was back when there were still lots of those, especially in the interior) would fill them in on news about the War via the German language newspapers. In a non-treasonous way, of course.

[Praetor]

No, I need a "Statement of No Records" to prove that my great grandfather never naturalized as a U.S. citizen.

I have to make a request for it, but I've been told it takes sooooo long.

[canadiancapitalist]

So, I guess this all proves we Americans are pretty humane and awesome

Definitely. Incidentally, I hope you don't mind if I humanely and awesomely firebomb your house.

[Donna]

Sure they weren't waterboarded?

It was probably done on the basis of rank. William Shirer would probably know more about the Nazi state at the time than some 19 year-old from Saarland.

[guzzipat]

When I was a kid, an uncle drove a coach that they used to transport German POW's. I used to sit with the POW's, they used to make a fuss of me and make all sorts of carved wooden toys, I thought they were great.

I knew they were German, but I couldn't accept that they were the Germans everyone complained about. In the end I rationalised it as "my Germans" being different from "those Germans".
Funny how you think when you are that young.

On of the most famous ex POW's who stayed in England was a guy called Bert Trautman, He was a foorballer and played in goal for Manchester City. He played at Wembley in a cup final, after a collision he had a neck injury. He played on but kept rubbing his neck. After the game they found he had a neck fracture, one tough guy.

[Rancid]

No, I need a "Statement of No Records" to prove that my great grandfather never naturalized as a U.S. citizen.

I have to make a request for it, but I've been told it takes sooooo long.

you want to claim citizenship in another country?

[Godstud]

There are advantages to dual citizenship, Rancid. He never said he wanted to give up his American citizenship.

Near Lethbridge, AB, Canada, there was a PoW camp and many Germans there settled in the area after the war.

[Praetor]

you want to claim citizenship in another country?

Once I get that statement from the Feds, I'll have all the documents I need to claim my Italian citizenship.

The U.S. permits its citizens to have dual citizenship.

[Nattering Nabob]

I have read various accounts of POWs being taken out of camp to go to church or the cinema.

I read accounts of German prisoners substituting in the guard towers for the Americans who went to the cinema or into town...