This Story is continued from last week’s November 2nd issue of the Marcus News:
When the first trainloads of prisoners pulled into the station, local residents turned out to watch. In many cases, the population of the town doubled with the arrival of the POWs and soldiers. The captives were lined up and marched to the camp. Most of the citizens welcomed them as they would provide the much labor help needed. However, not all people felt this way. They had family members fighting in the war and others had family members who were actually prisoners of the Germans. They were upset at how well the enemy was treated by us.
The prisoners carried what belongings they had to the POW enrollment area. All attempts were made to prevent contact between new prisoners and the ones already at the camp. They had to fill out identification forms, have a medical examination, and have all their possessions cataloged and searched. It was in later years that the POWs were fingerprinted. The prisoners had kept their belongings safe. The belongings included family pictures, toiletries, shaving kits, first-aid supplies, books, letters or some other individual keepsakes. Many prisoners were surprised to be handled with respect and to have their possessions handled carefully.
The POW camps allowed prisoners to keep most of their belongings. All letters were closely inspected. All money was taken and placed in an envelope with the prisoner’s name on it and kept until they were discharged so that the prisoners would not be able to bribe guards or other workers to buy civilian clothes or train tickets. The POWs were issued blue work clothes since they could wear their uniforms only during leisure time. A large “PW” was stenciled on the back of each item. Other items supplied to them included 1 belt, 2 pairs of cotton trousers, 2 pair wool trousers, 1 wool coat, 1 overcoat, 1 pair shoes, 4 pairs socks, 4 pair underwear, 4 undershirts, 1 raincoat, and 1 wool shirt.
The prisoners were lined up for inspection, welcomed by the camp commander who outlined important rules to be followed and the punishment for escape. The prisoners had translators as well as the Americans who had translators—that way both sides were aware of what was said and expected of them. Then they were escorted to their barracks and given bunk assignments. All prisoners received a large “welcome” meal, no matter what time of the day they arrived.
The POWs were awoke to reveille at 5:30 a.m., had eaten breakfast by 6:30 a.m. By 7:30 a.m., they were loaded on trucks and taken to the work site. Lunch was at noon and by 4 p.m., they were loaded on the trucks and returned to camp. Dinner was between 6 and 7, and then they were free for the remainder of the evening. One prisoner wrote back to his family that he had more to eat in a single day than they did in an entire week at home. POWs told the family not to send food to them but to keep it at home to eat.
Prisoners were paid 80¢ per day for an eight hour work day of work done outside the camp grounds. Those who worked inside the camp received 10¢ per day. They were paid in coupons which could be used in their canteen. Or, they could have the money placed in a savings account to be redeemed upon the settlement of the war. They could buy necessary items like razors, toilet articles, belts, tobacco, candy, literature and radios. They could get two pints of beer per day. The beer was 3.2% alcohol (required Iowa’s law) but the prisoners thought it was too “soft” as they were used to 8 to 14% alcohol!
All incoming and outgoing mail was checked. One reason was to see how the POWs felt toward the Americans. They were allowed to send one postcard and two letters per week. Letters and cards had to be written on special prepared green paper so one could not write something with water or other fluids to make it readable later. All letters were examined by censors—both American and German. Most letters were of concern for their families and praise for the food and wanting their family to send German books. No plans or uprisings were ever reported.
These POW camps had hot and cold running water, showers, and indoor latrines. Dental and medical care and hospitals were at the camp. This is more than they had while being a prisoner at home. These German prisoners desired to remain in the U.S. rather than go back home.
Transporting prisoners, the guards had to keep watch over the prisoners in “uncovered” trucks. With the trucks being open, the prisoners could reach a hanging branch, swing on it, and get away. Actually the prisoners were not trying to return to Germany but rather to get lost in the U.S.
The Japanese soldiers held as prisoners at Camp Clarinda, were not as accepted as the Germans and tended to anger the Americans. Prisoners could not work in war activities, like manufacture of ammunition or weapons, could not participate in dangerous work; so this is where they went to work in the fields or food factories.
The camp at Algona did have two prisoners escape. There were daily counts on all prisoners. On May 21, 1944, the number was two short at the count, but that was not discovered until May 24. A West Bend marshal called the camp that he had two of their POWs (16 miles away from Algona). The two men had dug under the fence during the night, crawled out and filled the hole, and then spread apart the second fence in order to reach freedom. Everyone was in shock. The prisoners were returned and placed in the stockade. There was NO lock on the door but they were to be checked every thirty minutes. At 1 a.m, there were NO prisoners. A search began with no alarm being sounded. The next morning an officer arrived to inspect the camp, and issued an order to search the camp. The two prisoners were found hiding above a latrine ceiling. This called for several investigations on the Algona camp. Part of the roll call—the number of prisoners on work details—was supplied by German clerks, who produced fictitious numbers to cover the missing pair. Within days, the present Colonel was replaced and reassigned.
According to the Algona POW Museum, there were 79 civilian workers at the camp. A total of $120,000 was spent by the camp personnel in Algona for rent, food, and utilities. The value of the work done by prisoners in the four-state region overseen by the Algona camp was 3.5 million dollars.
Some of the POWs hired to pick corn on farms were professional men like doctors, lawyers, etc. They had to be taught to pick corn. Some of the farms had no armed guard accompany the prisoners. The farmer would pick them up and return them to camp. The prisoners did enter the house and ate at the table with the family. A sergeant would inspect the work every couple of days or so. There was never an interpreter with these prisoners.
Depending on who came with the prisoners, some of the prisoners were allowed to eat at the family table. A guard stood his distance away from the table, watching. The family was told not to talk to the prisoners. The family couldn’t speak German, anyway!
POWs also built projects. Lightning had ignited a fire at the wooden elevator at Plainfield Coop. The owner couldn’t find laborers to build a new one. German prisoners were trucked from the camp, south of Waverly, to work in Plainfield. They worked 20 men in three shifts, round-the-clock, for nine days to build the new elevator. The outside of the elevator was built of concrete and finished by Ryan Construction of Omaha. The POWs were hired by Ryan. There was a translator hired for the prisoners.
There were those prisoners that did not want to return to Germany, and begged the farmers to let them stay and work on their farms for free. Almost 50 years later, one man returned to the area where he had worked as a prisoner. Why did this man make an effort to find the farm family? He was grateful and wanted to let them know it.
Linda told of the world famous Nativity Scene created by German prisoners at Camp Algona. It is located at the Kossuth County Fairgrounds in Algona. Eduard Kaib was an architect in his private life and a non-commissioned officer in the Germany Army when he was sent to Camp Algona in the fall of 1944. With Christmas approaching, Eduard was lonely and felt the isolation deeply as he thought about home, family, church services and happy festivities of the holiday. These feelings prompted him to build a small Nativity Set. The figures were made out of soil, baked in an oven to harden them, then placed in a twelve foot wide scene. A Camp Commander, Arthur Lobdell, viewed the set on display in the prisoner’s quarters and was very impressed. He later called Kaib to his office for a discussion and at this time asked Eduard to consider building a larger Nativity Scene, which would be funded by the prisoners (about $8,000 total). The project was finished and ready to display for Christmas of 1945.
Mr. Kaib, who had lived in Bielefeld, Germany died May 24, 1988. He was a peace-loving man who left an on-going legacy to Algona, Iowa. In the spirit in which it was given, the NATIVITY SCENE will continue to be shared each year during the month of December. (There are more interesting facts about this NATIVITY SCENE that there is not room to write about at this time but I will write about it at another time.)
Many Americans felt having prisoners in Iowa was a positive experience. Without the POWs, many crops would not have been harvested, many Americans and soldiers would not have had enough food. Europeans would have had less food than they had without American help. Life-long friendships were formed with many Iowans. The POWs—Italians, Germans, and Japanese, returned home with a positive impression of Iowans, that they shared with others and that influenced other generations numerous years later. The POW camps opened countless doors that would have remained closed if Iowa had not hosted the POWs during World War II.
Linda has done a lot of research on “Prisoners of War in Iowa” as well as with the other eleven books she has written about Iowa that include: Civilian Conservation Corps in Northeast Iowa, Civilian conservation Corps in Southeast Iowa, Lost Black Hawk County, Lost Bremer County, Lost Butler County, Lost Cedar County, The Cedar Valley Road, Lost Chickasaw County, Lost Franklin & Grundy Counties, Lost Linn County and Prohibition in Eastern Iowa.