"WWII Prisoner of War Camps in Minnesota" Topic

June 27 – Willmar: 6:30 p.m. Kandiyohi County Historical Society

Colleen Gengler will present what camp life was like in Minnesota POW camps, including Owatonna, Olivia and Howard Lake. Her interest in the topic comes from her parents using POW labor on their farm south of Owatonna.

For more information call: 320-235-1881.

That would be interesting. A couple of months ago I heard a presentation on POW camps in Michigan. There were 32 of them in both the lower & upper Penninsula. They harvested sugar beets, fruit & cut timber. In fact one camp was about 5 miles from where I live. Mostly Germans & Italians.

We had a couple in the St. Louis Area. I believe some were held at Jefferson Barracks and more at Gumbo Flats around Spirit of St. Louis Airport.

My father has told me there was a camp in Toledo Ohio. Said the prisoners worked in a bleach factory here.

Said he and his friends used to go sing at them…"When the Fuhrer says we is the master race, we sing Heil, Phhhttt*, Heil Phhhttt*, right in the Fuhrer's face…"

*Phhhttt is the sound you make by putting your tongue between your lips and blowing…..

Spike Jones fans. I approve.

My Dad was a guard at a prison camp. He was drafted at age 31 in April of 1941 because he was still single. His unit was one of the first to go overseas in 42 (Americal Division). They took part in the battles of Guadalcanal & Bouganvelia in the Pacific theatre. When he came back they reassigned him to the prison camp where they guarded German POW's. He said he liked them and used to spend a lot of time talking to those who were fluent in English. Dad also said one of the POW's was very interested in American baseball and used to ask my father questions about the sport.

We had one just outside of my home town, Jackson, MS. The prisoners were used to build the Corps of Engineers Mississippi River Basin model which was used for several decades for river flood projections.

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The Clinton Camp also housed a number of high-ranking German officers, including General Ramcke of North African and Brest "fame."

There were several other prison camps here in Mississippi as well, including one in the Delta where the prisoners were used to help farmers.

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Here is a list of all the camps in the US, courtesy of Wikipedia:

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Jim

I recall my Mom and Dad telling me that German Prisoners worked at the Green Giant canning factory in LeSueur Minnesota.