German Prisoners Of War At Camp Cooke California

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German Prisoners of War at Camp Cooke, California

Jeffrey E. Geiger
German Prisoners of War at Camp Cooke California Book PDF

Author : Jeffrey E. Geiger
Publisher : Sunbury Press, Inc.
Page : 281 pages
File Size : 41,5 Mb
Release : 2018-02-24
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9781620067505

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German Prisoners of War at Camp Cooke, California by Jeffrey E. Geiger Pdf

In 1943, the first great wave of Hitler’s soldier’s came to America, not as goose-stepping conquering heroes, but as prisoners of war. By the time World War II ended in 1945, more than six hundred German POW camps had sprung up across America holding a total of 371,683 POWs. One of these camps was established at the U.S. Army’s training installation Camp Cooke on June 16, 1944. The POW base camp at Cooke operated sixteen branch camps in six of California’s fifty-eight counties and is today the site of Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara County. Compared to other prisoner of war camps in California, Camp Cooke generally held the largest number of German POWs and operated the most branch camps in the state. A large number of the prisoners were from Field Marshal Erwin Rommel’s Afrika Korps, as well as from other military formations. Under the terms of the Geneva Convention, the prisoners received comfortable quarters and excellent care. They filled critical wartime labor shortages inside the main Army post at Cooke and in the outlying civilian communities, performing agricultural work for which they were paid. On weekends and evenings, they enjoyed many recreational entertainment and educational opportunities available to them in the camp. For many POWs, the American experience helped reshape their worldview and gave them a profound appreciation of American democracy. This book follows the military experiences of fourteen German soldiers who were captured during the campaigns in North Africa and Europe and then sat out the remainder of the war as POWs in California. It is a firsthand account of life as a POW at Camp Cooke and the lasting impression it had on the prisoners.

Hitler's Soldiers in the Sunshine State

Robert D. Billinger
Hitler s Soldiers in the Sunshine State Book PDF

Author : Robert D. Billinger
Publisher : University Press of Florida
Page : 206 pages
File Size : 48,9 Mb
Release : 2020-11-10
Category : History
ISBN : 9780813072050

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Hitler's Soldiers in the Sunshine State by Robert D. Billinger Pdf

"They were Uncle Sam's smiling workers and they looked like all-American boys. There were at least 10,000 of them, deployed in 25 Florida camps between 1942 and 1946. They were also members of the Wehrmacht, Hitler's armed forces."--Forum "Most Americans were unaware their government was housing Hitler's soldiers on its shores. . . . Billinger weaves interviews with former prisoners, American soldiers who worked in the camps, newspaper accounts, and government documents into a stunning historical narrative."--Kansas City Star "A tropical paradise that for some became a tropical hell."--Sarasota Herald-Tribune "First came crewmen of destroyed U-boats, then thousands of Afrika Korps veterans who swamped the system in 1943. Pro-Nazi, arrogant, and tough, they defied U.S. authorities, terrorized anti-Nazi inmates, and rioted."--Choice "Filled with colorful personal accounts, this historical book packs the punch of fiction."--St. Petersburg Times "Billinger's first-rate history of this little-known chapter in American history teaches us that, in spite of wartime propaganda, our enemies are human, too."--Atlantic City Press "Hard to put down."--Daytona Beach News-Journal In the first book-length treatment of the German prisoner of war experience in Florida during World War II, Robert D. Billinger, Jr., tells the story of the 10,000 men who were "guests" of Uncle Sam in a tropical paradise that for some became a tropical hell. Having been captured while serving on U-boats off the Carolinas, with the Afrika Korps in Tunisia, with the paratroops in Italy, or with labor battalions in France, the POWs were among the 378,000 Germans held as prisoners in 45 states. Except for the servicemen who guarded them, the civilian pulp-cutters, citrus growers, and sugarcane foremen who worked them, and the FBI and local police who tracked the escapees among them, most people were--and still are--unaware of the German POWs who inhabited the 27 camps that dotted the Sunshine State. Billinger describes the experiences of the Germans and their captors as both sides came to the realization that, while the Germans’ worst enemies were often their own comrades-in-arms, wartime enemies might also become life-long friends. Concentrating especially on the story of Camp Blanding in North Florida, Billinger based his research on both American and German archives. His account mixes rare photos with interviews with former prisoners; reports by the International Red Cross, the YMCA, and the U.S. military; and local newspaper articles. This book will be of great value to scholars and historians, as well as all readers with an interest in World War II. Those with an interest in Florida history will also find much to admire in this engaging account of a barely known wartime episode. A volume in The Florida History and Culture Series, edited by Raymond Arsenault and Gary R. Mormino.

Nazi Prisoners of War in America

Arnold Krammer
Nazi Prisoners of War in America Book PDF

Author : Arnold Krammer
Publisher : Scarborough House Publishers
Page : 360 pages
File Size : 50,9 Mb
Release : 1991
Category : Prisoners of war
ISBN : IND:30000037294406

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Nazi Prisoners of War in America by Arnold Krammer Pdf

The only book available that tells the full story of how the U.S. government detained nearly half a million Nazi prisoners of war in 511 camps across the country.

Camp Cooke and Vandenberg Air Force Base, 1941-1966

Jeffrey E. Geiger
Camp Cooke and Vandenberg Air Force Base 1941 1966 Book PDF

Author : Jeffrey E. Geiger
Publisher : McFarland
Page : 285 pages
File Size : 49,7 Mb
Release : 2014-02-28
Category : History
ISBN : 9781476614243

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Camp Cooke and Vandenberg Air Force Base, 1941-1966 by Jeffrey E. Geiger Pdf

During World War II, hundreds of military training installations were built throughout the United States to prepare servicemen for the rigors of overseas combat. One such installation was Camp Cooke in California, which since 1957 has become an internationally recognized missile and rocket base renamed Vandenberg Air Force Base. This book examines the history of the camp, starting with its construction. Established some 150 miles north of Los Angeles, Cooke was designed for armored divisions, but by the end of the war hundreds of other specialized organizations trained there. It supported many USO clubs and attracted some of Hollywood's leading entertainers as well as many from radio and stage. With the outbreak of the Korean War, Cooke supported Army National Guard and reserve units. Its large hospital cared for war evacuees and Army medical cases from other parts of the globe. When it became an Air Force base, America's first spy satellite program was conducted from there. The intelligence data collected from these missions exploded the myth of a "missile gap" with the Soviet Union. At the height of the Cold War, America's first ICBM missile equipped with a nuclear warhead was based at Vandenberg.

Lone Star Stalag

Michael R. Waters,Mark Long,William Dickens,Sam Sweitz,Anna Lee Presley,Ian Buvit,Michelle Raisor,Bryan Mason,Hilary Standish,Norbert Dannhaeuser
Lone Star Stalag Book PDF

Author : Michael R. Waters,Mark Long,William Dickens,Sam Sweitz,Anna Lee Presley,Ian Buvit,Michelle Raisor,Bryan Mason,Hilary Standish,Norbert Dannhaeuser
Publisher : Texas A&M University Press
Page : 285 pages
File Size : 53,5 Mb
Release : 2006-01-17
Category : History
ISBN : 9781585445455

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Lone Star Stalag by Michael R. Waters,Mark Long,William Dickens,Sam Sweitz,Anna Lee Presley,Ian Buvit,Michelle Raisor,Bryan Mason,Hilary Standish,Norbert Dannhaeuser Pdf

“The cement slabs and decaying fountains obscured by vegetation at the site of Camp Hearne echo a time forgotten of a bustling city of nearly 5,000 men brought together by world conflict.” The oral histories, archival research, and archaeological data compiled by author Michael Waters and his team of researchers tells the story of 5,000 German soldiers held as prisoners of war in rural Texas during World War II. Camp Hearne, located on the outskirts of Hearne, Texas, was one of the first and largest POW camps in the United States. Between 1943 and 1945 nearly 50,000 German prisoners, mostly from the German Afrika Korps lived and worked at seventy POW camps across Texas. The story of Camp Hearne told here offers the first in-depth look at one of these camps and includes an archaeological study of the treatment and conditions of the German prisoners. Drawing on newspaper accounts and official records from the time, and the recollections of surviving POWs, guards, and local residents, Waters and his team have constructed a detailed description of life in the camp: educational opportunities, recreation, mail call, religious practices, work details, and the food provided. Also revealed are the more serious issues that faced the Americans inside the POW compounds: illegal alcohol distillation, suicides, escapes, hidden secret shortwave radios, and the subversion of postal services. Fascinating artifacts recovered from the site and from the collections of local residents add concrete details. Waters also discusses the national policies and motivations for the treatment of prisoners that prescribed the particulars of camp life. The shadow world of Nazism in the camp is revealed, adding darkness to a story that is otherwise optimistic and in places humorous. The most sinister and brutal example of Nazi activity was the murder of Corporal Hugo Krauss, a German-born New York–raised volunteer in the German army. Captured in North Africa after service in Russia, Krause was attacked seven months later by six to ten fellow prisoners and beaten with clubs, nail–studded boards and a lead pipe. The dramatic recounting of the murder and the ensuing investigation illustrate much about the underlying political tensions of camp existence. This book makes a unique and notable contribution to Texas history. The narrative is enriched by numerous photographs and drawings. It will engage those interested in Texas history and World War II and hold particular interest for avocational and professional historical archaeologists.

Georgia POW Camps in World War II

Dr. Kathryn Roe Coker & Jason Wetzel
Georgia POW Camps in World War II Book PDF

Author : Dr. Kathryn Roe Coker & Jason Wetzel
Publisher : Arcadia Publishing
Page : 288 pages
File Size : 51,9 Mb
Release : 2019
Category : History
ISBN : 9781467139076

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Georgia POW Camps in World War II by Dr. Kathryn Roe Coker & Jason Wetzel Pdf

During World War II, many Georgians witnessed the enemy in their backyards. More than twelve thousand German and Italian prisoners captured in far-off battlefields were sent to POW camps in Georgia. With large base camps located from Camp Wheeler in Macon and Camp Stewart in Savannah to smaller camps throughout the state, prisoner reeducation and work programs evoked different reactions to the enemy. There was even a POW work detail of forty German soldiers at Augusta National Golf Course, which was changed from a temporary cow pasture to the splendid golf course we know today. Join author and historian Dr. Kathryn Roe Coker and coauthor Jason Wetzel as they explore the daily lives of POWs in Georgia and the lasting impact they had on the Peach State.

Stark Decency

Allen V. Koop
Stark Decency Book PDF

Author : Allen V. Koop
Publisher : UPNE
Page : 184 pages
File Size : 41,7 Mb
Release : 2000-09-26
Category : History
ISBN : 9781611681000

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Stark Decency by Allen V. Koop Pdf

An evocative history of a World War II German POW camp in New Hampshire, where friendships among prisoners, guards, and villagers overcame the bitter divisions of war

Park Prisoners

W. A. Waiser
Park Prisoners Book PDF

Author : W. A. Waiser
Publisher : Saskatoon : Fifth House Publishers
Page : 310 pages
File Size : 46,9 Mb
Release : 1995
Category : Travel
ISBN : WISC:89058537853

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Park Prisoners by W. A. Waiser Pdf

COVERS : Banff National Park, Elk Island National Park, Glacier National Park, Jasper National Park, Kootenay National Park, Mount Revelstoke National Park, Point Pelee National Park, Prince Albert National Park, Riding Mountain National Park, Waterton Lakes National Park, Yoho National Park.

Stalag, U.S.A.

Judith M. Gansberg
Stalag U S A Book PDF

Author : Judith M. Gansberg
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 264 pages
File Size : 55,6 Mb
Release : 1977
Category : History
ISBN : STANFORD:36105081216363

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Stalag, U.S.A. by Judith M. Gansberg Pdf

Discusses the 370,000 Germans who were prisoners of war in the United States during World War II and the program established by the War Department to educate these prisoners to the benefits of democracy.

From German Prisoner of War to American Citizen

Barbara Schmitter Heisler
From German Prisoner of War to American Citizen Book PDF

Author : Barbara Schmitter Heisler
Publisher : McFarland
Page : 213 pages
File Size : 53,9 Mb
Release : 2014-11-29
Category : History
ISBN : 9781476602110

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From German Prisoner of War to American Citizen by Barbara Schmitter Heisler Pdf

Among the many German immigrants to the United States over the years, one group is unusual: former prisoners of war who had spent between one and three years on American soil and who returned voluntarily as immigrants after the war. Drawing on archival sources and in-depth interviews with 35 former prisoners who made the return, the book outlines the conditions that defined their unusual experiences and traces their journeys from captive enemies to American citizens. Although the respondents came from different backgrounds, and arrived in America at different times between 1943 and 1945, their experiences as prisoners of war not only left an indelible impression, they also provided them with opportunities and resources that helped them leave Germany behind and return to the place "where we had the good life."

Prisoners of War

Arnold Krammer
Prisoners of War Book PDF

Author : Arnold Krammer
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Page : 214 pages
File Size : 46,7 Mb
Release : 2007-11-30
Category : History
ISBN : 9780313087158

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Prisoners of War by Arnold Krammer Pdf

America's current War on Terror is causing a readjustment of centuries of POW policies. Prisoners of war are once again in the news as America and Western Europe grapple with a new, faceless enemy and the rules of war and the torture of POWs are open to reconsideration. Until very recently, there has been astonishingly little written on the subject of prisoners of war. Yet, to understand the present, it is critical to look back over history. To that end, Arnold Krammer examines the fate of war prisoners from Biblical and Medieval times through the halting evolution of international law to the current reshuffling of the rules. The issue of prisoners of war is of more immediate concern now than ever before and an examination of the history of their treatment and current status may well influence foreign policy. The fate of war prisoners through history has been cruel and haphazard. The lives of captives hung by a thread. Execution, enslavement, torture, or being held for ransom were equally likely. International agreements developed haltingly through the 19th and 20th centuries to culminate in the Geneva Accords of 1929. America's current War on Terror is causing a readjustment of centuries of POW policies. Prisoners of war are once again in the news as America and Western Europe grapple with a new, faceless enemy and the rules of war and the torture of POWs are open to reconsideration. Until very recently, there has been astonishingly little written on the subject of prisoners of war. Yet, to understand the present, it is critical to look back over history. To that end, Arnold Krammer examines the fate of war prisoners from Biblical and Medieval times through the halting evolution of international law to the current reshuffling of the rules. Since biblical times, war captives have been considered property and counted as booty to be enslaved or killed. Americans were interested in generals and weapons and battles, but not the fate of prisoners of war. The Second World War, when 90,000 Americans fell into enemy hands, began to change that. Concern for our POWs in Germany and Japan, and close contact with enemy camps in America began to change our attitudes. However, it was the Vietnam War, media-driven and polarizing, that caused the American public to truly reevaluate the plight of its sons and brothers, heroic and clearly loyal, as they fell into the hands of an inscrutable and apparently unyielding distant enemy. More recently, during the first Gulf War of 1991 and the current War on Terrorism, the issue of prisoners of war has moved to center stage, involving the clash of ideologies, politics, and expediency. Since 9/11, the rights and safety of prisoners of war caught up in the War on Terror have been debated in Congress and adjudicated on by former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales whose conclusions were protested by numerous organizations. The issue of prisoners of war is of more immediate concern now than ever before, and an examination of the history of their treatment and current status may well influence foreign policy.

Axis Prisoners of War in Kentucky

Antonio S. Thompson
Axis Prisoners of War in Kentucky Book PDF

Author : Antonio S. Thompson
Publisher : McFarland
Page : 227 pages
File Size : 46,9 Mb
Release : 2024-01-01
Category : History
ISBN : 9781476681689

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Axis Prisoners of War in Kentucky by Antonio S. Thompson Pdf

During World War II, Kentuckians rushed from farms to factories and battlefields, leaving agriculture throughout the state--particularly the lucrative tobacco industry--without sufficient labor. An influx of Axis prisoners of war made up the shortfall. Nearly 10,000 German and Italian POWs were housed in camps at Campbell, Breckinridge, Knox and other locations across the state. Under the Geneva Convention, they worked for their captors and helped save Kentucky's crops, while enjoying relative comfort as prisoners--playing sports, performing musicals and taking college classes. Yet, friction between Nazi and anti-Nazi inmates threatened the success of the program. This book chronicles the POW program in Kentucky and the vital contributions the Bluegrass State made to Allied victory.

Men in German Uniform

Antonio Thompson
Men in German Uniform Book PDF

Author : Antonio Thompson
Publisher : Univ. of Tennessee Press
Page : 193 pages
File Size : 43,7 Mb
Release : 2010-11-16
Category : History
ISBN : 9781572337428

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Men in German Uniform by Antonio Thompson Pdf

Examining the largest prisoner-of-war handling operation in U.S. history, this book offers a meticulous account of the myriad history, this book offers a meticulous account of the myriad problems—as well as the impressive successes—that came with problems—as well as the impressive successes—that came with housing 371,000 German POWs on American soil during World War II. Antonio Thompson draws on extensive archival research to probe the various ways in which the U.S. government strove to comply with the Geneva Convention’s mandate that enemy prisoners be moved from the war zone and given food, shelter, and clothing equal to that provided for American soldiers. While the prisoners became a ready source of manpower for the labor- starved American home front and received small wages in return, their stay in the United States generated more than a few difficulties, which included not only daunting logistics but also violence within the camps. Such violence was often blamed on Nazi influence and control; however, as Thompson points out, only a few of the prisoners were actually Nazis. Because the Germans had cobbled together military forces that included convicts, their own POWs, volunteers from neutral nations, and conscripts from occupied countries, the bonds that held these soldiers together amid the pressures of combat dissolved once they were placed behind barbed wire. When these “men in German uniform,” who were not always Germans, donned POW garb, their former social, racial, religious, and ethnic tensions quickly reemerged. To counter such troubles, American authorities organized various activities—including sports, arts, education, and religion—within the POW camps; some prisoners even participated in an illegal denazification program created by the U.S. government. Despite the problems, Thompson argues, the POW-housing program proved largely successful, as Americans maintained their reputation for fairness and humane treatment during a time of widespread turmoil.

The Fight for History

Tim Cook
The Fight for History Book PDF

Author : Tim Cook
Publisher : Penguin
Page : 480 pages
File Size : 41,5 Mb
Release : 2020-09-08
Category : History
ISBN : 9780735238343

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The Fight for History by Tim Cook Pdf

NATIONAL BESTSELLER FINALIST for the 2021 Ottawa Book Awards A masterful telling of the way World War Two has been remembered, forgotten, and remade by Canada over seventy-five years. The Second World War shaped modern Canada. It led to the country's emergence as a middle power on the world stage; the rise of the welfare state; industrialization, urbanization, and population growth. After the war, Canada increasingly turned toward the United States in matters of trade, security, and popular culture, which then sparked a desire to strengthen Canadian nationalism from the threat of American hegemony. The Fight for History examines how Canadians framed and reframed the war experience over time. Just as the importance of the battle of Vimy Ridge to Canadians rose, fell, and rose again over a 100-year period, the meaning of Canada's Second World War followed a similar pattern. But the Second World War's relevance to Canada led to conflict between veterans and others in society--more so than in the previous war--as well as a more rapid diminishment of its significance. By the end of the 20th century, Canada's experiences in the war were largely framed as a series of disasters. Canadians seemed to want to talk only of the defeats at Hong Kong and Dieppe or the racially driven policy of the forced relocation of Japanese-Canadians. In the history books and media, there was little discussion of Canada's crucial role in the Battle of the Atlantic, the success of its armies in Italy and other parts of Europe, or the massive contribution of war materials made on the home front. No other victorious nation underwent this bizarre reframing of the war, remaking victories into defeats. The Fight for History is about the efforts to restore a more balanced portrait of Canada's contribution in the global conflict. This is the story of how Canada has talked about the war in the past, how we tried to bury it, and how it was restored. This is the history of a constellation of changing ideas, with many historical twists and turns, and a series of fascinating actors and events.

Texas and Texans in World War II

Christopher B. Bean
Texas and Texans in World War II Book PDF

Author : Christopher B. Bean
Publisher : Texas A&M University Press
Page : 412 pages
File Size : 53,7 Mb
Release : 2022-08-24
Category : History
ISBN : 9781623499709

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Texas and Texans in World War II by Christopher B. Bean Pdf

Texans in World War II offers an informative look at the challenges and changes faced by Texans on the home front during the Second World War. This collection of essays by leading scholars of Texas history covers topics from the African American and Tejano experience to organized labor, from the expanding opportunities for women to the importance of oil and agriculture. Texans in World War II makes local the frequently studied social history of wartime, bringing it home to Texas. An eye-opening read for Texans eager to learn more about this defining era in their state’s history, this book will also prove deeply informative for scholars, students, and general readers seeking detailed, definitive information about World War II and its implications for daily life, economic growth, and social and political change in the Lone Star State.