Beginning in 1942, German and Italian prisoners of war began coming into Allied hands. The question immediately arose, what to do with all these prisoners? They had to be removed from the battlefield and Western Europe didn’t possess the available space or facilities to house their increasing numbers. The problem was solved by using ships, emptied after unloading their cargo in Europe, to transport prisoners back to the United States and Canada. More than 500 camps were built across the American countryside to house hundreds of thousands of German and Italian POWs.
The prisoners were well fed, received medical care and adequate housing, and were able to work, helping augment wartime manpower shortages. Most lived better in captivity in the United States than their contemporaries, military and civilian, who remained in Europe. This short video focuses on one such camp in Louisiana. Known as Camp Ruston, it housed Hans Gobbler, a surviving member of the German submarine U505. After the war, he emigrated to the U.S., where I had the opportunity to meet and talk to him about his war experiences.
To view the video, click here.
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