Prisoners of War in Nebraska?
I may have missed a couple of history lessons, but if I did, so did Mike because neither of us knew that during WW II there were German POW's held in the U.S. Not just a few either. According to the good folks at the Nebraska Prairie Museum in Holdrege, NE, over 375,000 men were held in the U.S. at POW camps. Information at the museum indicates that only 8% of these prisoners where Nazi sympathizers.
One of those camps was in Atlanta, NE, just 5 miles southwest of Holdrege. 100,000 men passed through this camp in its less than 5 year existance. Again, according to the museum, these camps were a well kept secret in the U.S. as the government felt it would cause chaos if your average citizen became away of the camps. Around Holdrege, the men were deployed to help farmers and in general take the place of the 1000's of men from the area who were in military service. There were 15 other camps in Nebraska and Kansas; Atlanta was the base camp. It seems like there is still not a lot of information available, but this museum has gathered artifacts, letters, and photographs into an interpretive center that was very interesting.
A highlight was the Thomas F. Naegele art gallery, In the Eye of the Storm, (housed in the museum) which tells the story of those years, which he witnessed, in paintings. I'll share some pictures of his paintings to give you a feeling for the German POW Camp in Atlanta, NE. There are 53 paintings in the collection.
This is a full wall mural that Mr. Naegele painted for the museum. It shows the guards in uniform interacting with the POW's. Notice on each piece of clothing a POW wore were the stenciled letters "P W". You can see it on the pants of the man on the left in the truck. Information at the museum told us the clothing worn by the men was all used clothing that came in big bundles to the "paint room" where each piece was sized and labeled PW. No one seemed to know from where the clothing came. This area of the camp was where the artist, originally from Stutgart, Germany, worked.
All of the next pictures were painted from 1943 -1945 at the camp, on pieces of left over wood.
This is the guard tower of which there were many. They were manned 24 hours a day and this painting shows the changing of the guard. There is an authentic tower on display on the museum grounds.
This is the saddest painting of all. It was done in the artist's later years. The story is told below.
And so, we started out this journey by learning about a piece of our history. Perhaps it is because of my own German heritage that the whole idea of German POW's on U.S. soil is so disturbing. Perhaps the government was right in keeping this information quiet... or maybe we just missed it in the history books.
An old switchboard reminded me of my brief career as a secretary/receptionist at G.T. Schjeldahl Co. I actually disconnected Mr. Schjeldahl from an overseas call, but no, that isn't the reason my career was short lived. At the urging of my supervisors, I decided to go back to college.
And I actually saw a piece of "goofus" glass. My mom had the same piece in her cupboard for many years.
What a joy it was to find this gem of a museum in a small Nebraska town. Stop by if you are ever in the Holdrege area. This town is just down the road from the Minden, NE Pioneer Museum that I visited with my family as a young girl - it was also a gem.
One of those camps was in Atlanta, NE, just 5 miles southwest of Holdrege. 100,000 men passed through this camp in its less than 5 year existance. Again, according to the museum, these camps were a well kept secret in the U.S. as the government felt it would cause chaos if your average citizen became away of the camps. Around Holdrege, the men were deployed to help farmers and in general take the place of the 1000's of men from the area who were in military service. There were 15 other camps in Nebraska and Kansas; Atlanta was the base camp. It seems like there is still not a lot of information available, but this museum has gathered artifacts, letters, and photographs into an interpretive center that was very interesting.
A highlight was the Thomas F. Naegele art gallery, In the Eye of the Storm, (housed in the museum) which tells the story of those years, which he witnessed, in paintings. I'll share some pictures of his paintings to give you a feeling for the German POW Camp in Atlanta, NE. There are 53 paintings in the collection.
This is a full wall mural that Mr. Naegele painted for the museum. It shows the guards in uniform interacting with the POW's. Notice on each piece of clothing a POW wore were the stenciled letters "P W". You can see it on the pants of the man on the left in the truck. Information at the museum told us the clothing worn by the men was all used clothing that came in big bundles to the "paint room" where each piece was sized and labeled PW. No one seemed to know from where the clothing came. This area of the camp was where the artist, originally from Stutgart, Germany, worked.
All of the next pictures were painted from 1943 -1945 at the camp, on pieces of left over wood.An imagined "aerial view" of the German Prisoner of War Camp in Nebraska.
Prisoners who had been bakers where recruited to make bread and pastries for others at the camp and for those "outside". (Notice the P and W on the man's jacket.)
According to Mr. Naegele, guards and prisoners had the same style "open" facilities.
This is the guard tower of which there were many. They were manned 24 hours a day and this painting shows the changing of the guard. There is an authentic tower on display on the museum grounds.
This is the saddest painting of all. It was done in the artist's later years. The story is told below.
And so, we started out this journey by learning about a piece of our history. Perhaps it is because of my own German heritage that the whole idea of German POW's on U.S. soil is so disturbing. Perhaps the government was right in keeping this information quiet... or maybe we just missed it in the history books.The entire Nebraska Prairie Museum is over 65,000 square feet and I don't think there is a plow or dress or piece of glass or tool that isn't on display somewhere. A person could easily spent an entire day and many more days if you wanted to do research in their extensive geneology library.
In the school, I found a lunchbox just like the kind my folks used to have and I could just imagine my dad's cap hanging on the pegs of the Nerstrand School.
An old switchboard reminded me of my brief career as a secretary/receptionist at G.T. Schjeldahl Co. I actually disconnected Mr. Schjeldahl from an overseas call, but no, that isn't the reason my career was short lived. At the urging of my supervisors, I decided to go back to college.
And I actually saw a piece of "goofus" glass. My mom had the same piece in her cupboard for many years.
Off to Colorado - who knows what we will encounter there.
posted by jf and me | 8:41 PM
1 Comments:
Really appreciated my visit to the museum. I was about 8=10 years old while experiencing the German Camp in Grand Island. I remember the Germans playing soccer and singing their hymns late at night. Quite an experience for a young kid.
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