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Author: Wolfgang D. Schmidt Publisher: Xlibris Corporation ISBN: 9780738847467 Category : Fiction Languages : en Pages : 312
Book Description
"The Education and Reeducation of POW 31G-23742357", an autobiographical narrative, should actually be a first person story but was written as a third person tall tale to the best of this first person's waning but still rather vivid memories. Nothing in it should be taken as earnest and truthful as a hollywoodian docudrama because much of it is composed from a German point of view and no German writer after Goethe is a trustworthy reporter of the German soul, or psyche, or stool, and their wars and history. Late in April 1945 Wolfgang, the storyteller, became simply a piece of disarmed enemy forces. No German soldiers taken after March 45 became legally Prisoners of War and treated as such, but were Disarmed Enemy Forces to whom the International Red Cross had no access and who were treated accordingly. Becoming a POW with the above mentioned number in late September 45 was his insurance for not winding up in one of the post WWII underworld camps of the Eisenhower-de Gaulle design in which hundreds of thousands erstwhile German soldiers perished, not the heavies of Nazidom but ordinary yokels from teenagers to aged Volkssturm invalids who - in GI language - wouldn't know the difference between shit and Shinola. Nevertheless, all along his existence as a prisoner Wolfgang did in fact luck out. The foundation of this lucking out was certainly his High School English, plus having taught himself the technique of expressing himself in that fabulous Basic English plus a few dozens technical English terms like carburetor and switch board, and for comparing Schiller's romantic drama "Die Jungfrau von Orleans" with George Bernhard Shaw's so much more realistic "Joan d'Ark", in English for that matter, because GBS fascinated him and was one of the most performed playwrights of the German stage, even during the Nazi era. Wolfgang close contacts with Americans had its beginning when he surrendered - in a way negotiated the surrender - of the 1st Elephanten - Flak - Batterie to an armed patrol of the 99th US Infantry Division from Pennsylvania, somewhere north of Tyrolean Kufstein in the Bavarian Alps. This surrender procedure was almost comical and may appear impossible in the context of this gruesome war, but the truth of the story may be checked out with the war diary of the Checker Board Division which may contain a thousand words describing the whole scene. A few weeks later Wolfgang was transferred north to the Red One' Infantry Division in which, many years later, two of his American born would serve. Wolfgang lucked out being the straw boss and interpreter of the prisoner work detail assigned to the kitchen and mess of headquarters company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Regiment. and within a couple of days enjoyed, apart from his work, being the answer man of many GIs who could not explain that shrill difference between the training propaganda films to which they had been exposed and the Germany which they now experienced , the masses of refugees (ethnic Germans from Bohemia), the DPs with many Jews among them, and the various types of camps ranging from those of absolute horror to labor camps in reasonable order, such as the one in which Wolfgang and his buddies and other work details were quartered. These were good days and according to rumors the prisoners would be discharged rather soon but then were free to continue to work their jobs as hired indigenous personnel, living in the camp without being imprisoned. It all sounded very good. Then General Eisenhower bounced Patton, who had earlier declared that no prisoners of war taken by his Third Army would be surrendered to camps of starvation and annihilation in France, thus putting a dirty stain on the American flag. He would rather resign from the Army than participate in this utmost crime which contradicts the ideals and objectives for which he had fought this war. After being bounced but still around, General Ge
Author: Wolfgang D. Schmidt Publisher: Xlibris Corporation ISBN: 9780738847467 Category : Fiction Languages : en Pages : 312
Book Description
"The Education and Reeducation of POW 31G-23742357", an autobiographical narrative, should actually be a first person story but was written as a third person tall tale to the best of this first person's waning but still rather vivid memories. Nothing in it should be taken as earnest and truthful as a hollywoodian docudrama because much of it is composed from a German point of view and no German writer after Goethe is a trustworthy reporter of the German soul, or psyche, or stool, and their wars and history. Late in April 1945 Wolfgang, the storyteller, became simply a piece of disarmed enemy forces. No German soldiers taken after March 45 became legally Prisoners of War and treated as such, but were Disarmed Enemy Forces to whom the International Red Cross had no access and who were treated accordingly. Becoming a POW with the above mentioned number in late September 45 was his insurance for not winding up in one of the post WWII underworld camps of the Eisenhower-de Gaulle design in which hundreds of thousands erstwhile German soldiers perished, not the heavies of Nazidom but ordinary yokels from teenagers to aged Volkssturm invalids who - in GI language - wouldn't know the difference between shit and Shinola. Nevertheless, all along his existence as a prisoner Wolfgang did in fact luck out. The foundation of this lucking out was certainly his High School English, plus having taught himself the technique of expressing himself in that fabulous Basic English plus a few dozens technical English terms like carburetor and switch board, and for comparing Schiller's romantic drama "Die Jungfrau von Orleans" with George Bernhard Shaw's so much more realistic "Joan d'Ark", in English for that matter, because GBS fascinated him and was one of the most performed playwrights of the German stage, even during the Nazi era. Wolfgang close contacts with Americans had its beginning when he surrendered - in a way negotiated the surrender - of the 1st Elephanten - Flak - Batterie to an armed patrol of the 99th US Infantry Division from Pennsylvania, somewhere north of Tyrolean Kufstein in the Bavarian Alps. This surrender procedure was almost comical and may appear impossible in the context of this gruesome war, but the truth of the story may be checked out with the war diary of the Checker Board Division which may contain a thousand words describing the whole scene. A few weeks later Wolfgang was transferred north to the Red One' Infantry Division in which, many years later, two of his American born would serve. Wolfgang lucked out being the straw boss and interpreter of the prisoner work detail assigned to the kitchen and mess of headquarters company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Regiment. and within a couple of days enjoyed, apart from his work, being the answer man of many GIs who could not explain that shrill difference between the training propaganda films to which they had been exposed and the Germany which they now experienced , the masses of refugees (ethnic Germans from Bohemia), the DPs with many Jews among them, and the various types of camps ranging from those of absolute horror to labor camps in reasonable order, such as the one in which Wolfgang and his buddies and other work details were quartered. These were good days and according to rumors the prisoners would be discharged rather soon but then were free to continue to work their jobs as hired indigenous personnel, living in the camp without being imprisoned. It all sounded very good. Then General Eisenhower bounced Patton, who had earlier declared that no prisoners of war taken by his Third Army would be surrendered to camps of starvation and annihilation in France, thus putting a dirty stain on the American flag. He would rather resign from the Army than participate in this utmost crime which contradicts the ideals and objectives for which he had fought this war. After being bounced but still around, General Ge
Author: Antonio S. Thompson Publisher: McFarland ISBN: 1476681678 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 256
Book Description
During World War II, Axis prisoners of war received arguably better treatment in the U.S. than anywhere else. Bound by the Geneva Convention but also hoping for reciprocal treatment of American POWs, the U.S. sought to humanely house and employ 425,000 Axis prisoners, many in rural communities in the South. This is the first book-length examination of Tennessee's role in the POW program, and how the influx of prisoners affected communities. Towns like Tullahoma transformed into military metropolises. Memphis received millions in defense spending. Paris had a secret barrage balloon base. The wooded Crossville camp housed German and Italian officers. Prisoners worked tobacco, lumber and cotton across the state. Some threatened escape or worse. When the program ended, more than 25,000 POWs lived and worked in Tennessee.
Author: Antonio S. Thompson Publisher: McFarland ISBN: 1476681686 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 227
Book Description
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.
Author: Christopher B. Bean Publisher: Texas A&M University Press ISBN: 1623499704 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 412
Book Description
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.
Author: Antonio Thompson Publisher: Univ. of Tennessee Press ISBN: 1572337427 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 193
Book Description
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.
Author: Judith M. Gansberg Publisher: ISBN: Category : History Languages : en Pages : 266
Book Description
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.
Author: Ron Theodore Robin Publisher: Princeton University Press ISBN: 1400821622 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 224
Book Description
From Stalag 17 to The Manchurian Candidate, the American media have long been fascinated with stories of American prisoners of war. But few Americans are aware that enemy prisoners of war were incarcerated on our own soil during World War II. In The Barbed-Wire College Ron Robin tells the extraordinary story of the 380,000 German prisoners who filled camps from Rhode Island to Wisconsin, Missouri to New Jersey. Using personal narratives, camp newspapers, and military records, Robin re-creates in arresting detail the attempts of prison officials to mold the daily lives and minds of their prisoners. From 1943 onward, and in spite of the Geneva Convention, prisoners were subjected to an ambitious reeducation program designed to turn them into American-style democrats. Under the direction of the Pentagon, liberal arts professors entered over 500 camps nationwide. Deaf to the advice of their professional rivals, the behavioral scientists, these instructors pushed through a program of arts and humanities that stressed only the positive aspects of American society. Aided by German POW collaborators, American educators censored popular books and films in order to promote democratic humanism and downplay class and race issues, materialism, and wartime heroics. Red-baiting Pentagon officials added their contribution to the program, as well; by the war's end, the curriculum was more concerned with combating the appeals of communism than with eradicating the evils of National Socialism. The reeducation officials neglected to account for one factor: an entrenched German military subculture in the camps, complete with a rigid chain of command and a propensity for murdering "traitors." The result of their neglect was utter failure for the reeducation program. By telling the story of the program's rocky existence, however, Ron Robin shows how this intriguing chapter of military history was tied to two crucial episodes of twentieth- century American history: the battle over the future of American education and the McCarthy-era hysterics that awaited postwar America.
Author: Wolfgang D. Schmidt
Author: Wolfgang D. Schmidt
Author: Antonio S. Thompson
Author: Antonio S. Thompson
Author: Christopher B. Bean
Author: Antonio Thompson
Author: Hans Schmidt
Author: 
Author: Wsevolod W. Isajiw
Author: Judith M. Gansberg
Author: Ron Theodore Robin