About 2,600 German POWs were held there during World War II. Eventually, in the wake of the Nazis' six-month reign of terror, the War Department acknowledged the problem and began to enact reforms. POW and ISU Camps and Hospitals in US. |-T'T5Z The last German POWs didnt head home until 1946. Her family eventually found a prisoner of war using it in the middle of the night to go meet a beau in the moonlight. They ruled with an iron fist, ordering work stoppages and holding kangaroo courts. Japanese and German POWs; Japanese, Italian, and German internees; now, Constructed for prisoners, later reused for housing after the war, Fortuitously located outside a city where many locals still spoke German. Im baffled., Suspect charged in fatal shooting in downtown St. Louis, Former Sweetie Pies TV star Tim Norman gets two life sentences in nephews death, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol slams ump C.B. You have permission to edit this article. Genevieve Camp Crowder, outside of Neosho, Missouri Camp Clark, outside of Nevada, Missouri Click here for a state map showing camp locations However, I want to ensure it is recognized for the treasure that it is and it is not simply thrown away," McDowell said. German POWs march into the mess hall at their small work camp on the Hellwig Brothers Farm on Gumbo Flats, the Missouri River bottomland now called Chesterfield Valley, in March 1945. Used a railroad box car. Leisure activities included Ping-Pong, chess, and card games. The POWs were required to watch the film during an assembly in June 1945, one month after Germany surrendered. <> The men ate well and were quartered under the same conditions as the Americans assigned to guard them, and the prisoners often enjoyed a great deal of freedom. The level of instruction was so high that some German universities offered full credit to returning POWs. <> This was not seen as a standing thing., The government realized early on that these men were not a threat of escape or destruction or other nefarious deeds, Fiedler said. In his written account (via The Fallen Foe), POW Fritz Ensslin, for example, claimed that many transferred POWs died in France performing "forced labor. In Kansas, according to Smithsonian Magazine, they stacked hay and did masonry. Located 14 miles (23km) SE of Roswell. They stared "open-mouthed" as the POWs "jumped down from railroad cars and marched in orderly rows to the camp four miles west of town." The main camps supported a number of branch camps, which were used to put POWs where their labor could be best utilized. In Section B of Fort Custer National Cemetery, there are 26 German graves. Because the branch camps were often short-lived, and some records have been lost or destroyed in the sixty years that have since gone by, it is likely that a couple have been omitted. According to Society for Military History, to create rights and status equal to the U.S. military, German officers above the rank of captain were assigned their own POW orderlies and generals were housed in private huts. The only difference, of course, was large barbed wire fences, search lights and guard dogs, Fiedler said. Post-Dispatch file photo, Three Italian POWs paint and draw during free time at Camp Weingarten in June 1943. In a memorable encounter, a little girl would leave her bicycle in a certain place every night only to find it moved in the morning. <> The result of the First Lady's initiative was the Prisoner of War Special Projects Division, led by Lt. Col. Edward Davison out of Camp Kearney in Rhode Island. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. Although the Georgia camp killers were convicted in 1945, Nazi perpetrators, protected by the Convention, usually received minimal or no punishment. From 1942 to 1945, more than 400,000 Axis prisoners were shipped to the United States and detained in camps across the nation. POWs built secret tunnels, slipped away from inattentive guards, constructed dummies of themselves, and impersonated U.S. officers, among other tricks. Short tried to have it designated a permanent home for the Army's military police training school. Post-Dispatch file photo, Two German POWs watch the film of Nazi atrocities during a mandatory assembly at their camp at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri. Opened in 1943, a segregation camp from 1944. As documented in by theSociety for Military History, between September 1943 and April 1944, in camps across the country, "6 murders, 2 forced suicides, 43 'voluntary' suicides, a general camp riot, and hundreds of localized acts of violence occurred." 3 POW compounds, 2 Enlisted, 1 Officer, Hospital Compound, American Compound. Many simply took off on foot. Formerly located on the south-east corner of East 120th St. and South Walnut Ave. 2.5 miles east of Grant. Union leaders protested the use of POWs at a quarry near Pevely. The foundational objectives of the Convention were to "prevent indignities against enemy soldiers" and to ensure that, through the humanitarian treatment of enemy soldiers, American POWs would be equally protected when held by enemy nations. The author further explained, "(T)he camp was enlarged to the point that some 5,800 POWs could be held there, and approximately 380 buildings of all types would be constructed on an expanded 950-acre site.". Following World War II, the facilities became the. The author further explained, (T)he camp was enlarged to the point that some 5,800 POWs could be held there, and approximately 380 buildings of all types would be constructed on an expanded 950-acre site.. The Bushwhacker military exhibit honors those Vernon County citizens who have served in armed conflicts, and especially those who have given their lives in service to their country. Cartoonist Mort Walker was also stationed there and drew inspiration for Camp Swampy of his Beetle Bailey comic strip. xZOHa <> Many of the camps where they were held have faded into distant memory as little evidence remains of their existence; however, one local resident has a relic from a former POW camp that provides an enduring connection to the service of a departed relative. As noted in Humanities Texas, POWs were put to work right from the start, although their assignments were limited due to fears of escape, sabotage, and overseas exploitation. Post-Dispatch file photo, Some of the German POWs who were housed in a prison compound at Fort Leonard Wood in central Missouri watch an Army Signal Corps film of scenes from a Nazi concentration camp in Europe. St. Louis on the Airbrings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. 2011 - Dave Fiedler. Some classes were taught by the POWs themselves, others were conducted as correspondence courses. See. Photo by Jack Gould of the Post-Dispatch, Two Italian POWs hang out their laundry at Camp Weingarten in June 1943. Pfc. Originally it was to serve as an armor training center. Thats why I want to tell the story of its creation its history, so that its association to Camp Weingarten is never forgotten., Jeremy Amick is one of the authors writing for WAR HISTORY ONLINE. They were contracted to work on farms and in canneries, mills, and tanneries. <> Waste material generated from the former Fort include aviation and vehicular fuels, oils, greases, metals, paints and solvents. Click here for a state map showing branch camp locations. The Factory's first step in the POW camps was the distribution of books banned by Hitler. endobj Thirty-three German POWs and two Italian POWs are now buried in the post cemetery. Only one escaped entirely. They were: Fort Leonard Wood Camp Weingarten near Ste. Taylor and his fellow soldiers, most of whom were assigned to military police companies, maintained a busy schedule of guarding the prisoners held in the camp, but also received opportunities to take leave from their duties and visit their loved ones back home. From San Pedro, Gaertner, who spoke fluent English, traveled north undetected, taking a series of odd jobs on the West Coast, including fruit picker, logger, and ski instructor. The photo was taken in March 1945, shortly after radio commentator Walter Winchell told his national audience that POWs from Gumbo could sneak across the river and blow up the munitions plant at Weldon Spring. Having experienced the "American way of life," some POWs sought U.S. sponsors or worked for U.S. occupational forces in Germany in order to return to the U.S. POW John Schroer recalls that he made his decision to immigrate upon seeing the Statue of Library as he departed New York. 1. Early on, however, that wasnt always the case. It held soldiers and officers of the Italian army captured in the Allied Mediterranean campaigns during World War II. Camps typically held between 50 and 250 POWs and the men were housed in any sort of structure that was available. In fact, much of life that prisoners of war led in Missouri during that time was like that of U.S. Army privates serving in those camps: they received the same food and housing, ate meals in the mess halls, were given days off and performed duties ranging from laundry to cooking to working as orderlies in the Officers Club. No one was happy to be a prisoner of war, but many were glad to bide time to count the days until they got back home, Fiedler said. Per articles of the Convention, American soldiers were compelled to salute higher ranking POWs, and the infamous Nazi salute was permitted. Genevieve and Farmington, Missouri, (Camp Weingarten) had no pre-war existence, wrote Fiedler. JFIF C Here are some rare photos that show what living in the state of Missouri during this time looked like. They made it 10 miles south to the Meramec River, but farmers saw them and called the Highway Patrol. Camp Crowder, outside of Neosho, Missouri, Click here for a state map showing camp locations, Columbia fraternity houses on the MU campus, Hannibal housed in tents in Clemens Field, Riverside housed in the former Jockey Club racetrack facility. It was an enormous and complex task, but over the next three years, the War Department succeeded in housing more than 400,000 POWs in some 500 camps. "That's why I want to tell the story of its creation its history, so that its association to Camp Weingarten is never forgotten.". The Missouri National Guard retained 4,358 acres of Camp Crowder for use as a training site. People got in trouble for it: prisoners expressing affection through love notes were intercepted. POW Camp, Co.1, Tooele (original postage). There were four main base camps, each holding between 2,000 and 5,000 prisoners of war. Consider reading Fiedlers book, which you can find here. Large German pow camp 2 miles outside of Thomasville. Due to a labor shortage, Italian Service Units worked on Army depots, in arsenals and hospitals, and on farms. <>/Metadata 855 0 R/ViewerPreferences 856 0 R>> q2JShr6 Many locals recognized the vital role the POWs played in their local businesses, and quite a few befriended their captive employees, continuing relationships even after the war, as noted in HistoryNet. The majority of the camps were located in the Midwest, South, and Southwest, and the biggest contingency of POWs 372,000 were German. (POW) camp in 1943. My uncle then gave the cigarette case as a gift to my father, who was living in Jefferson City at the time and working as superintendent of the tobacco factory inside the Missouri State Penitentiary, stated McDowell. 300 POWs from Camp McCoy arrived at the Calumet County Fairgrounds in June, 1945. Last chance! Helmuth Levin and Private Rudolf Straussberg left notes of explanation on their bunks. Readmore storiesfrom Tim O'Neil's Look Back series. And it was the Germans, Nazi and non-Nazi, who defined camp life more than any other group of captives. 6 0 obj Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. About 2,600 German POWs were held there during World War II.. They slipped past the guards at night and fled through the vegetable fields they tended. See the World War II POW camps near St. Louis. Residents were, Elliott See and Charles Bassett were the lead crew for Gemini IX, a mission scheduled for May 1966, all part of the learning curve in the race, On February 25, 1966, CBS premiered a TV documentary, "Sixteen in Webster Groves." Last edited on 25 December 2022, at 21:03, Learn how and when to remove this template message, University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler, http://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=29115, http://worldandmilitarynotes.com/pow/camp-mcalester-ok-usa-pow-camp/, Fort Leavenworth Military Prison Cemetery, Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology, https://www.westbatonrougemuseum.com/573/Port-Allen-Prisoner-of-War-Sub-Camp-No-7, German prisoners of war in the United States, Italian Prisoners of War and Italian Service Units: From Enemies to Co-belligerents, Paul J. Jordan, University of Massachusetts Boston, PDF text of report: DAPAM Issue 20; Issue 213: Prisoner of war utilization by the United States Army 1776-1945, Raw Text of: Prisoner of war utilization by the United States Army 1776-1945, "Bellemead (New Jersey) Italian Service Unit", "German POWS Lived and Died in Florida Camps" by Jim Robinson, The Orlando Sentinel 4 May 2004, http://www.ourmidland.com/local_news/article_69cbc6a7-0b7a-59db-bf4a-f3d309b87808.html, "On American Soil: Camp Florence, Arizona. Camp Weingarten quickly grew into a sprawling facility to house Italian POWs brought to the United States and, Jefferson City resident Carolyn McDowell explained, was the site where one of her uncles spent his entire period of service with the U.S. Army in World War II. Jean Shepherd featured many stories of his time at Camp Crowder in various monologues. From 1942 to 1945, more than 400,000 Axis prisoners were shipped to the United States and detained in camps across the nation. The rules werent too lax in that regard, actually. In one incident, Black servicemen were barred from entering a restaurant at a Texas train station while POWs were invited inside to dine with their white captors. By 1943 the army had acquired 42,786.41 acres (173.2km2), 66.9 sq. Shortly after Taylor received assignment to Camp Weingarten, Italian prisoners of war began to arrive at the camp in May 1943. A number of prisoners of war did later return as immigrants and about a dozen of those immigrants settled in St. Louis. oW5( It held soldiers and officers of the Italian army captured in the Allied Mediterranean campaigns during World War II. When labor shortages due to enlistment hit the American economy, however, the War Department rethought its strategy and greatly expanded POW labor. A 150 feet (46m) electrically lighted escape tunnel was discovered by authorities. All Rights Reserved. And it was the Germans, Nazi and non-Nazi, who defined camp life more than any other group of captives. A handpicked group of intellectual American officers joined forces with anti-Nazi POWs, and the democracy-promoting strategies of The Factory, as it became known, were devised. endobj at aheuer@stlpr.org. Coal mining was prominent in the late 1870s to the 1950s. Photo by Buel White of the Post-Dispatch. POW Camp Road is a typical graded gravel road in the Gulf Coastal Plains of southern Mississippi. About 15,000 German and Italian prisoners of war spent part of World War II under guard at 30 camps scattered across Missouri. Located between Farmington and Ste. Two escaped. May 7, 2018 at 12:00 a.m. During one kangaroo court in Georgia, two pro-Nazi POWs charged an anti-Nazi POW with being an informant and liking American jazz. POWs in the US. Thousands of Axis POWs worked in the fields, replacing American farm boys gone to war. As McDowell went on to explain, her uncle remained at Camp Weingarten until his discharge from the U.S. Army in December 1944. Post-Dispatch file photo, The chow line on a boat camp at St. Louis in 1945. 9 0 obj #"8_Bh ?hpUZ) endobj The POW Camps in Missouri during World War II included: Clark (Camp), Nevada, Vernon County, MO (base camp) Crowder (Camp Enoch), Neosho, Newton County, MO (base camp) Weingarten (Camp), Sainte Genevieve County, MO (base camp) Wood (Fort Leonard), Pulaski County, Missouri (base camp) Enemy alien internment camp: These branch camps held 50 to 250 prisoners and were placed in communities in which the prisoners could be of use to community businesses such as bakeries, farms, maintenance jobs, dock workers for the railroad and riverboats, and factories. Originally CCC Camp Lakewood built in 1936, Housed 3,500 Italians and later 10,000 Germans, Formerly the county courthouse, is now the headquarters of the. Around Geneseo. Although the POW camps opened and closed with little fanfare, their unique design and deployment in painful contrast to the Japanese internment camps have earned them their own notable place in the war's history. 3 0 obj By the war's end, the average reached 60,000 POWs per month. Although her uncle died in 1970, records accessed through the National Archives and Records Administration indicate he was drafted into the U.S. Army and entered service Nov. 10, 1942, at Jefferson Barracks. When Levin and Straussberg fled Hellwig farm on June 16, 1945, they were among roughly 100 German POWs who lived there. About 500 American soldiers were assigned to guard 3,600 Italians at the camp. As that took place, about 2,000 acres (8.1km2) of the post was turned over to the U.S. Air Force as a buffer zone around Air Force Plant 65, a government owned-contractor operated liquid propelled rocket engine manufacturing facility operated by the Rocketdyne division of North American Aviation. "My uncle then gave the cigarette case as a gift to my father, who was living in Jefferson City at the time and working as superintendent of the tobacco factory inside the Missouri State Penitentiary," McDowell stated. Now Tampa International Airport and Drew Park. According to theSociety for Military History, the last batch of them 1,500 German prisoners sailed from New Jersey on July 26, 1946. Originally, when the government agreed to bring them here, they were concerned about security, Fiedler said. POW Camps in the USA POW Camps in Missouri. The camp was made up of 450 prisoners from Germany and Aus. In Texas, according to Humanities Texas, some residents feared having Nazis nearby and, worried about escapes, locked their doors and cautioned their daughters. Some fought floods with sandbags. e-mail Now called Dennis Whiles, Gaertner told Jean he had been raised in an orphanage, thus eliminating any questions about his family. The camp, located south of Neosho, Missouri, was established in 1941. As noted by Humanities Texas,methods of escape were as varied as reasons for trying and were occasionally quite inventive. The camps were located all over the US, but were mostly in the South, due to the higher expense of heating the barracks in colder areas. After completing his initial training, he was designated as infantry and became a clerk with the 201st Infantry Regiment. During World War II, more than fifteen thousand German and Italian soldiers came to Missouri. Prisoner-of-war camps in the United States during World War II. The post also served as an infantry replacement center and had a German prisoner of war camp. There were also few wholesale escape attempts made by prisoners of war in Missouri. Straussberg fled into the woods, but he didnt get far. Taylor and his fellow soldiers, most of whom were assigned to military police companies, maintained a busy schedule of guarding the prisoners held in the camp, but also received opportunities to take leave from their duties and visit their loved ones back home. The case not only had a specially crafted latching mechanism, but was also etched with an emblem of an eagle on the cover with barracks buildings and a guard tower from the camp inscribed upon the inside. The case was crafted by an Italian prisoner of war held at Camp Weingarten south of St. Louis. Although the total number of escape attempts from U.S. camps was proportionately low, according to Humanities Texas, some POWs did try. Camps in the St. Louis area included Gumbo Flats in the Chesterfield Valley, Jefferson Barracks, riverboats, and an Ordinance Depot in Baden. The Army selected the Neosho site for the post . PublishedDecember 8, 2016 at 3:26 PM CST, Credit Kelly Moffitt | St. Louis Public Radio. POW Death Index in US. Most of the POWs went to large camps, including one covering 960 acres near Weingarten in Ste. Camp was located in North Thibodaux along Coulon Road. War History online proudly presents this Guest Piece from Jeremy P. mick, who is a military historian and writes on behalf of theSilver Star Families of America. By 1943, Arkansas had received the first of 23,000 German and Italian prisoners of war, who would live and work at military installations and branch camps throughout the state. Camp Weingarten, Missouri 2: Camp Weingarten Italian POW Rosters in US: POWs in the US: POW Death Index in US: WWII: UT POW CD: POW Photos in US: POW and ISU Camps and Hospitals in US: Genealogical Research: ISU Units and Installations in US: . <>/F 4/A<>>> As a result, their supervision relaxed, sometimes to the point of being unguarded and unwatched. Chesterfield Ex Satellite Pow Camp is a superfund site located at T 45 N, R 4 E, Sect. Black soldiers experienced institutionalized discrimination both at home and overseas, and their prejudicial treatment occurred at the hands of not only white Americans but white POWs as well. 12 0 obj Fiedler recounted the tale of one Italian gentleman who, after he returned to his home country, wrote to a farmer he worked for in Sikeston remarking on how much he liked working with him. Italys surrender in 1943 changed the status of the Italian POWs, who remained here but were granted more freedom, including occasional trips to the Hill neighborhood. In the years after the war, McDowell said, her mother kept the cigarette case tucked away in a chest of drawers but since both of her parents have passed, she now believes the historical item should be on display in a museum. Photo by Buel White of the Post-Dispatch, The chow line on a boat camp at St. Louis in 1945. In "Icons of Insult: German and Italian Prisoners of War in African American Letters During World War II," author Matthias Reiss recounts numerous instances of racist encounters involving white Americans and POWs. The Chicago Tribune reported Oct. 23, 1943, that the prisoners at Camp Weingarten soon "put on weight" by eating a "daily menu superior to that of the average civilian.". Earlier that evening, a English-speaking fellow prisoner heard an American radio broadcast suggesting that German POWs be dispatched to the uncertain care of the Soviet army. The camp buildings are preserved in. In Chesterfield Valley, Fiedler said, there are stories of farmers getting to know the prisoners of war and inviting them in for lunch. It was noted many of the Italians were "semi-emaciated" when arriving in the United States because of a poor diet. d3K/,diWAgCZ,7Y>&WqU(lt1iJ5cuy#}iv^L),ybY[Y="Ni' i~l + Kurt Rossmeisl escaped on 4 August 1945 and surrendered in 1959. To disguise its purpose, The Factory POW staff interspersed pro-democracy tracts with fiction and other entertaining fare. Area Camp with 9 Branch Camps. Located where the present day Cleburne Conference center is located in the 1500 block of West Henderson(business HWY 67), Housed German POWs from the Afrika Korps after their defeat in North Africa. Despite the challenges of overseeing the internment of former enemy soldiers, the camp experienced few security incidents and conditions remained rather cordial, in part due to the sustenance given the prisoners. Sent to a camp in Colorado, he asked for and was granted a transfer to Crossville. in Newton and McDonald counties. They worked as lumberjacks, mechanics, sign painters, tailors, and in hundreds of other positions, according to History of Prisoner of War Utilization by the United States Army 1776 to 1945. CHESTERFIELD Cpl. Little remains of the once sprawling POW camp located approximately 90 miles south of St. Louis, with the exception of a stone fireplace that was part of the Officers Club. Interestingly enough, no marriages were a direct result of the prisoners time in Missouri. The United States had officially entered World War II. Most Americans regarded them as curiosities, but there was conflict. After the war it became a men's dormitory for. Straussberg added an apology to his keepers for causing the trouble of looking for us.. Many St. Louisans were outraged when the program made most . Fort Leonard Wood, in central Missouri Camp Weingarten, near Ste. endobj This was no invasionary force; rather these were prisoners of war, part of a flood of almost a half-million men captured and sent to the United States, held here until the end of the war. more than 400,000 Axis prisoners were shipped to the United States and detained in camps across the nation, The Enemy Among Us: POWs in Missouri During World War II, The Life And Mirror Of A St. Louis Veteran. The permanent barracks, were obtained as surplus and formed the core of the community college campus for Crowder College in 1962. Camp Weingarten. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) identifies sites such as Chesterfield Ex Satellite Pow Camp because they pose or had once posed a potential risk to human health and/or the environment due to contamination by one or more hazardous wastes. The majority of escapees were captured quickly and without incident. In the years after the war, McDowell said, her mother kept the cigarette case tucked away in a chest of drawers but since both of her parents have passed, she now believes the historical item should be on display in a museum. All buildings but one have been demolished. However, POW Camp Road is not about the road itself. In the United States at the end of World War II, there were prisoner-of-war camps, including 175 Branch Camps serving 511 Area Camps containing over 425,000 prisoners of war (mostly German). Following World War II, the facilities were taken over by the Veterans Administration with both a hospital and large domiciliary complement. American women fell in love with prisoners and a couple of times it turned into aiding escapes, which was considered a traitorous act and a criminal offense.. A few continued into the early 1970s in Las Animas County where Trinidad is located. The road is in an area called the POW Camp Recreation Area in the De Soto National Forest. Glidden (left), commander of Camp Weingarten, looks across part of the 960-acre prisoner-of-war compound in Ste. 2,000 German POWs were houses at seven locations on the. The town was chosen for its relative isolation Seriously underwater., Neman: Missouri womans saga of trying to find common sense at Walmart, I can still hear the roaring of the engine, says father of teen maimed in downtown St. Louis. Sub Camp of Camp Forrest - April 1944 to March 1946 - 331 German Prisoners. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fort_Crowder&oldid=1094391312, Col John Bartlett Murphy, May 46 Mar 48, This page was last edited on 22 June 2022, at 09:53. In 1985, Gaertner surrendered to the INS and, as a publicity stunt, to Bryant Gumbel on "Today." The Italian and one German POW who committed suicide rather than be repatriated are buried just outside the post cemetery boundaries. The main camps supported a number of branch camps, which were used to put POWs where their labor could be best utilized. Transcripts for St. Louis Public Radio produced programming are available upon request for individuals with hearing impairments. Camps were built on military bases, like Fort Leonard Wood, and within the base there would be a prisoner-of-war compound. Weingarten is a small town in southern Missouri, outside of St. Genevieve. Justifiably, much has been written about America's World War II Japanese internment camps and the systemic racism that spawned them. The camp had no pre-war existence, and unlike the other major camps in the state, it never served any military function other than a pen for Italian POW's. The first POW's, all Italian, arrived on May 7, 1943. Some were transferred to a special camp for Nazi incorrigibles in Oklahoma. ", The Untold Truth Of America's WWII German POW Camps, History of Prisoner of War Utilization by the United States Army 1776 to 1945, American Reeducation of German POWs, 1943-1946, Icons of Insult: German and Italian Prisoners of War in African American Letters During World War II, Returning to America: German Prisoners of War and American Experience. In 1893, inventor Nikola Tesla first publicly demonstrated radio during a meeting of the National Electric Light Association in St. Louis by t. Although America's treatment of POWs earned high marks from most German prisoners, its repatriation policy was widely criticized. The camp, located south of Neosho, Missouri, was established in 1941. President Harry Truman ordered them sent back to Europe "to whichever country wanted them. 600 German POWs were interned in the Schwartz Ballroom from October 1944 to January 1946. [7]:272. Camp Weingarten, Missouri. Missouri figured into this equation, housing some 15,000 prisoners of war from Germany and Italy inside state lines. The elder Hennes was captured by Americans in Europe in the fall of 1944.