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Nazi Prisoners of War in America
by Arnold Krammer

book cover: Nazi POWs in America

From the back cover: This is the only book available that tells the complete story of how the U.S. government, between 1942 and 1945, detained nearly half a million Nazi prisoners of war in 511 camps across the country. With a new introduction, updated bibliography, and more than seventy rare photos, Nazi Prisoners in America describes America's first experience detaining so many foreign prisoners of war.
     Anyone interested in American history will want to read about the hasty conversion of high school gyms, local fairgrounds, and racetracks to serve as holding area, and the public relations problems that ensued. There were escapes, Nazism in the camps, kangaroo courts, and political murders among the prisoners. One escaped German POW received a tax rebate from the IRS and opened a bookstore in Chicago, while another, who remained at large until 1985, surrendered after reading the hardcover edition of this book. Nazi Prisoners of War in America is an exhaustively researched and fascinating history of one of the most incredible facets of America's participation in World War II.

Table of Contents:

1. From capture to camp
2. Life behind barbed wire
3. The labor program
4. Escapes
5. Westling for the tiller
6. Hearts and minds, 1945
7. "Thank God It's Over!"
8. Conclusion


Appendix:
Major German POW camps in USA
Monthly Census of POWs in the continental USA.

Recommended by fellow Combat! fan "Keonin" (aka "Scout"), Mon Feb 26, 2001 2:11pm
I'm finally just about finished reading Nazi Prisoners of War in America by Arnold Krammer.  A lot of good information in this book.  So many things to consider when housing prisoners on our soil that I never considered.

Trade paperback: 352 pages
Dimensions: 0.77 x 9.27 x 7.45"
Publisher: Scarborough House
ISBN: 0812885619
Published July 1996


Related reading:

We Were Each Other's Prisoners: An Oral History of WWII American and German Prisoners of War

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