German Prisoner of War Camp at Lake Wabaunsee
Part I
In 1985 a Master of Arts student at Emporia State University, Penny Clark wrote her thesis entitled -- "Farm Work and Friendship: The German Prisoner of War Camp at Lake Wabaunsee". It was published in The Emporia State Research studies series in the winter 1988 issue and later in the Flint Hills Independent in 1998.
Part I -- Transport of POWs to Kansas
He was an American Soldier who had fought Nazi Germany in the blistering heat of North Africa, leaving behind many fallen comrades. Eventually he received a furlough and went to visit his sister in Eskridge, Kansas. During the visit he ambled to one of her windows, peered outside, and saw German soldiers working peacefully in the garden. At first he was stunned with disbelief that German prisoners of war were working in America. He later wondered, as did many other Americans, why German prisoners of war ended up spending World War II in comparative safety and luxury while American GIs were fighting and dying all over the globe. There were a number of reasons why German POWs were interned in America and specifically why they were housed near Eskridge Kansas.
One of the dilemmas that faced the Allies during World War II was what should be done with captured German soldiers. Originally they were shipped to Great Britain. It was a small country, however, and could not absorb all of the POWs. The Allies decided to send some of them to Canada and the United States.
It was sensible to send the POWs across the Atlantic for the duration of the war. Canada and America had more space to intern large numbers of prisoners. The American government sent ships loaded with troops and supplies east to Europe. These ships were empty on the return trip west to the United States, and so it made sense to fill them with POWs. POWs were less of a security risk in North America. Where would a POW go is he did escape? German POWs were at least 3000 miles from home, and few, if any Americans were sympathetic to the Nazi cause.
Many German soldiers felt frustrated at their capture. Klaus Majer recalled that he and George Staglmaier were ninteen-year old German troops serving under Field Marshall Erwin Rommel in the "Hell on Wheels" Panzer Division when they were taken on May 9, 1943. The Americans rounded up Majer and Stanglmaier, along with many others, at Porto Farina in Tunisia, North Africa. Majer remembered that he knew it was the end because the Germans had run out of gas and ammunition, and that they could neither move nor shoot.
POWs did not know what to expect from their American captors. Gustav Kolmel recalled that the Nazis had given the Germans a bad impression of the Americans, which made him apprehensive about how he would be treated. Hermann Dorn, however, claimed that the Germans had never really considered Americans as the enemy. For the first three months after they were captured, Klaus Majer recalled, they had many doubts about whether the Americans were humane people.
The Prisoners were taken to Camp Chanzy on the Sahara Desert, where they ahd almost no food to eat of tents to protect them from the elements. Majer remembered that the POWs were transported in freight cars that were closed during the day when it was hot inside, but opened at night when it was cold. Gustav Kolmel recalled that he, too, was taken prisoner by the Americans on May 9, but in his case the Americans turned that group of prisoners over to the French, who transferred them to the British. By June, 1943, the Americans one again had control over Komel and his group of prisoners.
One of the most memorable events in the captives’ experience as POWs was their transport from their place of capture to Kansas. Klaus Majer recalled that he was shipped from Oran, Algeria, on the Duchess of Bedford to Liverpool, England. At Liverpool Majer and other POWs were put on another ship, the Edmond R. Alexander, for the voyage to New York City. Ernst Kunzel had a somewhat different experience. He, too, was shipped from the Oran to Liverpool, but his group of POWs was put on a train to Birmingham. There they were put back on a train to Liverpool. This time he left Liverpool on either the Queen Mary or the Queen Elizabeth for America. At New York prisoners were put on trains headed for America’s hinterlands. Willie Dresing remembered that three POWs were placed in a seat for two.
Once the POWs reached American soil, the Americans and Germans had to face their fears and prejudices about one another. For many POWs their first camp was Camp Concordia, Kansas. Security was a high priority at Concordia, and barbed wire, double fences, watch towers, guarded gates, and daily roll calls were used to discourage escapes. Franz Schieder recalled that the guards at Concordia feared the POWs because they thought all POWs were Nazis and "Kinderfresser mit doppeltem Gebiss" (child eaters with two sets of teeth.)
The POWs also had mixed emotions about their American captors and about being prisoners. Although they were loyal to the Fatherland, many were glad to be out of the war. According to the Alma Enterprise, "The brighter side for enemy soldiers is to be taken as was prisoners. The war and its horrors are over for them. They are not too unhappy of their plight. They have food, shelter, and comparative safety." One POW said that his father had told him to surrender to the Allies if he ever had the opportunity. Some POWs said that being a prisoner of war in America was certainly more pleasant than being shot at on the Russian Front.
The POWs discovered that life as a prisoner in America could be a pleasurable experience, often because they had some control over their own lives. Ernst Kunzel remembered that camp cooking was good because the Americans provided plenty of food and allowed POWs to cook for themselves. Klaus Majer commented that the cooks seemed to be able to get any kind of food they asked for. Housing at Concordia was good, even though POWs had only cots to sleep on. POWs made their dormitories more pleasant through their own initiative.
The guards and prisoners became more friendly toward each other until an unfortunate incident occurred. According to the POWs, they had been allowed to play soccer at the camp, and could retrieve the ball when it was kicked outside the security perimeter. One day during a soccer game, however, a POW went to retrieve a ball outside the "security line" and an American guard shot him in the head and killed him. Relations between guards and POWs became more formal at Concordia after the incident.
POWs had warmer relations with Americans when they were transported from Concordia to smaller prison camps around the state. Lieut. Col. L. H. Shafer, commanding officer of the Fort Riley camp said the official attitude was "half way between ‘kill ‘em or kiss ’em. We should do neither... But treat them justly, bearing in mind they are still our enemies." Security was looser at Fort Riley than Concordia. However, prisoners were highly guarded even at Fort Riley. Klaus Majer remembered that one American guard accompanied every three POWs when they left the camp to do farm work. Being guarded at Fort Riley was not too bad: according to Hermann Dorn, once the guards realized that the POWs were friendly and hardworking men, relationships between them became open and cordial.
Another reason for improved relations between POWs and Americans at branch camps was that American officials had screened the POWs into different groups, depending on their degree of sympathy with National Socialism. Only those who were considered to e no threat to the safety and well-being of civilians were sent out to branch camps such as Lake Wabaunsee.
Establishment of the Prisoner of War Camp at Lake Wabaunsee
A severe labor shortage in American industry and agriculture was among the consequences of Would War II. Kansas farmers were especially desperate for labor. Many young men were in the military, others had gone to defense industries, and many agricultural tasks still demanded considerable manual labor.
More than 7000 Axis POWs were interned in Kansas during World War II. They were first confined largely in two camps near Concordia and Salina. As Kansans gradually realized the POWs posed little threat, and as labor became increasingly scarce, farmers came to regard POWs as a large and valuable source of labor. Farm communities proposed that POW camps be located close by to make labor readily available. This was true in Wabaunsee County. Many methods were used to alleviate the labor shortage.
First of all, the Wabaunsee County Extension Service organized a farm labor committee that consisted of four members and the county agent. The committee selected a farm labor chairman for each township. The farm labor committee and township leaders took a survey that revealed that there was indeed a severe shortage of farm labor. Second, the labor committee urged civilians who had not traditionally worked in agriculture to gravitate to the fields. The farm labor committee encouraged women and high school students to sign up on farm labor lists. Male students of St. Mary’s college gave their time also. The committee insisted that is an individual had only an hour or two to spare, even that small segment of time could be beneficial to the war effort. Third, farmers worked cooperatively to harvest crops and fill silos.
The establishment of a German prisoner of war camp promised relief to labor-starved Wabaunsee County. In 1943 a prisoner camp was established at Camp Fremont, the abandoned civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp east of Council Grove which housed 400 men. The prisoners at Camp Fremont were available to farmers in Wabaunsee, Morris, Chase, and Lyon counties.
On August 26, 1943, a meeting was held in the Eskridge City Park to discuss and explain the use of war prisoners. By September 2, 1943, eight German Prisoners of war from Camp Fremont, watched by two guards, helped to put up silage at the Clyde Penrice farm. The Eskridge Independent reported that: "Mr. Penrice was well satisfied with their first day’s work. These young Germans...of the Afrika Corps were willing workers and quick to catch on to what was desired."
Although the German Prisoner Laborers, with their qualities of hard work and intelligence, worked out well, relatively few farmers used prisoners from Camp Fremont. The 35 farmers who did use prisoner labor were large operators. Most farmers could not afford the drive to Council Grove to pick up and return laborers. Wabaunsee County farmers desired a closer prisoner of war camp, preferably in Wabaunsee County. A special meeting to discuss POW labor was held on Friday evening, September 24, at 8:30 PM at the court house in Alma. New conditions were established under which these men could be employed for agricultural purposes.
Howard C. Myers, Wabaunsee County Extension Agent, took steps to establish a prisoner of war camp in the country in early 1944. He attended a labor meeting in Topeka on February 19. Myers conducted a survey to determine how many Wabaunsee County farmers would use POW labor. Farmers planned to use POWs to fix fence and to cut hedge and brush. Myers encouraged other farmers who would want additional labor in the summer and fall to contact him, and he reassured farmers that an indication of a desire to use POW labor at that time would not compel them to use it later. Also the county commissioners had agreed to use prisoners to repair bridges. Myers hoped to have the camp established by May 1.
By March, 1944, Myers announced the working conditions that had been drawn up for POW labor: $.40 per hour for the time the man actually works on the farm. Farmers will be expected to furnish the noon meal and provide transportation. A credit of $.21 for the noon meal will be allowed. Transportation costs will be credited with a refund of $.05 per mile up to a maximum of 60 miles per load."
Once a sufficient demand for POW labor had been established the next question was where the camp should be located. The ideal location for a prisoner of war camp in Wabaunsee county was thought to be at Lake Wabaunsee, located approximately five miles west of Eskridge. The City of Eskridge owned Lake Wabaunsee. During the 1930s a National Youth Administration (NYA) camp was established at Lake Wabaunsee; it had barracks, a dormitory, and a mess hall. Although abandoned by the NYA, the camp was used in the early days of World War II as a place of rest and relaxation for the United States Army. Army officers inspected the former NYA camp at Lake Wabaunsee in April, 1944, for use as a POW camp. "They were very impressed with it and fell in love with the location," reported the Eskridge Independent. "They rated it the second most suitable location in the state."
The Eskridge City Council proved to be a stumbling block to a prisoner of war camp at Lake Wabaunsee. A request had been made by March 23 to use the lake for a prisoner of war camp, but the Eskridge City Council declined to make a decision. A council meeting was held in March, 1944 to discuss whether a prisoner of war camp should be established. Both those for and those against the camp were invited to attend, but only Frank G. Blecha, State Labor Supervisor, and Howard C. Myers, Wabaunsee County Agent, were present. Blecha told the group that Wabaunsee County could have a camp for 100 German war prisoners established by the summer of 1944. Blecha assured councilmen that the POWs he would send to Wabaunsee County were good men. He said that men who worked on Kansas farms were carefully selected by the Army out of 7000 German POWs in Kansas. POWs desired to work because it became tedious to sit inside a barbed wire fence day after day, Blecha told councilmen. A prisoner, Blecha emphasized, was used under strict rules: "He must not be abused or overworked. He is entitled to his rest period. He must be fed the dame kind of meal as the rest of the family and other employed men are fed. He must not be pampered. Nor is it permissible to discuss the war of political topics with him. The prisoners are not to be used in competition with free labor, and if a man asks a farmer employing the prisoners for a job, he must be given one also." Myers and Blecha told city council members that a prisoner of war camp at Lake Wabaunsee would contribute to the war effort. Farmers filled a vital role in fighting the war by producing crops that fed and clothed both soldiers and civilians.
The Eskridge City Council waited a week to vote on whether to allow a prisoner of war camp to be established at Lake Wabaunsee. A motion was made and seconded, at a city council meeting on April 3, that the City of Eskridge permit a camp at Lake Wabaunsee. On a roll call the vote was: Carl Harrold, "No"; E.A. Peterson, "Yes"; Stanley, "No"; C.C. Meeker, "No"; Lucky, "Yes"; and so the motion lost 3-2.
There were at least two reasons for the council’s refusal. First, the City of Eskridge, which had always owned Lake Wabaunsee, wanted the lake to be self-supporting at least, or even to make a profit. If a prisoner of war camp were established, people might be unwilling or unable to use the camp for recreation. Then the citizens of Eskridge would have to pay for the lake, because no revenue would be generated. Second, the prospect of a large number of the enemy living at Lake Wabaunsee evoked negative community reaction. Some people thought that the men would attempt to escape, especially in the wooded areas around Alma. The Eskridge City Council members may have been especially prone to veto the German prisoner of war camp because all but one member had fought against Germany in World War I.
The Eskridge City Council claimed that there was not enough demand for prisoner labor to justly restricting lake usage. The city council reassured farmers that a camp might be established along the Kaw Valley near Wamego. Alma had also been considered as a possible location for a prisoner of war camp. The problem with a camp at Wamego was that, like Camp Fremont at Council Grove, it was a long distance for a farmer to drive to get laborers.
On April 19, the council met with a group of farmers at the request of C.H. Houseworth and Win Stratton. Farmers who urged the councilmen t change their minds at this meeting were: Merle Converse, Jim McKnight, Win Stratton, Glen Schwarting, Jim Thompson, and Franklin Van Petten. Dr. G.M. Umberger of Kansas State College also was present. The farmers spoke in favor of establishing the camp because they believed that there was going to be an acute labor shortage, especially during the harvest season in July. The farmers pointed out that even their spring work had suffered because of labor shortages, and many farmers were unwilling to plant crops if they could not be harvested. The farmers insisted that producing crops was essential to victory. Myers suggested that 100 men would not be enough to meet the demand for labor, especially at silo filling time. He stated that 60 men would be put to work immediately in Wabaunsee County.
Three Eskridge City Council members, C.C. Meeker, E.A. Peterson, and Carl Harrold, made a written request to Ivan D. Conrad, Mayor of the City of Eskridge, to call a special meeting of the Eskridge City Council. The meeting, scheduled at 10:30 am, April 21, 1944, was to be held "for the purpose of reconsidering the granting of permission of the farmers of Wabaunsee County to establish a camp for the German Prisoners of War at Lane Wabaunsee during the summer and fall of 1944 to provide and make available labor for their use." The council members wanted to make sure that the action taken at the April 21 meeting would be legal and binding, the same as if the action had been taken at a regular meeting.
On April 21, 1944, the council finally approved a camp to house 100 German prisoners of war at Lake Wabaunsee and agreed to lease the part of the grounds with the buildings. This special session was held at the Harrold Produce Company office in Eskridge. Mayor Conrad served as chairman of the meeting. Councilmen Peterson, Stanley, Harrold, Meeker, and Lucky were all present. The council members drafted a resolution permitting the establishment of the camp, and then voted by a show of hands to adopt the resolution.
Perhaps the reversal by the council was less from concern for the farmers; plight than from a guarantee that a prisoner of war camp at Lake Wabaunsee would not lose the City of Eskridge money. The farmers and councilmen agreed to charge farmers using the prisoners an additional rental fee of $.02 per man hour. The council’s opposition to spend taxpayers’ money on the camp was spelled out in the official agreement:
WHEREAS: It is apparent that there will be an acute shortage of farm labor in Wabaunsee County during the coming crop season, and many farmers will not be justified in planning an extensive program nor able to execute such a program as they are capable unless a sufficient amount of extra labor is made available.
BE IT RESOLVED
That the City of Eskridge Governing Body consents to the establishment of, and the leasing of certain buildings of Lake Wabaunsee, owned by the City of Eskridge, to the Wabaunsee County Farm Labor Committee for the purpose of maintaining a seasonal camp for German Prisoners of War to alleviate the farm labor shortage in this section of the State of Kansas. That the camp be maintained and operated under the joint supervision of the Committee and the United States Army, without expense to the city for additional improvements, alterations, repairs or maintenance. That all boundaries and buildings used and alterations be subject to approval of the City Council of Eskridge in order that the rights of the public and property owners at Lake Wabaunsee be fully protected according to the obligation of the City of Eskridge.
The prisoners were to arrive around May 20th.
In late April and early May, definite plans were laid concerning farm labor in Wabaunsee and surrounding counties. At a meeting of the Wamego Lions Club, local farmers decided not to establish a subsidiary camp at Wamego. A May 3 meeting was held to organize the County Farm Labor Committee, and the following officers were elected: President, M.W.Converse; Vice President, A.W.Stuewe; and Secretary-Treasurer, Howard C. Myers. The other members of the committee were Albert Camp. Another difficulty was dealing with all the rumors about the camp. One story was that all enlisted rank POWs were being shipped ti Indiana and the whole project was off. The committee used several methods to combat the problems.
First, meetings were held about the use of POW labor. On May 9 a meeting was held in Holton, Kansas, concerning the labor program. E. Stratton, Ralph John, Leo Leonard, Walter Hund, Norman Stuewe, and Howard C. Myers were among those who attended the meeting. Later in May the county agent and two representatives of the labor committee drove to concordia to further define plans for the camp.
Second, members of the committee helped to prepared the camp to meet the specifications of the Army. Some of the committee members, prospective employers of the POWs, advanced money to cover the costs of complying with Army specifications. Mrs. Howard C. Myers recalled that her husband, the county agent, "really hustled" to ready the camp for the POWs. Myers searched second-hand stores for hooks to hang their clothes. She was dismayed when he ransacked their home for mirrors to hang at the POW camp.
Third, the Wabaunsee County Farm Labor Committee perfected its organization. The committee was renamed the Wabaunsee County Grower’s Association. The role of the association was to act as a go-between of the farmers wanting laborers. The members of the committee were Kaine, Wamego; Raymond Morton, Wamego; Dr.G.M. Umberger, Harveyville; and Leo Leonard, Alma. The committee voted to have a member of the Eskridge City Council on the labor committee. The council accepted this invitation, and Carl Harrold was voted as the member to represent the city council.
The committee paid the government around $800 to guarantee that the prisoners of war would be worked and to cover the cost of preparing the camp for the POWs. The money was refunded to the committee when the amount was paid to the government in wages. As the committee was responsible for payment of wages to the government, it was decided to have the farmers pay for the work in advance. The wage rate for general farm work was set at at $.37 an hour. It had originally been decided to charge $.35 an hour, but $.02 an hour was added to pay for the rental at Lake Wabaunsee. Myers announced after the May 4 meeting that prisoner labor would be available by May 20.
The Wabaunsee County Farm Labor Committee faced other obstacles after the Eskridge City Council. Despite Myers’s assurances that farmers would be able to obtain prisoner labor from Lake Wabaunsee by May 20, the establishment of a camp at all was seen as doubtful as late as June 15. The major problem that confronted the committee was that the Army was unwilling to invest the capital necessary to convert the old NYA camp into a POW camp. Despite all obstacles, the association persevered and a prisoner of war camp was established in the summer of 1944. The association completed agreements with the Army in late June. An advance team of 20 POWs was sent out under the direction of an Army detail from Fort Riley. They worked for about two weeks to ready the camp for use. By July 6 the POWs were laboring outside of the camp. Eight of them were sent to help build Wabaunsee County Bridges. POWs also began work on farms: eight were taken to the Koenig farms of Alma and four to the M.W. Converse farm.
Another 80 POWs had arrived at Lake Wabaunsee by July 13. The Eskridge Independent reported that 82 out of 100 POWs were being put to work. The newspaper thought that 82 would be the average number of POWs at work, and that at silo filling time demand would exceed supply. The Independent said that farmers who used POWs were accomplishing things that could not be done otherwise.