Texas knows hospitality, even for German WWII POWs

[kentauros]

This is a great story, and one of the comments made me smile :D

Nazi POWs In Texas: Five Facts, Including The Most Inept Escapes Ever

By Richard Connelly
Tue., Oct. 11 2011 at 6:01 AM


Texas used to be dotted with prisoner-of-war camps in World War II, a temporary home to thousands of Germans and Italians.

Texas had far more prisoners than any other state, mainly because the first batch came from the North Africa campaign, and the Geneva Convention said prisoners should be housed in a climate similar to where they came from. Eventually camps were set up in more German-esque climates like Minnesota and Wisconsin.


5. Not-So-Great Escapes

Most Axis POWs, especially after things started going badly for their side, were content to be a long, long way from the fighting, being treated tolerably well. Others tried to escape. Arnold Krammer, who wrote a book on Texas POW camps, notes that the escapees weren't exactly Steve McQueen and crew:

Motivated by boredom, the need for privacy, or a desire to meet girls, the prisoners often simply wandered away from their work parties and were picked up within a few hours, confused and helpless. Most escapes were comical affairs: a prisoner from Mexia calling for help after having been chased up a tree by an angry Brahman bull; three from Hearne who were found on the Brazos River in a crude raft hoping somehow to sail back to Germany; and another from Hearne who was picked up along U.S. Highway 79, near Franklin, heartily singing German army marching songs.


(...more at link...)

[ceile]

1. You may find this interesting.

DUer Derby378 has a blog about TX ghost towns. In this post, he mentions Camp Howze (towards the end of the post).
http://texasghosttowns.blogspot.com/2011/10/marysville-cooke-county-september-2011.html