The most recent artifact featured on this site's artifact of the week blog is an Allied Military Currency Italian Lira click here to view. While the note helps explain American and British aims to help improve the economy in nations they occupied after takeover, as well as spread political ideologies such as democracy, it also showcases another theme: American GIs as tourists.

The Allied Military Currency was created to simplify transactions-GIs and Allied soldiers could have money to spend while overseas. Recently historians, such as Mary Louise Roberts, have explored some of roles GIs played while abroad that have previously been overlooked or understated, such as their role as tourists and consumers abroad. Indeed, for many American GIs their time in the UK, France, Germany, Japan, and the Philippines was their first time abroad. Once the fighting was over and occupation began, GIs spent some of their free time as many tourists would-buying trinkets to show relatives and friends at home, viewing the Eifel Tower etc. While doing so, they not only helped the local economy, but also interacted with the local people and represented America abroad.

The stories told at the Camp Algona POW museum have a similar feel. Just as many haven't considered viewing GIs as acting akin to tourists while abroad, many who visit the museum had no idea that there were prisoners of war in the United States. When visitors discover there were 150 base camps spread across the US, which processed nearly 400,000 prisoners of war, they often can't believe the system was so expansive. It just goes to show there is still so much to learn and discover about World War II. Can you think of another such topic that you feel hasn't been studied that deserves to be?

The Camp Algona POW Museum has been busy planning a new special exhibit. The exhibit is about food production during WWII and specifically focuses on efforts in Kossuth County to not only conserve food on the home front, but also increase agricultural output in order to feed American GIs and the Allies during the war.

The exhibit is tentatively titled “Our Food is Fighting” and will open at the Camp Algona POW museum in the late summer. Visitors will learn about the agricultural labor of Camp Algona’s German POWs in Iowa and Minnesota, as well as Kossuth County’s participation in nation-wide campaigns to conserve food, such as through victory gardening and rationing. Interesting artifacts and fun interactives will supplement the exhibit. We will even have some US military rations on display that were produced to feed American soldiers.

If you feel you have stories, photographs, or artifacts to share related to agriculture, rationing, and victory gardens during WWII that you would like to share for the special exhibit, please feel free to comment below or email us at campalgona@netamumail.com. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

-Annette, the Intern

Once visitors discover that 10,000 German POWs were processed through Camp Algona during WWII, they often wonder how Nazism affected camp life.

In fact, visitors are often surprised to learn that the majority of the German prisoners at Camp Algona were not “hard core” Nazis. According to a letter from Camp Algona Colonel A.T. Lobdell written January 9, 1947, about 40% of the prisoners were Catholic, 40% were Protestant, and the rest were “Hitler worshippers” as he termed it or “Anti-Christ.” Therefore, the majority of prisoners did not fully adhere to Nazi belief system. They had been drafted to fight in a bloody war and wanted to return home to see their families, friends, and live peacefully. Garner W. Hughes, who worked for a company that supplied Camp Algona with produce, stated “I met many German prisoners and they were people just like us, not wanting war, strong family connections, and for the most part were energetic and friendly people.”                                

However, this did not mean that Camp Algona experienced no problems with Nazism. Often, the prisoners who had been part of the S.S. and Gestapo in Germany caused many of the problems. For example, in January, 1944 Colonel A.T. Lobdell reported that 91 S.S. arrived at the camp. Lobdell stated that these men were “insolent, insubordinate, and it was evident that the P.W.’s in our camp feared the new arrivals.” Many refused to work. In response, Lobdell came out with the “no work, no eat” rule. The majority became compliant within a week and a half. After 3 ½ weeks, the rest agreed the work.

Even though it seems that the majority of German POWs at Camp Algona (and in the United States) for that matter, were not full blooded Nazis, this perception of Germans seems to have lingered in the American mind, especially in pop culture. Take, for instance, the new film, Pitch Perfect 2. The film centers on a female a cappella group (The Barden Bellas) that goes to an international competition, where they discover their biggest rivals are a German team named Das Sound Machine. You can few footage from the movie and become introduced to the music, appearance, and portrayal of this German team by viewing this short featurette “We Are Das Sound Machine” by clicking on the following youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X49hx02UHqg.

It is poignant that the film writers chose a German team (as opposed to a team of another nationality) to act as intimidating, scary rival that the Barden Bellas must face. The German team (in my opinion) is portrayed as frightening, militaristic, and draws on Germany’s Nazi past to instill fear. Why does this vision live on, while the image of the “energetic and friendly” people George Hughes encountered seems forgotten? How does Pitch Perfect 2 inform us of modern American perceptions of Germany and its people? Please comment below with your thoughts and view points.

Note-All the quotes and statistics gathered in this blog post were found in Camp Algona POW museum’s book A Collection of Memories of the Algona Prisoner of War Camp 1943-1946 by Wes H. Bartlett. For more information about the book, please comment below as well.

Then this morning I was on CNN and found an article about a Polish photographer who goes around (mostly in Poland), finding abandoned or unused historical buildings and photographs them.

This made me think about when I visited Auschwitz a few summers ago on a research trip. We walked around the camp, where several million had walked. The buildings were in tip top condition, and the chill you received when you entered most of the buildings, and heard the stories of what took place there was as daunting as if you had been there during the years that Auschwitz was a mass murder site and not a museum detailing the atrocities. In my field of study I have had the opportunity to visit several of the notorious camps that Hitler opened in order to create his master race. Most still had most of their original buildings. A lot of important sites throughout Europe, not just from World War II, but from history tend to have the original buildings, or a least part of the building, still standing.

When you "cross the pond" and head to the United States in search of authentic historic landmarks, it seems that as the years go by it is harder and harder to find. There are places across the United States that bank on the historic value of their towns (Boston, New York, Washington D.C., and Williamsburg to name a few). However, it seems that many historical buildings and historical areas have been torn down over the years with no record of what once stood there. 

This rings true to Camp Algona. It was built in 1944 and by 1946 had been torn down and basically sold for parts. The researcher in me asks: Why? It is terribly sad when you read about another victorian house or historic drug store that had been around for a century being torn down, but why tear down things that represent our history? As the United States, are we embarrassed by that chapter of our history? It is understandable where we, as Americans, may be embarrassed and horrified by the way previous generations treated the Native Americans, those who participated in the Civil Rights Movement, or even the Japanese-Americans during World War II. 

If the German people feel it is important to keep the history and the message of what happened at places like Auschwitz alive to prevent such a thing from potentially happening again, why not keep places like Camp Algona alive to represent not only it's small role in our Nation's history, but also to represent that even in times of war, humanity is not lost. That you can treat your enemy with respect, because in actuality, that is what occurred at Camp Algona from 1944-1946. Two sides who were told to hate each other, without really knowing the other, were brought together under unusual circumstances. My Grandma used to say hospitality and respect went a long way, and it really did. The German prisoners at Camp Algona were met with respect, those working on local farms formed friendships, some that would last the rest of their lives, and when the war ended the Americans and Germans went their separate ways. There was no animosity towards treatment of the German POWs, and many continued correspondence with Lt. Col Lobdell for many years after the war.

So what am I getting at? Why can we not do what the Europeans do and respect the historical places? It makes for a more memorable visit when you can see it opposed to reading a plaque that had been placed in memorial. Though, I will say (and perhaps I am biased), if Camp Algona cannot physically be here, the museum does an excellent job still telling it's story.

Time to hop off my historian soapbox!

For more information on the abandoned Parisian Apartment Click Here
For more  information on the abandoned Polish landmarks Click Here

Louis Zamperini was not a Kossuth County native, nor was he even a resident of Iowa. However, he is an inspiration and his wartime story is incredible. He was an Olympian, who at one point in his career was able to run a mile in almost 4 minutes flat.  He competed in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin with fellow American Jesse Owens. 

When the United States entered World War II, he joined the Air Force and became a bombardier. On a rescue mission for a fellow flight crew that was reported missing, the plane that Louis was on crashed due to mechanical issues. He and the pilot, Russell Allan Phillips survived, along with new crew member Francis McNamara. They would spend forty-seven days at sea, McNamara would unfortunately not survive by the time the Japanese captured them.

He would be sent to several Japanese prisoner of war camps, being used as a propaganda tool. At one point in his captivity he was forced to race Japanese runners that were brought in to race Louis. The one race he decided he could win, his reward was a beating that left him unconscious. One sadistic guard known as 'The Bird' had it out for Louis. He made Louis' life hell and even singled him out for select punishments.

Louis would survive his captivity and return to the United States. He spent several years trying to process what he had been through, taking to alcohol as a place of solice. After several years as an alcoholic, he finally was able to pull himself out of the dark whole he felt he could never get out of. He spent the rest of his life trying to live every moment to the fullest and becoming an inspiration for those that had also lost their way. He passed away July 2, 2014 at the age of 97. A movie based on the book "Unbroken" will be released this Christmas season based about his life and war time experiences.

For the trailer for the movie "Unbroken", click Here.

Yes, Zamperini was not from Iowa, but I feel his story is an inspiration. Those from Kossuth that were prisoners of the Japanese have all passed away. Their experiences died with them. From the research I have done on the camps themselves, it is safe to say that Louis' experience was similar to what many faced. Such an inspirational story. Such an inspirational man.

     Today on my lunch break I was checking out the latest updates from friends and family on Facebook. Something caught my eye from Stephen Ambrose historical tours (yes, I am that big of a history nerd). They announced that today was the 69th anniversary of the "Midnight Massacre". Being curious about what this was I went immediately to google. It was surprising what I found out.
     On July 8, 1945 at the POW camp in Salina, Utah, Private Clarence V. Bertucci went on guard duty around midnight. A few minutes later he began firing his .30 caliber machine gun towards the tents of the sleeping German POWs. Once he had emptied the 250 round belt, he called down to a fellow guard who had stumbled out of his tent upon hearing the gun fire to "Send up more ammo, I'm not done yet!"(Utah Local News) 
     In the aftermath, 8 men would have been killed instantly, another who had been nearly split in half would die hours later, and twenty others would have sustained injuries. Bertucci would be put under observation and deemed mentally unstable. He would be sent to a mental institution in New York and would be one of three Americans to be brought up on charges after the war for brutality against Prisoners of War. 
     When asked why he did it, Bertucci claimed that he despised Nazis. Those that were killed on that fateful night would be buried with military honors. However, the families back home would not discover the fate of their loved ones until 1948.
     This story could not have been brought to my attention at a better time. I have become my continued research on the Axis POW camps that the 29 from Kossuth County were in, and each camp is very different. I have not had the privilege to know the history of many other POW camps in the United States, except for Camp Algona. I have some knowledge of a couple in Wisconsin and the west coast, but it seems like opinions of guards were not all the same and did not all find the Geneva Convention a way to effectively oversee POWs,in their opinion.

For more information on the 'Midnight Massacre':

Wikipedia
Shooting Adds Tragedy to history of POWs in Utah

     

     The atrocities of World War II have been making headlines throughout many world news sources due to Johann "Hans" Breyer. Mr. Breyer is an 89 year old man who currently resides in Philadelphia. He immigrated to the United States from Germany in 1952 and worked as a toolmaker. 
     He has been accused of being responsible for the deaths of over 215,000 people at Auschwitz while his 19 year old self was a guard. Breyer had admitted to being at Auschwitz, but claimed to have been stationed outside of the main camp. Either way, the United States attempted to remove his citizenship in 1992 but without much success. It's taken nearly 22 years, but once again, Mr. Breyer is making headlines.
     This time it was not the United States to attempt to bring Breyer to justice for his participation, but the German government. He was arrested in Philadelphia on June 17, 2014 after the district court in Weiden, Germany issued a warrant for his arrest charging him with 158 counts of complicity in the commission of murder. Each count was a trainload of prisoners killed between May 1944 and October 1944. Currently Germany is trying to work out extradition from the United States to bring Breyer before a court.
     Seeing as the Holocaust is one of the main reasons I initially pursued the field of history, I am very passionate about things of this nature. Every time an ex-perpetrator is discovered I follow the coverage like a hawk. Many times I have been asked if by this point (since many of the remaining perpetrators who have not been brought to justice are in their late 80s or 90s) if it is worth it at this point. Seeing as this is a museum blog I will not go into it too much, but in this humble intern's opinion, there is no real cut off for bringing people of this caliber to justice. My Dad used to ask me when I was about to do something I probably shouldn't if I was prepared to do the time for the crime? For the most part, running in the middle of the street or stealing that extra cookie was not normally worth it. The same concept applies to scenarios like this, in my opinion. 
     Many have claimed that they did not know what was happening in the camps, but in the case of Mr. Breyer, it is hard to justify that. He admitted to being at Auschwitz. Can it be justified if he was scared of confronting his superiors over what was going on? He never said he felt any remorse of what was occurring. I have always wondered how many guards and officers at the camps truly felt that way, after many at the war crimes trials after the war said they were only following orders and felt that their lives and their family's lives were in jeopardy if they did not continue working in the brutal way that the SS has become notorious for operating as in the camps.
     It is important to be reminded of how far humanity fell during the time of the Holocaust. As a historian, I sometimes feel it is my job to try and educate people as to all the faults of past generations so that things of this nature do not happen again. In my nerdiness I envision myself a super hero parallel with Captain America or Iron Man. I am History Girl, educating people's misunderstanding of the past one document or artifact at a time. As I had the opportunity to visit The Grout Museum last weekend and see their exhibit on The Bosnian genocide in Prijedor in 1992, I realize that I, and my fellow historians, have a lot of work cut out for us. George Santayana said it best when he said "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it." With a quote like that it is hard to look past the participation (no matter how small one may claim it be) of people like Johann Breyer.
     I guess what should have been a short answer, once again turned into a long one with me. 
     There have been opportunity for me to meet a plethora of people throughout my lifetime that have had various opinions on the Nazi atrocities of the Holocaust during World War II. The one that sticks out greatly in my head is the schoolmate of mine who asked why it should matter to her since the Holocaust occurred in Europe and we live "not in Europe". Such eloquence she had. It may not have occurred in our backyards but Americans still faced the Holocaust in many ways. 350 soldiers captured in the Battle of the Bulge were sent to a sub-camp of Buchenwald in February 1945, by the time they were liberated after a death march in April 1945, less then half of them had survived.
      Those that lived in Algona or Kossuth County understood a little of what camp life was or what it should have been to any prisoner of war, whether for political\societal reasons or because they were soldiers of another country. Some men from Kossuth County were even participants in the liberation of some concentration camps. 
     Ralph Lindhorst was a combat MP in Europe. He fought on the beaches of Normandy, froze in the chilly tundra of Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge, and in the Spring of 1945, entered Nordhausen, which was a sub-camp of Dora-Mittelbau. There he took photographs that captured the horrors of what the Nazis did to those they felt were inferior to them.
     And I will remove myself from my Historian soapbox and go back to the archives.

                  ~The Intern~

          The Summer events at the museum have been finalized, which is pretty exciting! The museum is celebrating 10 years and will have a Grand re-opening\anniversary shindig on July 17th at 7pm. The original exhibit designer will be there to give a presentation, as well as the curator of the Gold Star Military Museum. There will be other fun things that evening like original board member stories of getting the museum project off the ground and such. It should be a great evening!
          On July 31st at 7pm we will be hosting a movie night where we will be showing The Great Dictator; the 1940 classic starring Charlie Chaplin. Though World War II was very new, only having begun the year before,Chaplin pokes fun at Adolf Hitler, the Third Reich, and many of their policies. Propaganda short films from World War II will be shown before the feature. Light Refreshments will be available as well. Everyone should come check out this awesome film!
          Finally, on August 21st at 7pm we will having History Night at the museum. Musicologist Kelsey Kramer McGinnis will be presenting her research findings of music inside Camp Algona. In addition, I will be presenting more information on my continued research of Axis prisoner of war camps and the treatment of Americans inside them. Jerry Yocum will introduce the next museum publication on the 29 men from Kossuth County that were prisoners of war in Germany and Japan that will be entitled "14,000 Nights".
          All of these events are FREE, but donations are greatly appreciated so the museum can continue to put together fun evenings like this. Come nerd out with your fellow history geeks! :)

                            ~The Intern~