One of my most recent projects at the museum has been helping with the research and writing of the book 13,000 Nights. This book, which the museum hopes to finish and have for sale this year, centers on the men from Kossuth county who were serving in WWII who became POWs themselves in Europe and Asia. The book provides details on their individual experiences as POWs and the conditions of the POW camps they stayed in.
This week my attention has been drawn to POW escapes (see the “Artifact of the Week” blog from June 5, 2015 to read about a POW escape attempt at one of Camp Algona’s branch camps). While doing my research, I discovered a rather large escape attempt that occurred at Stalag Luft III in western Poland, a camp that housed several POWs from Kossuth county. Nearly 600 prisoners at the camp secretly dug 3 tunnels. On March 24-25, 76 British and Canadian POWs escaped through a tunnel that the POWs had christened “Harry.” In the end, only 3 made it back home and the rest were caught. 50 of them were executed.
More recently, these tunnels were excavated by archaeologists. To see photos of the tunnels, see artifacts uncovered by the excavation, and learn more about this escape attempt, read this great article at garfieldsteamhouse.org. This is a great example of how the fields of archaeology and history often intersect!
If you want to know more about WWII POW camps in Germany and Asia, please visit the Camp Algona POW museum and view our exhibit on the camps Kossuth County veterans were interned in. Comment below for more information on the exhibit or the upcoming book 13,000 Nights!
-Annette, The Intern
This week my attention has been drawn to POW escapes (see the “Artifact of the Week” blog from June 5, 2015 to read about a POW escape attempt at one of Camp Algona’s branch camps). While doing my research, I discovered a rather large escape attempt that occurred at Stalag Luft III in western Poland, a camp that housed several POWs from Kossuth county. Nearly 600 prisoners at the camp secretly dug 3 tunnels. On March 24-25, 76 British and Canadian POWs escaped through a tunnel that the POWs had christened “Harry.” In the end, only 3 made it back home and the rest were caught. 50 of them were executed.
More recently, these tunnels were excavated by archaeologists. To see photos of the tunnels, see artifacts uncovered by the excavation, and learn more about this escape attempt, read this great article at garfieldsteamhouse.org. This is a great example of how the fields of archaeology and history often intersect!
If you want to know more about WWII POW camps in Germany and Asia, please visit the Camp Algona POW museum and view our exhibit on the camps Kossuth County veterans were interned in. Comment below for more information on the exhibit or the upcoming book 13,000 Nights!
-Annette, The Intern