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September 26, 1999
Author recounts story of German POWsPOW camp in New Ulmsparked interest in bookBy SARA SYVERSON Journal Staff Writer NEW ULM -- What would it be like to live life behind barbed wire, as a German Prisoner of War in America in World War II. How many German Prisoner of War camps existed in Minnesota during that time? How were the German prisoners treated during their stay at the camps? These were a few of the questions researcher and author Anita Albrecht Buck, of Stillwater, answered in her book called "Behind Barbed Wire," German Prisoners of War in Minnesota During World War II. The book was published in 1998 by North Star Press, St. Cloud. Albrecht Buck was the guest speaker at the Junior Pioneers fall annual meeting held at Turner Hall Saturday evening. She spoke about her book and answered questions after her speech. "I wrote the book to preserve this facet of history," said Albrecht Buck, "I thought it was necessary the story of that time period was organized and recorded." She got the idea to write the German Prisoner of War story after talking to Darla Gebhard, who is the president of the Junior Pioneers of New Ulm and Vicinity. Buck is also a member of the Junior Pioneers of New Ulm because her great-grandfather, Wilhelm Pfaender, was one of the founding members of the city. According to Albrecht Buck, Gebhard had answered a question that had appeared in the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Someone had asked if any of the German Prisoners of War, who were imprisoned in Minnesota had returned or stayed in Minnesota after the war. "She answered 'No, they were not permitted to,'" said Albrecht Buck, "Well I read that and I said, 'I was alive during that time and I didn't know there were P.O.W.'s in Minnesota.' So I thought this was something I had to investigate." There were 21 P.O.W. camps in Minnesota including the southern Minnesotan towns of Faribault, Montgomery, Owatonna, Wells, St. Charles, Hollandale, Fairmont and New Ulm. Several of the northern Minnesotan towns that had P.O.W. camps were Grand Rapids, Bena, Remer, Moorhead, Warren, and Ada. The P.O.W.'s in the north worked in the lumber industry and those in the south and northwestern part of the state worked in the agricultural industry in planting and harvesting crops and also in canning the foods. "The U.S. government benefited from the P.O.W.'s because they played a vital role in keeping the farms and industries running during the war," said Albrecht Buck. The P.O.W. camp in New Ulm was located at Flandrau State Park, at the group camp site, along the Cottonwood River. The first group of German P.O.W.'s numbered about 150 men and during the course of the war, other prisoners came and left the camp. The last German prisoners to leave New Ulm was on Oct. 9, 1945. "The writing didn't take very long, the research was the hard part," said Albrecht Buck, "According to the Geneva Convention of 1929 there was supposed to be very little publicity about the P.O.W.'s, so there were not many records kept on them." It took approximately two years to research information for the book, because she had to look through two years of old newspapers. "I was fortunate in finding at the Minnesota Historical Society, the records of the Commander of the Algona Base Camp and he had some of his reports on file there," said Albrecht Buck, "From them I learned where the various branches were located in Minnesota and then it was a matter of going through old newspapers for each of the counties around the towns." During the war, it was not acceptable to photograph the German prisoners of war and it was considered an act of treason to take a photograph of them. Therefore, the book contains very few pictures of the prisoners. Albrecht Buck found out the name of a professor at St. Olaf College named Howard Hong, who was a field secretary for the International YMCA during the war, and decided to try reach him. "Just on a hunch I called the college and said 'Does this man happen still to be alive, and is he still around here?'" said Albrecht Buck, "'Oh yes, he is,' and they gave me his name and phone number and I called him and we had a lovely interview and it lasted almost two hours. He gave me a lot of information." Hong had been in charge of seeing that all the P.O.W. camps in the Midwest (eight states) had libraries, craft materials and recreational supplies. Some prisoners even earned educational credits that were later accepted when they returned to Germany. The P.O.W.'s were to be treated like the army men of the United States and were to receive similar necessities and rations, according to Albrecht Buck. "I think I came to an appreciation of how honorable the Americans were in keeping to the terms of the Geneva Convention," said Albrecht Buck, "I think I learned that in spite of the fact that these were enemies, some very strong friendships developed. A lot of the German prisoners have returned to live in the United States." One Minnesota farm family has kept in touch with the German man who was a prisoner who worked for them during the war and they have kept up the long distance relationship for 40 years now, according to Albrecht Buck. Albrecht Buck has given numerous speeches and there have been people who have had similar experiences who relate them to her and additionally, more information on this topic has surfaced. Albrecht Buck has written one other book called "Steamboats on the St. Croix River," published by North Star Press, St. Cloud. The Junior Pioneers of New Ulm and Vicinity is an organization that began in the area in 1912 when the founders of New Ulm wanted to take on the task of planning the 50th anniversary of the Dakota Conflict. The "juniors" referred to the children of the founders who helped their parents and grandparents in planning the event. "The purpose of the group is to keep green the memory of the original settlers," said Gebhard, "It's a nice way to stay connected to New Ulm. We are looking for members." The organization has 500 members internationally and only direct descendents of the persons who settled New Ulm area by 1870 can join the group. The groups events are open to the public, according to Gebhard.
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