By: Dirk Vanover
V & M Staff


     Rose Marie also remembers hearing a story that shows the differing feelings among the prisoners.
 
     After the prisoners picked the peaches, the peaches were sent into the shed to be packed. One day a peach that grew with another peach attached to it came into the shed. The extra peach made it look as if it had a nose, and one of the prisoners had drawn disheveled hair and a moustache on the peach—a caricature of Hitler. Another day a peach came in with a swastika drawn on it.
 
     “People were thinking the one who did the caricature of Hitler was probably against Hitler, and the other one was probably a Nazi,” Rose Marie said.
 
     Sanders remembers her father telling her that the day the treaty was signed with Germany, the guards were lined up and down the roadside near Camp Pomona as a precaution. Nothing happened, but the guards were just being cautious.
 
     “Those boys were anxious to get home, just like our boys were to get home,” Sanders said.
 
Supporting the troops

     The prisoners were not the only ones being treated well by the folks around Camp Pomona. Many of the American soldiers also benefited from working at the camp.
 
     “We fed the soldiers occasionally, if they could sneak by without getting caught. We weren’t supposed to, but they’d come in and eat with us,” Sanders remembered.
 
     “Since we had a serviceman in our family, everybody would lean over backwards to help them,” Raymond Flamm said.
 
     Rose Marie and Raymond, who are brother and sister, also remember frequently having one of the camp guards and an interpreter, also an American soldier, over for dinner.
 
     Raymond remembers that one evening the soldiers were over for dinner and when his mother brought out a big bowl of strawberries, the soldiers’ eyes grew wide. They had not seen such a large amount of strawberries in a long time and were amazed that they had that many on the farm.
 
     “They had all they could eat,” Raymond said.
 
     Sugar was also hard to obtain because of rationing, but the soldiers told the Flamm family that if they could take some fresh fruit from the farm to the mess sergeant at Camp Pomona, they could bring back sugar for them. The next time the soldiers returned, they had bags of sugar under their arms and candy bars for the kids.
 
     “We couldn’t get chocolate bars during the war, but soldiers could. These guys would go in and give us chocolate bars. Oh, that was a big thrill!” Rose Marie said.
 
     Raymond also remembers that one day was the guard’s birthday, and his father, mother, and the interpreter conspired to surprise him. His mother baked a cake for the guard and brought it out when they were going to have dessert after Sunday dinner.
 
     “When mom brought that cake out, this one guy had a family and was away from home, that was the first time I ever saw a soldier cry,” Raymond said.
 
     Vincent also helped out one of the soldiers at the camp. He met the soldier in Murphysboro, and the soldier told him that he was late coming back from leave. So Vincent drove him in his truck out to the camp.
 
     Vincent’s actions echo one of Raymond’s quotes: “Everybody would lean over backwards to help the servicemen. If there was an Army guy in uniform on the road, he didn’t have to see very many cars go by before he got a ride. People did everything they could for servicemen.”
 
Soldiers’ reactions

     Today, some of the American soldiers who fought in World War II and faced capture by German forces believe the treatment of German POWs by American forces was the way prisoners should be treated.
 
     Ken Belton, of Jerome, Ill., was a 22-year-old pilot when his plane crashed in Holland after a bombing raid in Germany during January 1945. Belton was fortunate to have his parachute on when his plane exploded, and he was sucked out into the open sky. When he landed, he found himself in a strange land and unsure of his location.
 
     “I couldn’t understand what they were saying,” Belton said. “I thought it might be German.”
 
     Fortunately, after Belton landed, the Dutch Underground took him in. Belton then fought with the Dutch Underground until he was able to return to Allied units after the war.
 
     “If it wasn’t for the Dutch Underground, I would have been captured and who knows what would have happened,” Belton said. “Had I been caught, I probably wouldn’t be here today.”
 
     Belton said that he was afraid of being captured because of fears of starvation, disease, and not getting the proper medical treatment he might have needed from the Germans. He was also afraid of being accused of spying because he was running around with the Dutch Underground, and he was worried about reprisals from people who had been bombed.
 
     Belton said that he believes the Germans who were detained in the United States were treated well. He believes that no matter what, prisoners of war should be treated fairly.
 
     Belton also said that some of his friends who were captives in Germany were treated fairly and made it back to the United States in one piece. One of his friends, who was held captive near Munich, said that as long as prisoners did not cause trouble everyone was treated fairly. However, Belton also added that the Germans would build some of their POW camps near bombing targets for the Allied forces to try and diminish the possibility of an air strike.
 
     America’s fair treatment of German prisoners did not happen only in the United States. Administration policy dictated that German prisoners held in Germany were also treated well by American forces.
 
     Bruce Bauer, of Jonesboro, Ill., was 18 years old when he was stationed in Germany after World War II had ended. He was responsible for guarding a group of SS troops.
 
     “They were treated real good,” Bauer remembers. “They had their own barracks and own food.”
 
     Bauer also believes many of the troops were not upset about their detainment because the surrounding areas where they were being held were in shambles. The buildings were torn up, the railroad station was not operating and there were no stores. It was also in the middle of the winter when he was guarding the troops.
 
     “The camp where I was at, they were well-satisfied, especially in the winter,” Bauer said.
 
     Bauer’s story shows that Americans treated German POWs fairly during World War II both in the United States and in Europe.
 


(1), (2), (3)>>>