Michigan POW Camps in World War II

by Gregory D. Sumner

Overview

During World War II, Michigan became a temporary home to six thousand German and Italian POWs.

At a time of homefront labor shortages, they picked fruit in Berrien County, harvested sugar beets in the Thumb, cut pulpwood in the Upper Peninsula and maintained parks and other public spaces in Detroit. The work programs were not flawless and not all of the prisoners were cooperative, but many of the men established enduring friendships with their captors. Author Gregory Sumner tells the story of these detainees and the ordinary Americans who embodied our highest ideals, even amid a global war.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781625858375
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	11/05/2018
Series:	Military
Pages:	160
Sales rank:	1,096,527
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Gregory D. Sumner is co-chair of the Department of History at the University of Detroit Mercy, where he has taught since 1993. Sumner holds a PhD in American history from Indiana University and a JD from the University of Michigan Law School. His previous books include Unstuck in Time: A Journey through Kurt Vonnegut's Life and Novels (Seven Stories Press, 2011) and Detroit in World War II (The History Press, 2015).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements 7

Introduction. "A Break for the Underdog": Michigan's World War II POW Camps 9

I Strangers in a Strange Land

Captivity 19

To the "Land of Soft Drinks and Canned Food" 26

Launching the Michigan Experiment 33

II Fritz Ritz?

A Question of Honor 39

"Hogan's Heroes in Reverse" 43

The Prisoners 48

"Covert Battlefields" 53

Coddling? 56

Respect 66

III Work

Baby Food and Birch Trees 75

The Blissfield 16 84

Escape? 93

"Conspiracy" in Owosso 98

IV Doing Time

Mail Call, Alcohol and "Yankee" Ways 113

Hansel and Cretel and the "Street of Hope" 117

Il Calcio and the "Conchies" 126

V Reeducation/Repatriation

Democracy Schools and Der Ruf 135

Farewell to the "Liberty Statue": The Long Road Home 139

Epilogue 145

Selected Bibliography 155

Index 157

About the Author 159