One evening this week, the General and I watched a movie on Amazon Prime that was based on a true story. If you've not seen The Keeper, the story of Bert Trautmann, I recommend it. Trautmann was a German soldier and prisoner of war, who subsequently was recruited to fill the position of Goalkeeper at Manchester City.
For starters, the movie highlights a natural response of not loving the enemy. Simply because the war ended, there was not a wholesale attitude of the need to "forgive and forget." Regardless of Trautmann's incredible skill as a goalkeeper, the price of admission was almost too much for the general public to tolerate.
I guess a person's interest in WWII is directly tied to any impact the war had on a family member. My dad's combat service was before my birth, but the ghosts from his past were never totally eradicated from his mind. Shortly before dad's death, he said to me: "I did some things in the war that I'm not proud of." I responded, "I've never been in a war, but I've also done some things that I'm not proud of either."
I remember from childhood that my dad had two things in our home he brought with him from WWII. Of course, that was all before my time. Dad had a Stahlhem (metal German helmet) and a shiny sharp German dagger with a metal scabbard. I remember Dad's explanation related to his getting the dagger. He took the dagger away from a German prisoner they had placed in the back of a truck with other prisoners for transport. Dad saw him taking the dagger out of his boot. I never thought to ask about the helmet.
I regret not having asked my dad more questions about the war. Yet, I somehow sensed that talking about the war was off limits. Interestingly, dad kept the German dagger and the metal helmet for the remainder of his life. My son now has the dagger and my niece has the helmet.
While watching the movie, the General asked if there were prison camps located in the United States for German prisoners? It was a question that I never thought to consider until when by happenstance, several years ago, I had an opportunity to visit the site of a previous German war camp in North Carolina.
I had an opportunity to walk through a large building a short distance from the Black Mountain Home for Children in Black Mountain, North Carolina. The building is the largest of several structures on the 90 acres that is now considered their West campus.
Since 1946 or 1947, the state used the camp for 4-H activities until about 2013 when it had fallen into total disrepair. Prior to that, the camp was a prisoner of war setting to detain German soldiers. The larger building that served as headquarters may have also included a dining hall for the entire camp. The hardwood floors in the building carry an ambience from yester-year. In addition, the 1 x 6 wooden vertical planks that line the walls add to the historic charm. They are stained slightly darker than the floor.
In addition to the large room with lots of windows, there was also an officer's club adjacent to the larger room. Reportedly, there were 106 Germans housed at the camp. There are barracks scattered over the perimeter of the property.
The main building has a flagstone patio and rock wall that includes pits for cooking behind the structure. Across from the patio are rock steps that lead down to the building. All of the rockwork was done by the men the setting was established to maintain.
The rockwork done by German soldiers has withstood the test of time. It will forever reflect the German influence that was represented the origin of its beginning.
Out of curiosity, I did further research to determine where prisoners of war from WWII were detained. "At the end of the war in Europe, in May 1945, there were 378,000 German prisoners of war held in 155 base camps and 511 branch camps in forty-six of the forty-eight states.
"North Carolina had 2 major POW base camps: specially barbed-wire-enclosed camps within the larger American military bases at Camp Butner and at Fort Bragg. Each of these held between 2,000 and 3,000 German POWs. There were also 16 smaller branch camps across the state, each with 250 to 350 Germans, so that North Carolina held a total of some 10,000 "Nazi" soldiers, as the wartime American press described them".
I can't imagine being imprisoned. At the same time, the view of the mountain range serves as a picturesque backdrop for their confined environment. Reportedly, many of the prisoners subsequently left the United States with a very different view of Americans than the one they initially held.
Somehow the walk through a former POW camp created for Germans reminded me of the dagger and the metal helmet that my dad kept as a reminder that freedom isn't free.
All My Best!
Don
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