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Foreign News
May 20, 1946
The Daily Alaska Empire
Juneau, Juneau County, Alaska
What is this article about?
US Army has re-educated 22,000 select German POWs in democratic principles at camps like Fort Dix and Papago Park, preparing them as future leaders for post-war Germany. They are being repatriated via San Francisco, screened, and released as civilians. Brief mentions of Italian and Japanese repatriations.
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GERMAN WAR PRISONERS FROM U. S. NOW WELL-TAUGHT IN DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES. ARE HOPE FOR THEIR FATHERLAND
POW CARPENTERS-German prisoners of war are shown above working in a carpentry shop at Fort Dix, N. J. These men have learned to build many things of wood, from model airplanes to furniture.
By WILLIAM RUTLEDGE III
Central Press Correspondent
SAN FRANCISCO, Cal.-One of the monumental achievements of the United States Army has been the handling of the German POW's (prisoners of war). Those who have been interned within America are being returned to their homeland with such dispatch that by this summer it is expected that all POW's will have left our shores.
The Army's accomplishment has been to inculcate thoroughly these erstwhile super-men of Hitler's vanquished armies with the principles and fundamentals of democracy and provide them with first-hand observations of how a free people conduct their affairs.
Most of the POW's are among the best material to have been found in German uniforms, men who had been captured in the African, Sicily and Italian campaigns.
They have been interned within the United States up to four years. During that time the Army has schooled with a view to the future, their future in defeated and ruined Germany. It is expected that from their ranks will come leaders who will restore the Fatherland to a position of respect and integrity within the world family of nations.
Seek Proper Leaders
The overall project, administered under the direction of Col. A. W. Smith, a professor recruited from Northwestern university, has had as its objective the continual sifting of the 370,000 German-Austrian prisoners brought to the United States for leaders of a democratic post-war fatherland.
Members of the Nazi party and professionals of the German army were eliminated from consideration.
Of the 370,000 Teuton POW's in this country, a total of about 22,000 were chosen for intensive training in democratic government. They are being sent back to Germany and Austria to be released immediately as civilians.
Selections were made by the commanders of the various prison camps in the United States on the basis of their attitude towards America and their aptitudes for such schooling.
The prison internment camps in the west, most of them in the desert, are being liquidated rapidly. The ex-supermen are processed through the headquarters here.
Back in Germany they are taken to concentration camps and held while American authorities check their records against those of the Nazi party. Those who survive this screening are allowed to return to their homes as civilians.
Papago Park Prisoner of War Camp in Arizona declared, the United States has scrupulously tried to live up to every tenet of the Geneva convention. At the camp every effort was put forth to change the heart and spirit of these men.
As the last of the Papago Park POW's left for San Francisco, Colonel Austin told them, "By our treatment we have tried to make it clear to you what American democracy really means. From newspapers, magazines, motion pictures and radio, all of which you had access to, you were able to find out what we understand in freedom of the individual; the freedom which in this country finds its expression in the 'same chance for everybody' and the free way of thinking.
I sincerely hope that you pay due attention to all those thoughts, not only for the future of your own country, but also for the peace of the world.
"I hope you return to your homeland with a sacred determination to rebuild the country into a peace-loving nation in which there will be a full recognition of the 'rights of the individual, and in which politics go a constructive and not destructive way."
During their internment the Germans were allowed to send home as many mementoes of the United States as they wished.
Most of them have not heard from their families and friends in the fatherland since VE-Day.
POWs CHECK IN-War prisoners return to their barracks at Stony Brook in Livingston county, N. Y., after working in a food processing plant.
POW's said they were more concerned about the spirit and mental outlook of their fellow Germans than they were about their property. They are returning with every evidence of the good food and clothing and treatment they were accorded during their internment.
Italians Returned
The thousands of Italian POW's interned in western camps have been returned to their homeland. I saw numbers of them and through interpreters many of them expressed amazement at America and said they wished they could become citizens.
Jap repatriation has posed a peculiar situation. Soon after the Nipponese had been taken from civilian life on the west coast and placed in relocation centers, they were given a questionnaire to fill out.
Among the questions asked was whether they preferred to stay in the United States after the war or return to Japan. A large number went on record as preferring to go back to their mother nation probably influenced at the time by the magnitude of Jap conquest during the early stages of the war in the Pacific.
Now more than a hundred thousand are frantically trying to change their minds, in favor of remaining in the United States. Those being returned fatalistically say that they can only go back to Japan to die in the ruin of the war-devastated islands.
POW CARPENTERS-German prisoners of war are shown above working in a carpentry shop at Fort Dix, N. J. These men have learned to build many things of wood, from model airplanes to furniture.
By WILLIAM RUTLEDGE III
Central Press Correspondent
SAN FRANCISCO, Cal.-One of the monumental achievements of the United States Army has been the handling of the German POW's (prisoners of war). Those who have been interned within America are being returned to their homeland with such dispatch that by this summer it is expected that all POW's will have left our shores.
The Army's accomplishment has been to inculcate thoroughly these erstwhile super-men of Hitler's vanquished armies with the principles and fundamentals of democracy and provide them with first-hand observations of how a free people conduct their affairs.
Most of the POW's are among the best material to have been found in German uniforms, men who had been captured in the African, Sicily and Italian campaigns.
They have been interned within the United States up to four years. During that time the Army has schooled with a view to the future, their future in defeated and ruined Germany. It is expected that from their ranks will come leaders who will restore the Fatherland to a position of respect and integrity within the world family of nations.
Seek Proper Leaders
The overall project, administered under the direction of Col. A. W. Smith, a professor recruited from Northwestern university, has had as its objective the continual sifting of the 370,000 German-Austrian prisoners brought to the United States for leaders of a democratic post-war fatherland.
Members of the Nazi party and professionals of the German army were eliminated from consideration.
Of the 370,000 Teuton POW's in this country, a total of about 22,000 were chosen for intensive training in democratic government. They are being sent back to Germany and Austria to be released immediately as civilians.
Selections were made by the commanders of the various prison camps in the United States on the basis of their attitude towards America and their aptitudes for such schooling.
The prison internment camps in the west, most of them in the desert, are being liquidated rapidly. The ex-supermen are processed through the headquarters here.
Back in Germany they are taken to concentration camps and held while American authorities check their records against those of the Nazi party. Those who survive this screening are allowed to return to their homes as civilians.
Papago Park Prisoner of War Camp in Arizona declared, the United States has scrupulously tried to live up to every tenet of the Geneva convention. At the camp every effort was put forth to change the heart and spirit of these men.
As the last of the Papago Park POW's left for San Francisco, Colonel Austin told them, "By our treatment we have tried to make it clear to you what American democracy really means. From newspapers, magazines, motion pictures and radio, all of which you had access to, you were able to find out what we understand in freedom of the individual; the freedom which in this country finds its expression in the 'same chance for everybody' and the free way of thinking.
I sincerely hope that you pay due attention to all those thoughts, not only for the future of your own country, but also for the peace of the world.
"I hope you return to your homeland with a sacred determination to rebuild the country into a peace-loving nation in which there will be a full recognition of the 'rights of the individual, and in which politics go a constructive and not destructive way."
During their internment the Germans were allowed to send home as many mementoes of the United States as they wished.
Most of them have not heard from their families and friends in the fatherland since VE-Day.
POWs CHECK IN-War prisoners return to their barracks at Stony Brook in Livingston county, N. Y., after working in a food processing plant.
POW's said they were more concerned about the spirit and mental outlook of their fellow Germans than they were about their property. They are returning with every evidence of the good food and clothing and treatment they were accorded during their internment.
Italians Returned
The thousands of Italian POW's interned in western camps have been returned to their homeland. I saw numbers of them and through interpreters many of them expressed amazement at America and said they wished they could become citizens.
Jap repatriation has posed a peculiar situation. Soon after the Nipponese had been taken from civilian life on the west coast and placed in relocation centers, they were given a questionnaire to fill out.
Among the questions asked was whether they preferred to stay in the United States after the war or return to Japan. A large number went on record as preferring to go back to their mother nation probably influenced at the time by the magnitude of Jap conquest during the early stages of the war in the Pacific.
Now more than a hundred thousand are frantically trying to change their minds, in favor of remaining in the United States. Those being returned fatalistically say that they can only go back to Japan to die in the ruin of the war-devastated islands.
What sub-type of article is it?
War Report
Political
What keywords are associated?
German Pow Repatriation
Democratic Reeducation
Us Army Pow Program
Postwar Germany
Italian Pow Return
Japanese Internment
What entities or persons were involved?
Col. A. W. Smith
Colonel Austin
Where did it happen?
Germany
Foreign News Details
Primary Location
Germany
Event Date
After Ve Day, 1945
Key Persons
Col. A. W. Smith
Colonel Austin
Outcome
22,000 german pows selected and trained in democracy, repatriated to germany and austria for release as civilians to become future leaders; italian pows returned expressing desire to stay; japanese internees mostly wish to remain in us but some repatriated.
Event Details
US Army re-educated 370,000 German-Austrian POWs captured in Africa, Sicily, Italy; selected 22,000 non-Nazis for intensive democratic training at camps like Fort Dix, NJ, Papago Park, AZ; they are processed in San Francisco and returned to Germany for screening and civilian release, expected to lead democratic reconstruction.