UID:
kobvindex_ZMS08109839
Format:
XVIII, 246 Seiten
,
Ill.
ISBN:
978-0-8130-3224-5
Content:
North Carolina had a unique relationship with prisoners of World War II. The first German soldiers captured by American forces, U-boat men, were interned at Fort Bragg. Through the war, the state held more than 10,000 prisoners in eighteen camps. Camp Butner was used to house POWs who claimed to be nationals of Allied states. Apart from the guards, civilian workers, FBI and local police who tracked escapees, most people were - and remain - unaware of their presence. Utilizing interviews with former prisoners and their guards, Red Cross and U.S. military reports, German-language camp newspapers, local print media, letters, memoirs, and other archival sources, Robert Billinger is the first to chronicle in detail the German POW experience in North Carolina during the war. Capturing the perceptions of the time, Billinger ably demonstrates the evolution of the stereotype that all Germans were Nazis to include an understanding that many were soldiers under orders. The United States' official treatment of German prisoners during the war - following the dictates of the 1929 Geneva Convention - along with politive contacts between prisoners and civilians outside the camps influenced diplomacy in the years to come. The book is dedicated to the insights gained by many POWs, guards, and civilians: that wartime enemies could become lifelong friends. (AUT)
Language:
English
Keywords:
Historische Darstellung
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