In the United States at the end of World War II, there were
prisoner-of-war camp
A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured by a belligerent power in time of war.
There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, and military prisons. ...
s, including 175 Branch Camps serving 511 Area Camps containing over 425,000
prisoners of war (mostly German). The camps were located all over the US, but were mostly in the South, due to the higher expense of heating the
barracks in colder areas. Eventually, every state (with the exceptions of Nevada, North Dakota, and Vermont) had at least one POW camp. Some of the camps were designated "segregation camps", where Nazi "true believers" were separated from the rest of the prisoners, whom they terrorized and even killed for being friendly with their American captors.
Approximately 90% of Italian POWs pledged to help the United States, by volunteering in
Italian Service Units (ISU). Due to a labor shortage, Italian Service Units worked on Army depots, in arsenals and hospitals, and on farms. POWs who were a part of the ISU received better housing, uniforms and pay.
Raw Text of: Prisoner of war utilization by the United States Army 1776-1945
By, Lewis, George G., Lieutenant Colonel, MPC, United States Army, and Mewha, John Captain, Armor, United States Army, pages 189–191
At its peak in May 1945, a total of 425,871 POWs were held in the US. This included 371,683 Germans, 50,273 Italians, and 3,915 Japanese.[
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See also
*Camp Ruston
Camp Ruston was one of the largest prisoner-of-war camps in the United States during World War II, with 4,315 prisoners at its peak in October 1943. Camp Ruston served as the "base camp" and had 8 smaller work branch camps associated to it. Camp ...
*German prisoners of war in the United States
Members of the German military were interned as prisoners of war in the United States during World War I and World War II. In all, 425,000 German prisoners lived in 700 camps throughout the United States during World War II.
World War I
Hostil ...
Footnotes
External links
A nearly complete list of all camps
Camp Rucker (Fort Rucker), Alabama
The German POW camps of Michigan during WWII
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pow Camps in the United States
01
World War II sites in the United States
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
United States history-related lists
United States military-related lists
United States Department of Defense lists
*World War II