TXGenWeb Robertson County Books & Master's Theses

N A Z I   P R I S O N E R S   O F   W A R   I N   A M E R I C A

	Introduction	xiii
Chapter I	From Capture To Camp	1
Chapter II	Life Behind Barbed Wire	43
Chapter III	The Labor Program	79
Chapter IV	Escapes	114
Chapter V	Wrestling For The Tiller	147
Chapter VI	Hearts And Minds	189
Chapter VII	"Thank God It's Over!"	228
Chapter VIII	Conclusion	256
Appendix	Major German Prisoner Of War Internment Camps In The U.S.	268
Appendix	Monthly Census Of Prisoners Of War Interned In Continental U.S.	271
Appendix	Notes	273
Appendix	Bibliography	317
Appendix	Index	332

Passages Referencing Camp Hearne

On pages 64 and 70 under the heading "Recreation" in Chapter II: Life Behind Bars, Professor Krammer writes the following:

"At Camp Hearne, Texas, the Germans painstakingly constructed concrete replicas of old German castles - waist high - down to the detailed turrets and moats, and a curious visitor to the old camp site can still examine a medieval little schloss rising just above the weed tops in a corner of the empty landscape where the camp used to be."II-39

Under the heading "Escapees At Large" in Chapter IV: Escapes, Professor Krammer writes on page 130:

"At Camp Hearne, Texas, an escaped POW was found marching along the highway between Hearne and the nearby town of Franklin wearing civilian clothes over his camp uniform and heartily singing German army marching songs.  He was gently returned to camp and for some reason could not understand how the local farmer who caught him had seen through his clever disguise."IV-30

In Chapter V: Wrestling For The Tiller, Professor Krammer writes about the murder of a POW at Camp Hearne under the heading "The Physical Dangers Of Anti-Nazism" on page 171:

" . . . On December 23, 1943, a prisoner was beaten to death at Camp Hearne, Texas.  Corporal Hugo Krauss, 24, was born in Germany but lived in New York from 1928 to 1939 with his parents who had become naturalized citizens.  Enamoured with the Third Reich, he returned to Germany at the expense of the German-American Bund and later joined the German Army with which he served in Russia and North Africa.  Captured and shipped to Texas, Krauss' fluency in English enabled him to become an interpreter for the camp commander, which, alone, made him suspect in the eyes of his fellow prisoners.  His naturalized American parents in New York only implicated him further, and his criticism of the German Government and praise for all things American sealed his fate. 'After the lights were put out at 9 PM on December 17, 1943, from six to ten men entered the compound through a hole they had cut in the wire fence . . . and invaded Krauss' barracks.  He screamed for help but no one came to his aid.  His barracks mates looked on while his skull was fractured, both arms were broken, and his body was battered from head to foot.'  He died in the camp hospital six days later.V-62  No perpetrators were discovered."

Under the same heading in the same chapter, Krammer writes at page 173:

" . . . At least one prisoner threw himself, or was thrown, under a passenger train near Camp Hearne, Texas.  No less than 72 others were simply listed by the Army as 'suicides.'"V-68

In a subsequent heading in Chapter V entitled "The Segregation Of Nazis From Anti-Nazis," Krammer writes the following on pages 177 and 178:

" . . . Despite the War Department's painstaking precautions to protect its anti-Nazi prisoners, it was not impossible for groups of determined Nazis to penetrate the screen.  For example, the PMGO purposely created anti-Nazi camps near enough to regular camps so that their mailing address would not attract undue attention and, perhaps, reprisals against their families in Germany.  In this case, however, a group of Nazi NCOs simply infiltrated the central prisoner of war postal service, headquartered at Camp Hearne, Texas, which was responsible for the distribution of all mail to POWs in the United States.  Working under the supervision of American personnel, the German postal workers secretly studied camp censorship and postal markings, gained access to restricted camp rosters, and even steamed open letters.V-82  That this ring was ultimately discovered and the entire postal operation transferred to the relatively safe hands of Italian prisoners at Fort Meade was of little comfort to the small segment of German anti-Nazis who felt that the risks resulting from their decision were not worth the benefits."

In Chapter VIII: Conclusion, Professor Krammer writes on page 261:

" . . . Camps were sold back to the communities, turned into farmland or real estate developments, and all but forgotten.  The only building remaining at the site of Camp Hearne, Texas, once bustling with activity, is the headquarters of the former commanding officers, which was purchased by the local post of the American Legion.  Otherwise, all that remains are the crumbling foundations of the barracks that housed the POWs, a disused cemetery, and a waist-high concrete model of a medieval German castle, built by the prisoners and now almost completely overgrown with weeds.  . . . "

In his concluding chapter, Professor Krammer writes on page 267:

"A number of former prisoners, now affluent German and Austrian citizens, return to their old camp sites periodically to stroll through the 'old neighborhood,' noting changes and reminiscing. . . .'

"It was during one of these reunions, this one at Hearne, Texas, with a former POW named Wilhelm Sauerbrei, that the experience of the prisoners was best summarized.  While driving up from Houston in a car full of community dignitaries and reporters, the former Afrika Korps corporal regaled the occupants with stories and recollections about his camp days."

"You must have had it pretty easy," the Houston reporter commented.

"I'll tell you, pal," Sauterbrei said confidently, "if there is ever another war, get on the side that America isn't, then get captured by the Americans - you'll have it made!"VIII-27

END NOTES

II-39  Norman Lowell McCarver Sr. & Norman Lowell McCarver Jr., Hearne On The Brazos, (San Antonio: San Antonio Century Press, 1958), p. 79.
IV-30  Bryan [TX] Eagle, October 14, 1973, interview with Norman McCarver, October 15, 1975.
V-62  Provost Marshal General's Office, "A Brief History," pp. 466-71; Robert Otey, "Five Nazis Hanged," Tulsa [OK] World, July 12, 1945.
V-68  Provost Marshal General's Office, "A Brief History," p. 512.
V-82  "Hearne Prisoner Of War Camp Selected Distributing Point For Prisoner Mail In The U.S.," Hearne [TX] Democrat, March 24, 1944; Lewis and Mewha, Prisoner Of War Utilization, p. 161; Tissing, "Stalag-Texas," pp. 27-28.
VIII-27  Norman Lowell McCarver Sr. & Norman Lowell McCarver Jr., Hearne On The Brazos, (San Antonio: San Antonio Century Press, 1958), p. 82.

Additional information about this book, including sample chapters and purchase information, is online at Nazi Prisoners Of War In America Book.