German Prisoners of War In South Carolina: Update

 

Call them Hanz, or call them Ishmael. They were European men who, by accident of birth, were caught on the losing side of the Second World War and were confined behind barbed wire fences in mostly rural communities in the United States.

Since “German POWs in South Carolina” was published in “Old Ones Dream” in 2013, it has attracted reply comments from descendants of some of the mostly rural farm families that had friendships with some of these young men. The unifying thread of most of the comments revolved around how the young Europeans became practically family members, and were very comfortable as prisoners of war compared to the fate that awaited them had they not been captured. Many told of handiwork that their “German boy” had crafted for their family. At least one of the descendants of one of the recipients of these gifts was in the process of a formal search for the descendants of their POW.

From those reply comments we gained the knowledge that, although the camps originated to house the captured soldiers of the Afrika Korps in 1943, German prisoners from other fronts were added to the camp population as the war progressed. At Camp Jackson, Columbia, S. C., at the end of the war there was a young office boy, let’s call him Kurt, “…who said he was 16, but mom and her friends swore [he] couldn’t be older than 14.” He was loved by all of the secretaries, and the officers treated him like a little brother. He must have been captured in France after D-Day, June 6, 1944. He was from near Hamburg behind the Soviet lines and did not want to go back home. “Efforts were made…” for him to remain in the U. S. after the war. There were tearful hugs when he was shipped out. No one ever “…heard from him again."

“Hanz,” whose story is relayed by his granddaughter in England, was at Camp Jackson during that time. “Hanz,” who wrote his story in a 9300-word typed document, was pressed into service in the German Army in 1941 and after 6 months training, was sent to the Russian front:

First we land in the Ukraine, what a mess, now the cold winter had set in. We had plenty to do, with building bridges across the rivers. We where [sic] well organised and all new machines. We moved about quite quick, Kharkov, Kursk, Vorohesh, Poltava, Belgorod, Saratov, Volgorad, and many more places. The heavy frost of –40 degrees, we had a lot of trouble with our machines. But with a little patience we got over it. That was why we lost so many Troops and Manpower with that hard frost and snow. I was really lucky, I was sent home wounded with bits of shrapnel in my leg. We had leave every 6-8mths. The last time when I went home on leave was June 1944. When my leave ended I boarded the train towards the East again, when we came towards the boarder [sic] of Poland, the Military Police ordered us out of the train, what a excitement, in the next bay stood a empty train facing Germany, They told us to get in there, They drove us like a lot of sheep, What is going on, We never had time to ask a lot of questions, off we went right through Germany again, well we thought we had a second leave, Slowly they told us we are heading for France. Because the second front had started, what Turmoil, nobody listened to anyone.

“Hanz,” serving as a motorcycle courier in France, was captured by American troops on September 22, 1944, and was shipped from the port of Marseilles, on a troop ship, to the United States.

We didn’t mind, this was a big adventure for us; it was like a big dream for us, with a free ride, see the big lights of America, when we came of the ship we had to go through the fumigation process, what a fiasco. After that we headed for camp in South Carolina a army camp called Jackson, it held 1100 of us, what a change in such a short time, we are here in a new country. After we were all settled & sorted out, they appointed me as supply Sgt, what a big honour, well there was plenty of work to do, we felt like in heaven, I had a big wooden hut all stacked up with new clothes, blankets, bed linen, boots reminded me back in our own army camp, well these Americans had everything, we had a first class life all round. When I laid nights in bed I thought how lucky we are. Where are my other colleagues that I left behind on the Russian front, I bet they haven’t got a warm bed like we have here, while I write this some tears roll down my cheeks, my colleagues had to go out to work outside the camp every day. Many had to cut timber, a certain quantity everyday. When they came home nights there trousers were black and torn. Then they came to me, I had to change them for new ones.

“Hanz” came into the good graces of “a camp commander” who brought him some radios.

We had the chance now to listen to the news every day how the war was getting on. One morning I heard the Americans were in my hometown, a few days later I heard some bad news, which I didn’t want to hear. The Russian Army controlled our country, what a shock. The next big news was May 1945 the war was over. One day my camp Commander told me we have to move to a new camp. They are bringing a army unit back from Germany and they are taking over our camp here. There was a lot of work to be done, ready for the move. Our new camp was to be in Jacksonville Florida. Another journey of hundreds of miles. We didn’t mind another free ride. This was a much better camp, and better wire fences. I had the pleasure to take over my supply job again. We have been here now 2yrs. everybody asks how much longer they keep us here, on the other hand we weren’t complaining.

In April 1946, notification came that they were going home. They made a rough Atlantic crossing and were surprised to disembark at Liverpool. “Hanz,” with a group of 150 prisoners, was transported by train to Wadhurst Hall Camp, which his granddaughter described as a work release camp. She also said that the 150 prisoners from the ship at Liverpool, were all from “cities that fell in the Soviet sector” and were given the option to remain in the United Kingdom. “Hanz” made a life in England and lived to be 99-years-old. He returned to his village in Germany only once, after reunification, in 1995.

There are gaps and cracks in those accounts of “Hanz”, his granddaughter, and those who wished to protect 14-year-old Kurt. It does seem that “Hanz” and “Kurt” were both at Camp Jackson at the end of the war, and if so, they should have each been moved to the new camp at Jacksonville. That move would have likely been accomplished by rail. World War II Liberty Ships at the time had troop carrying capacity of about 550 so it would have taken at least two ships to transport the 1100 Camp Jackson prisoners back across the Atlantic. Did the ship that surprisingly disembarked “Hanz” at Liverpool also have “Kurt” on board? Was he given an option at any point? The logistics of transporting the prisoners in South Carolina would not have been simple. There were reportedly around 10,000 POWs in the State in 21 camps. The release and return of these prisoners would have involved many “camp commanders” and would predictably have been chaos. It is very easy to imagine that “Kurt” and “Hanz” were not comrades, were not shipmates, were not members of same group of 150, and were each administered by different commands under different sets of rules. We all hope that “Kurt” led a long happy life.

“Hanz” said he had a comrade at Wadhurst named “Franz” whose home was in the French Sector of Germany, and “Franz” did eventually leave Wadhurst to go home. I wonder if the 150 that left the ship in Liverpool were all from “cities that fell within the Soviet Sector,” or were they on the other hand, all soldiers that had served with the German Army on the Russian Front? It would make sense that “Franz”, if he had served on the Russian front and feared being branded a war criminal by the Russians, would exercise the option to stay in England—and then when the geo-political boundaries in Europe had stabilized could feel safer in returning home.

The only photograph provided by one of the foster families was shared by a descendant of a farm family in Barnwell County, South Carolina. The photo was sent to them by their POW, named Hans, on the occasion of his marriage after he returned home to Germany.

Photo of Alice and Hans – Courtesy of Marla Jameson

I hope that this story will be seen by some readers who are able to reply in order to fill in some of the cracks and crevices, and raise more questions.

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