Special Collections Adds Letters From German POWs to Its Online Collection

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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – In honor of Arkansas’ 175th birthday, the University of Arkansas Libraries Special Collections Department has posted on its website 10 letters written by captured German soldiers who were held in the state during World War II. According to Tom Dillard, head of special collections, the letters “shed some interesting light on the Arkansas home front during World War II.”

More than 22,000 German and Italian prisoners were held in Arkansas. Most of the prison camps were in central and eastern Arkansas, where trustworthy prisoners were hired out to farmers and businessmen to help meet a severe labor shortage. Among the largest prisons camps in the Delta was Camp Dermott, where prisoners labored on area cotton farms. Camp Dermott, located in Chicot County, had previously been the Jerome Japanese Relocation Center.

In accordance with international law, the prisoners of war were paid a small wage for their labor. They were also afforded medical care, educational opportunities, recreational activities, and entertainment in the form of sports, concerts and movies. The Red Cross monitored the POW camps to ensure compliance with the law.

The letters in this collection were sent after the war by former German prisoners at Camp Dermott to a prominent farmer and merchant near Parkdale in Ashley County, Mr. E.D. Gregory, on whose farm the men had labored as prisoners. These letters and post cards also depict post-war conditions in Germany and Austria, but more importantly they also speak to the relationships that developed between farmers and the prisoners they hired.

Julie Thacker, a University of Arkansas Libraries staff member, transcribed the letters, and Deb Kulczak, a librarian also from the University Libraries, translated the Werner Schmitz letter.

The letters can be viewed on the Special Collections website.