Most People In Minnesota Don’t Know The State Was Home To 15 German POW Camps
By Trent Jonas|Published August 12, 2023
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Trent Jonas
Author
Trent Jonas came to Minnesota to attend college - and never left. He's a Twin Cities-based writer with a BA in English and a MFA in creative writing, a Minnesota Master Naturalist, and the proud father of two adult children. With more than a decade of freelance writing experience under his belt, Trent is often out exploring his favorite topics: Minnesota's woods, lakes, and trails. Rhubarb pie is his weakness, so discovering new diners is also a passion.
Toward the end of the second world war, hundreds of Italian and German prisoners of war found themselves at camps scattered across the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Many of these internees were paid small wages to work on farms or in factories throughout Minnesota.
A major World War II POW camp was established in Algona, Iowa in April of 1944. The Algona POW Camp housed and managed as many as 10,000 German and Italian prisoners of war between the time it opened and the time it closed in February 1946.
Over this period, prisoners from Algona were sent to satellite camps throughout the Upper Midwest, including 15 in Minnesota. This image, for example, was captured at Camp No. 24, which was established in Wells, Minnesota in 1945. At its height, it was home to 405 prisoners of war in Minnesota. These prisoners worked in an adjacent hemp factory.
Another example of a camp that housed World War II POWs is Camp New Ulm.
The prisoners were interned in a former Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp at what is now Flandrau State Park. Some of the cabins are still standing and used today at the park's Cottonwood Group Center. The men at this camp worked as farm laborers and in canning factories.
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A similar remnant of this short chapter in Minnesota history can be found at Whitewater State Park's Group Center.
The prisoners at former Camp St. Charles were also employed in farming and canning.
Prisoners were also housed at fairgrounds buildings, such as these in Howard Lake at the Wright County Fairgrounds, arenas, and even college dormitories across the state.
In northern Minnesota, where many internees were involved in logging, former CCC camps were often used as bunking facilities, as at New Ulm and Whitewater.
Check out this archival footage and an interview with the author of a book about POWs in Minnesota from KSMQ Public Television's YouTube channel:
Read more about it in Dean B. Simmons’ Swords Into Ploughshares: Minnesota’s POW Camps During World War Two, which you can pick up at Bookshop.org. If you’re into Minnesota history, like I am, this book is a fascinating read, and I highly recommend it.
Did you know about these World War II-era prisoner of war camps in Minnesota? Please share any facts or information you may have about them with us in the comments.
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