It has been entirely too long since I posted in my travel blog. I have indeed traveled in the past 3 years (and how!) but felt inspired to post today because I visited a very cool place (for my job, no less!) and wanted to share it with you.
Did you know that nearly 360,000 Prisoners of War were held on U.S. Soil in 660 camps during World War II? Neither did I! Kept away from big cities so as not to unnerve the larger population, it is also seemingly kept out of history books.
In Kansas alone, there were 16 camps. Today I visited Camp Concordia, outside of Concordia, Kansas. (The camp is located 2 miles north and 1 mile east of Concordia, on Union Road.) While I was taking pictures, I got to meet Lowell A. May who, through research and personal interviews with former prisoners and guards, wrote two books on the subject!
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Camp Concordia: German POWs in the Midwest
Lowell A. May
Published by Sunflower University Press, 1995
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Prisoners of War in Kansas 1943-1946
Published by KS Publishing, Inc., 2007
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Both books are available at the
Belleville Travel Information Center by calling 785-527-2883.
Both books are available online. Here are a couple sites:
On Amazon:
Camp Concordia: German POWs in the Midwest by Lowell A. May (1995)
On AbeBooks:
Prisoners of War in Kansas 1943-1946
For more facts and photos visit the
POW Camp Concordia webpage and feel free to
donate to the POW Camp Concordia Preservation Society here. They will have a grand opening of the POW Camp Concordia Museum on July 11, 2015, so I'm sure they could use the funds!
Okay, so here are my photos of my visit. I'm also including the
information I found on site, hopefully to inspire your visit to the
area/future museum or more research into a fascinating time in our
nation's history!
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| This guard tower is located on the SW corner of the 150+ acre camp. In the back on the left, you will see the base of a water tower that used to hold a 100,000 gallon red wood tank. |
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| I was very happy to find this guest book with info sheet because it directed me to the other buildings still standing AND to meet the author who told me a lot more cool information! Originally I had been told that the guard tower was basically all that was left, so this was a pleasant surprise! |
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| If you would like to get more information, please see the above numbers. Paul is also the one you call for tours (I met him today as well) so he would be a great resource for more information. |
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| The stone walls (other on the opposite side of the road) were built by prisoners. The little white hut sat in the middle of the road and was a check point for entry into the camp. To the left of that, you will see a large building that acted as a warehouse during the camp's existence. Luckily, Lowell saw me from that building and invited me to come on in! |
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| I learned from the website that the "T" meant temporary. The camp was so temporary that near the end, they brought in 150,000 tons of coal and had to ship it back out because the war ended. |
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| Of the 308 buildings, few remain. Many were repurposed in nearby towns for houses, outbuilding, chicken coops and more. |
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| In 1995, there was a reunion of 11 prisoners and some guards. Most of the former prisoners stayed with local families. One even stayed with a family on the SAME farm in Scandia, KS on which he worked as a prisoner! |
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| Pardon the bug. It's reading along too. ;) |
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| A map and explanation of all the buildings on site. Includes hospital with Surgery, X-ray, medical library, Veterinary and more. It seemed like a small town really. The prisoners that Lowell talked to said that being at the camp was the best thing that ever happened to them! They got to escape the trials of war, the strict German army, and had medical care, clothing and were fed. Sure there were a couple of escapes, but those are pretty funny stories. |
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| Poster inside the T-64 building. |
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| I did the injustice of photographing the model upside down. This would be from the East, facing West. In the middle on the left, you see the T-64 building in the middle of the road. The first large building in the group of 5 long ones was the warehouse in which I was standing while taking this picture. :) |
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| This is the back end of the model. Notice that red bit at the top? That's the water tower. |
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| Must give credit were credit is due. (Sorry it's out of focus...) 1 inch = 100 feet. Lowell A. May, my tour guide and the author said the buildings were the hardest part. Made of balsa wood, they were small, there were a lot of them, and he had to make them to scale. |
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| This was as much as I could get in one shot. |
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| Lowell and Paul kindly showed me the room that will soon be the Museum! (July 11, 2015 is the Grand Opening everybody!) This chair was made by a prisoner. |
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| This was constructed by a (Topeka Washburn?) student in the 90's (after the 1995 reunion of guards and prisoners). The student did an amazing job and won the prize for the history contest! |
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| Paul found this online. With only 8000 miles and 4 oil changes, this fire truck with working siren (believe me!) proudly commemorates the fire station that was on Camp Concordia. |
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| Although issued after the war, this MP jeep gives a great nod to the era. Anyone can join the POW Camp Concordia Preservation Society. It meets the 2nd Monday of every month, but be prepared to help preserve the camp! Construction and repairs were ongoing during my visit. :) |
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| The warehouse/building from the outside. Walking away from camera is the very helpful Lowell A. May. I was very glad he saw me taking pictures at the T-64 house and invited me to see and learn more. He said that the guide book I signed has 80-100 names every month from local, national and international visitors. |
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| So you can see the length of the building. Lowell also showed me the cable that the tree grew around. Yes, trees are connected to cable. ;) |
There is an additional building that is currently privately owned. The POW Camp Concordia Preservation would LOVE to add it to the small list of buildings that currently remain. The building in question is the Officer's Club and still has the bar, the fireplace, butcher table, dancefloor and many items from the time period.
There were reports of prisoners on the 3 day train trip from the East Coast to Kansas complaining to the Red Cross that they were trying to trick them into thinking the U.S. was large.... they had no idea... nor did 3 prisoners that were gone 3 days in a city not too far away... they thought they could escape back to Germany. A German Lieutenant was the only other escapee. Gone for 18 hours, IN HIS UNIFORM, he purchased a train ticket in Belleville, KS, only to be thwarted at a diner when he wanted coffee and didn't know how to use American money. ;)
I'm looking forward to finding May's books and learning more. I do hope that you look into it, and put it on your itinerary the next time you are in the North Central Kansas area. I had a wonderful time today and will be sure to go back for the Grand Opening of the Museum! If you do go, call for info or buy books, tell them the young gal D.Smith sent you! :)
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