Camp Concordia, WWII German POW Camp

Our first stop Thursday morning was the WWII German POW Camp at Concordia KS.  This stop was a disappointment. I had a vision of what we might find, based on what we were told by the lady at the museum when we had stopped in 2013 and first learned of the nearby POW Camp. There are no signs along the highway pointing the way. That should have been our first clue.

"From 1943 to 1945 during WWII over 4,000 Germans were held in an internment camp where they experienced a type of freedom they had never known at home."

"The camp was located on 157.5 acres. Camp Concordia consisted of 308 buildings including a 177 bed hospital, warehouses & cold storage, an officers club, barracks, mess halls & restaurants, a PX, post office, an administrative building for 800 American soldiers, a 100,000 gallon water tower, a fire department, officers quarters and nurses quarters."

"With roads, electricity, sewer lines, water lines, telephone systems and fencing the total cost of the camp was $1,808,806."

I was disappointed because I expected to see a building or two, maybe some foundations. 

looking north of the reconstructed guard house

I have learned the cement tower in the upper left is the base of the water tower. "POWs were housed, fed, clothed, allowed mail, and paid to work. Prisoners earned $1.60 per eight-hour day worked with 80 cents going to the prisoner and the remainder going to the government. Prisoners who did not work received $3 per month to spend in the canteen compared to the $13 those who worked had to spend."

camp is now a corn field, or was a corn field, looking east

The metal building in the upper center is the only original building remaining. T-9 was originally a maintenance building. It is now privately owned, but the POW Camp Concordia Preservation Society is hoping to purchase it and convert it to a museum. 

"POWs were used as labor on farms, the ice plant, (the railroad), and within the camp. Many of the POWs were farm boys and enjoyed working on the local farms. They especially enjoyed the home cooked meals they were fed at the farms.

Prisoners could purchase beer, Coca-cola, pipes, tobacco, cigarettes, soap, toothpaste, paper and ice cream."

more corn field to the west

When not working, "prisoners took part in many activities including sports, reading, painting, crafts, watched movies, performed plays, and even started orchestras and bands."

The POWs had their own newspaper.

"The camp had two libraries and POWs attended classes accredited through the University of Kansas allowing many to study who may have never had the opportunity to attend college in their own country,"

geese flying overhead during our visit

"On May 7, 1945 the Germans officially surrendered. The last prisoners departed October 31, 1945, with the camp closing on November 8, 1945."

Some interesting facts from the brochure:

* 793 American Military

* 171 Civilians

* 3,102 German enlisted

* 1,015 German officers

* POW deaths - 8 (1 shot, 1 natural, 6 suicides)

* American deaths - 2

* Escapes -2

A map of the camp and more information and photos of what the camp USED TO look like can be found on the web site: Camp Concordia WW2 POW Camp  Camp Concordia was one of three POW camps in Kansas during WWII.