"Lenora Sez: The lost has been found
What better way to begin a new year in 2004 than to find the piece to the missing puzzle?
For more than seven years, I searched for the burial place of two POW's who died while interned at Camp Polk. A diligent search was made of Vernon and Beauregard parishes and the only promising discovery was a small cemetery with unmarked graves several miles from Honor Field, adjacent to Hwy. 10 and Fort Polk. Yet, I did not have proof these were the two graves of the POW's. I had visions that only small markers had been erected by the graves and subsequently, the area was bulldozed in the construction of Honor Field.
It all began when I was doing research as to the number of men who had lost their lives during the Louisiana Maneuvers. Bingo! I located burial records of two German POW's held at the Internment Camp at Camp Polk.
One of the fellows, Kurt Rabenau, a tailor, from Berlin, died from strangulation by hanging (suicide) on May 12, 1945. I did not foresee that the search for information could be so difficult. My friends, Joe and Monika Simino, had agreed to do some searching while on a trip to Berlin. I felt certain they would be successful in their quest by making contact with Ingo Wenzeck, a Berlin resident. No living relatives of the men were located.
Endocarditic bacteria of the aortic and mitral heart valves caused Erich Spenke's death. on June 29, 1945. He had been a locksmith as a civilian.
During my search, I was informed that the fellows were returned to their homelands after the war, but I was unable to find proof. Research of the surnames in genealogy web sites was not productive either.
Then I got in touch with Julian Rossig, former German foreign exchange student and houseguest of Patricia Townsend, in Longville. Possessing an inquiring mind, and already developing reporting and photography abilities, he too searched in Germany for relatives of the POW's. Neither was he able to locate any trace of them.
Thanks to computer technology in 2004, I found the answer I was seeking. It can be assumed that the families of the POW's were casualties of the war. This may have been the reason the POW's were not returned to their homeland but instead were disinterred and re-buried at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery on May 29, 1947. The POW's were treated with respect and dignity as they were placed in their final resting place. Their graves are side by side, and bodies rest in lots Z-A 138 and Z-A 139, bearing simple white marble military markers.
The taking of POW's and their subsequent internment is a fact of war. The United States Government, even in its infancy, accepted the customs of nations and sought to apply the concepts of international law to its prisoners of war.
When World War II was declared, the U.S. State Department requested the Swiss Government to inform the enemy nations that the United States would comply with the Geneva Convention of 1929. It also requested the Swiss Government to obtain the intentions of Germany, Italy, and Japan. The enemy nations soon obliged and indicated that they would observe their convention obligations.
Planners for prisoner of war employment during World War II were aware the Geneva Convention prohibited work directly concerned with military operations. Only work/activity was allowed deemed necessary for food, shelter and clothing.
The rate of pay for a POW's labor was 80 cents per day or roughly $21 per month in America. However, Germany contended that internal conditions prevented her from paying the suggested rate, and Italy and Japan did not respond to the American proposal. In addition, each POW was given 10 cents a day gratuitously to enable him to purchase certain necessities. Maximum working hours were 10 per day, including travel to and from the job.
Locals recall the deuce and a half truck with their segregated 50-man hold of either Germans or Japanese per truck that transported the POW's for agricultural labor such as work in the rice and sugar cane fields.
The presence of the Japanese in the area created fear of security violations and sabotage that unfortunately resulted in undue harassment of Japanese children in the local schools. Some locals were investigated as security risks. All in all, prisoners were treated very well and there was very little tension in the area or hostility toward the POW's.
The first 50,000 POW's arrived in the United States in September 1942. Among the first permanent internment camps to be constructed was Camp Livingston, La., with a capacity of 5,000, that made it one of the largest of such camps. Eventually 371,683 Germans were held in the United States including 50,273 Italians and 3,915 Japanese.
Camp Polk's alien internment camp was used to house POW's between 1943 and 1946. All POW's were repatriated by June 1946 except 141 Germans, 20 Italians and one Japanese serving sentences in U.S. penal institutions.
The Camp Polk internment camp was located adjacent to Hwy. 10. Prisoners were mostly teenagers with blond hair and pale skin. A big "POW" was stamped in white on the backs of their shirts. It helps to understand where these prisoners came from. They were fresh recruits, disillusioned with Hitler and the war. Some had been captured earlier and were still certain Germany would win the war. Some were Communists. Some had been taken from concentration camps when Hitler needed soldiers.
The prisoners cut lumber and sugar cane. Some cooked in the prisoners' mess hall. Their entertainment consisted of attending concerts and theatrical performances put on by the prisoners. A hearty breakfast consisted of eggs or pancakes and jelly doughnuts were enjoyed on Sundays.
At he end of the war when the prisoners were freed, the only things they were allowed to take back overseas were their clothes and a carton of cigarettes.
Not only was the use of prison labor profitable but successfully offset by the critical manpower shortage caused by the war. Net total derived by our nation from employment of POW's has been estimated as high as $230,000,000. Crops vital to the economy of our nation were harvested that otherwise would have spoiled. Thus, war industries were able to continue operations in the face of the critical civilian manpower shortage.
My nugget of serious truth: Good kings never make war, but for the sake of peace.
© Beauregard Daily News, LA"