The transfer of hundreds of thousands of Axis prisoners of war to American soil is one of the great untold stories of World War II. There were 371,683 German POWs, 51,156 Italians, and 5,413 Japanese detained in the United States during World War II in more than six hundred camps scattered across the country.3 Having this many foreign prisoners of war interned within its borders was a new experience for the United States. It was a moment in history that would not be as widely reported or emphasized for future generations to absorb.4

In Europe, where cities were constantly being bombed or occupied militarily, there wasn’t adequate space for Allied forces to imprison all of the German and Italian POWs. Britain had been capturing and housing German soldiers without any relief before the United States declared war after Pearl Harbor in 1941, and the situation was approaching crisis mode.

Initially, the United States was reluctant to make an agreement with Britain to take in prisoners of war. Despite outside appearances of congeniality, the two countries had different philosophies and strategies about the direction of the war. The rocky relationship made the United States hesitant to partner with Britain on the POW situation, and the United States resisted absorbing POWs for as long as possible in spite of persistent pressure from Britain.5 Security problems were another concern raised by the prospect of having Nazi prisoners on U.S. soil. FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, paranoid about the possibility of German POWs escaping and wreaking havoc on American society, reportedly said of the typical Wehrmacht soldier, “Trained as he is in the technique of destruction, he is a danger to our internal security, our war production, and the lives and safety of our citizens.”6

But the United States acquiesced, agreeing in August 1942 to take in fifty thousand prisoners of war, even though there wasn’t a precise plan in place for what to do with them initially.7

The POWs would be working in camps, a provision approved under the terms of the Geneva Convention of 1929. The treaty essentially protected captured soldiers from inhumane treatment, but, depending on their rank, prisoners could still be forced to work for their captors. In the United States, the majority of enlisted German POWs worked for the U.S. Army on its military installations, but many were also contracted out to work for civilian employers. Non-commissioned officers were given supervisory work, while commissioned officers weren’t required to work at all, although they could volunteer to do so.8