Prison populations shifted regularly and the Italians were eventually relocated to another camp. Once Italy surrendered in September 1943, and changed allegiance to the Allied forces, the treatment of the Italian POWs loosened up considerably. The Italian prisoners who were already in captivity couldn’t be released, but they were given more freedom and jobs that were off-limits to German POWs. The Italian prisoners at Camp Florence were subsequently moved to labor camps in California in the summer of 1944, as trainloads of German prisoners took their place in the cotton fields in Arizona.32

For security concerns, the Americans sought to separate hard-core Nazis from soldiers like Frederick, who never became indoctrinated into Hitler’s racist system. But it wasn’t an easy task because even in captivity, hard-core Nazis did their best to threaten and maintain control over lower-ranked prisoners, who were more susceptible to American influence. Despite being captured, the German POWs attempted to maintain a hierarchical rule of order within their units. They established a system to settle disputes among themselves and convey issues or requests to their American captors. There was a structure put in place in each camp, where there was one main POW who acted as a liaison between the camp commander and the German POWs. This role typically was given to the highest-ranking prisoner, but on occasion the man who was the most respected and most liked attained the title.33 Frederick spoke English, which meant he could have been the liaison, but given his personality and distaste for the war from the beginning, it’s unlikely that he was a spokesperson in any official capacity.

Like the other prisoners, upon arrival Frederick was processed and received special clothing: a loose-fitting cotton button-down jacket and matching pair of pants with the letters “PW” written in large white block letters across the back of each garment. The uniform was baggy and shapeless, akin to a pair of pajamas but in sturdier fabric, a far cry from the military uniforms the German soldiers had worn before getting caught by the Allies.

The POWs then walked in single file to the prison barracks. The rooms had bunk beds, and a chair and dresser for each prisoner. The accommodations, though sparse, were a surprising relief after the cramped ocean journey and the long train ride. With the exception of the double rows of barbed-wire fences, the conditions in the POW camp looked decent and sanitary, and the POWs were treated with respect. No one had anticipated being greeted with “Good morning” or “Good afternoon,” but those pleasantries were commonplace—a fact that surprised the POWs, who knew how inhospitable the Germans could be toward their prisoners.