He wanted to pursue an intimate and exclusive relationship. But with no power, money, or freedom—and an extremely regimented POW existence—this seemed very unlikely. Despite their relaxed disposition, his American captors still dictated everything about his daily life. He showered when he was told to shower. He ate when he was told to eat. He worked when he was told to work, getting up at when the sky was still black to bake bread and prepare the meals for the day. But the one thing he had control over were his dreams and desires, and that was enough encouragement for him to get through the other tasks. He was not going to let his prisoner status infringe on his strategy to pursue Elinor.

Several POWs figured out ways to rendezvous with local women, but those were mostly physical encounters. Elinor awakened a longing in Frederick that was beyond carnal. Naturally, the physical attraction was strong. She was tall, curvaceous, and stunning. But there was an emotional connection he felt immediately that needed to be explored as well. He later said it was as though he had been put under a spell from the first time he laid eyes on her.1

Frederick’s calculated plan came down to seeing Elinor every day at mealtime. And if it couldn’t be every day, then it would be every other day. Even if for a moment, he wanted to lock eyes with her and subliminally tell her that he wanted her and that she was the most exotic woman he had ever met. And it wasn’t in a fetishizing way; he truly was enamored and intrigued.

It wasn’t long before Elinor began to enjoy and look forward to Frederick’s playful antics. When he peeked out of the kitchen to tip his chef’s hat in her direction and gaze into her eyes, even if briefly, the attention satisfied a need in her that she had suppressed as an army nurse. She hadn’t felt excitement since setting foot in Florence, and she couldn’t deny that a marriage proposal at a first meeting was a big boost to her ego, which had taken quite a beating since her enlistment. The segregated military made for a very lonely social life. Yet it hadn’t occurred to Elinor to ever look at a German prisoner in a romantic way: they were captured soldiers, enemies of war, and Nazis. Hitler’s views about nonwhites were well known. How could an African American think about intimacy with a German?