Pow Camps facts
While investigating facts about Pow Camps Ww2 and Pow Camps In Usa, I found out little known, but curios details like:
Master Sergeant Roddie Edwards, the ranking US officer at a Nazi POW camp. When Nazis told him to assemble his Jewish soldiers, he instead assembled all of his soldiers and told the German commandant that "we are all Jews here." He saved up to 200 Jewish soldiers.
how many died in japanese pow camps?
Judy, a purebred English pointer who would often jump in to protect prisoners from beatings in a POW camp during WW2. A British Naval pilot bargained to have her officially considered a POW so the guards could not kill her.
What are pow camps?
In my opinion, it is useful to put together a list of the most interesting details from trusted sources that I've come across answering what were pow camps like. Here are 50 of the best facts about Pow Camps Uk and Pow Camps In Germany I managed to collect.
what were german pow camps like?
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In a study of 640 dream journals conducted by Harvard, psychologists determined the dreams of prisoners in WWII POW camps were less aggressive than the standard male population. Rather than visions of extreme violence, the majority of soldiers dreamed of escape, family, loneliness, and home.
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John Leray, a French Mathematician who concealed his proficiency with differential equations to avoid working for the Nazis. While in a POW camp, he developed sheaves, sheaf cohomology, and spectral sequences which are important tools for modern Algebraic Geometry
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During WWII, Canada had PoW camps. The prisoners are referred to as the happiest prisoners, and were treated well. Many were given jobs, and some were even trusted with the guards rifles to go hunting. After the war, many brought their families to Canada.
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About Adrian Carton de Wiart, a British soldier. He fought in 3 wars and was shot in the head, face, stomach, ankle, leg, hip, and ear, survived 2 plane crashes, escaped a POW camp and tore off his own fingers when a doctor refused to amputate them. He lived to be 83.
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German soldiers in American POW camps dramatically burned their German uniforms after being shown films of the atrocities of the Holocaust.
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Vietnam War POW Doug Hegdahl pretended to be illiterate to fool his captors, who believed him to be so stupid that they gave him almost free rein of the camp. He was able to secretly memorize the details of about 256 POWs to the tune of "Old MacDonald," which he still remembers.
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British officers imprisoned in Colditz castle, an 'escape-proof' Nazi POW camp, tried to escape by tunneling out. They emerged instead in a German colonel's wine cellar, where they proceeded to drink 137 bottles of wine, fill them with urine, and place them back on the shelves.
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In WWI, Capt Robert Campbell, a British POW asked the Kaiser for leave to visit his dying mother. The Kaiser agreed, if he promised to return. Campbell returned. He and other prisoners then spent nine months tunneling out of the camp, although they were later captured and sent back.
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British officers imprisoned in Colditz castle, an 'escape-proof' Nazi POW camp, tried to escape by tunneling out. They emerged instead in a German colonel's wine cellar, where they proceeded to drink 137 bottles of wine, fill them with urine, and place them back on the shelves.
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To avoid boredom while in a POW camp during the Korean War, Lt. John Thornton would ride an imaginary motorcycle around. He did this every day until the guards called him to their headquarters and took away his imaginary motorcycle stating that it was against rules and regulations.
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You can easily fact check why were pow camps made by examining the linked well-known sources.
A British PoW captured by the Germans in World War I was freed to see his dying mother - but went back to the prison camp after giving the Kaiser 'his word' he would return.
Judy, the hero dog of WWII. She saved her fellow soldiers on multiple occasions. Was captured by the Japanese and spent years in the pow camps. She survived multiple ships sinking and was eventually freed and given the Sicken Medal in England. - source
Vietnam vets have told William Shatner how they'd "keep sane" while in POW camps by re-enacting Star Trek episodes - source
During WWII, over 400,000 German POWs were sent to the United States. In the POW camps, they often held theatrical and musical performances, were allowed to leave the camps without guards on the honor system, and were able to work on farms, mills, and other places for fair wages.
Adrian Carton de Wiart a British Officer who served in 3 wars; was shot in the face, head, stomach, ankle, leg, hip and ear; survived 2 plane crashes; tunneled out of a POW camp; tore off his own fingers when a doctor refused to amputate them. He wrote in WW1 "Frankly I had enjoyed the war." - source
When poverty-stricken?
In 1914 Capt Campbell, a British POW held in Germany, asked permission from Kaiser Wilhelm II to visit his dying mother in England. The Kaiser agreed, on the condition that Campbell return to the camp, which he did - and remained there until the war ended in 1918.
How many pow camps were in oklahoma during ww2?
Louis Zamperini was an olympic athlete, and a bombardier in the US Air Corps. He survived two crash landings, was afloat on a raft for 47 days in the ocean, survived 'Execution Island' in Japan, and was horribly abused in a POW (Prisoner of War) Camp. Louis lived for 97 years, and died in 2014.
A German POW escaped his American prison camp near the end of WWII, and lived in the US for 40 years under a fake name, before finally admitting the fraud on the Today Show. His name was Georg Gärtner.
3 Italians broke out of a WW2 British POW camp. With meagre rations and equipment they attempted to climb Mount Kenya. After 18 days, they broke back into the camp and were awarded 18 days solitary confinement (reduced to 7 by the commandant in honor of their 'sporting effort')
Captain Richard Antrim was captured in 1942 & held as a POW. During this time, he impressed with his engineering skills & helped the Japanese arrange trenches. From the air, the trenches spelled out "US", warning bombers not to attack and that it was a POW camp, saving hundreds of lives.
In 1942 in a German POW camp north of Toronto the prisoners rebelled using pipes and sticks and were subdued by a group of baseball bat weilding Canadians. The Battle of Bowmanville.