World War II POW Camps in Texas

Among the most remarkable residents in the Lone Star State during the war were 50,000 prisoners of war, mostly German and some Italian and Japanese, who were held in 70 camps across Texas. These ranged from large populations, 5,000 at Camp Hereford, to small branch camps with only 35 or so prisoners. By accommodating the prisoners, Texas was taking a big load off the Allies in Europe, where limited space and resources were primarily focused on supporting troops. However, the camps also provided a dividend to Texas in jobs, in administration and support. Most importantly, the prisoners helped relieve the labor shortage brought about by the war. In 1944 alone, 39 counties used more than 11,000 prisoners as workers. Farmers paid $1.50 a day for a prisoner's labor. Out of that, the prisoner would receive a small payment, good at the camp store, and the balance would offset the cost of keeping him in the camp. A Cedar Lane POW once remarked, well, Hitler said we would be in America in 1945, and here we are, chopping cotton. In strict observance of the Geneva Convention, the U.S. treated the prisoners very well. Long after the war ended, some former German POWs journeyed back to Texas to visit. One, named Wilhelm Sauerbree, a former Afrika Korps corporal who had been at Camp Hearn, said to a Houston reporter, I'll tell you, pal, if there is ever another war, get on the side that America isn't, then get captured by the Americans. You'll have it made. Conditions in the camps changed late in the war, however, when Allied POW and concentration camps in Europe were liberated. The Axis prisoners were forced to look at films taken at the camps in Europe. They said they were unaware of what was happening. Even so, at that point, Axis POWs detained in the U.S. went from a 2,000 to 2,500 calorie diet to 1,000 to 1,200 calories, and labor became harder.