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- Notes:
- The members of the Executive Committee of the World's Committee met on a monthly basis in the World's Alliance headquarters in Geneva. This photograph was taken in 1913 and many of these men would soon return home to support the young men called to their nations' colors.
- Date Created:
- 1913-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- These Russian prisoners of war were members of the YMCA Band in a German prison which included brass, woodwind, and percussion sections. They are sitting on the stage of a theater where they performed during theatricals. An unidentified Red Triangle secretary sits behind the big bass drum in civilian attire.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Ten World's Alliance secretaries who worked in War Prisoners' Aid service in Bulgaria meet in a conference room with the Swiss and two Bulgarian flags draped on the wall behind them. The World's Alliance YMCA symbol is displayed on the wall above the flags. These men provided social services to Allied prisoners languishing in Bulgarian prison camps during the war.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- An unidentified YMCA secretary, on the right, stands outside a lazaret in a German prison camp with a Russian doctor and an unknown civilian (in the center). A French orderly and several patients pose by the door of the lazarette.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This is the front page of the first edition of "The Barbed Wireless," a newspaper for American POW's at Rastatt, a German propaganda camp for Ukrainian prisoners of war (note that the price of the newspaper is in kopeks, the prison camp's currency). The newspaper focused on humor, as reflected on the two headline stories, and cartoons (the newspaper was mimeographed). The editors included sports scores and camp announcements, featuring YMCA activities.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- English prisoners of war assemble in front of the new YMCA Hall at Goettingen for a group photograph. The new hall is decorated with evergreens for the inauguration ceremony.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This storeroom in the Geneva headquarters of the World's Alliance of YMCA's is where secretraries prepared circulating libraries for shipment to labor detachments in the Central Power and Allied nations. The walls of the hallway are covered with stacks of circulating libraries, a testiment to their popularity among prisoners.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French prisoners of war take advantage of the reading room in the YMCA hall at Goettingen. They can read books or magazines for pleasure or in preparation for courses. The Association sought to make every man's experience in prison a rewarding one.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- F. Wade drew this picture of a religious service in the YMCA Hall at Ruhleben. A minister delivers a sermon from the pulpit to a packed congregation. The Association made the hall available to members of any faith as a means to promote spiritual life within the prison camp.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- The YMCA encouraged wounded prisoners to participate in physical therapy (including playing volleyball) or to use prosthetics to rehabilitate paralyzed limbs. The prisoner has lost the use of his left arm and is wearing a prosthetic.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- View of the Allied patients in a hospital ward in an unidentified Austrian prison. Red Triangle secretaries visited these unfortunates to bring them spiritual and mental relief during their recovery process. Association workers provided Bibles and spiritual tracts, stationery, books, and gramophones for entertainment.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Muslim POW's learn to read and write in this YMCA school in the prison camp at Boldogasszonyfa in Hungary. Dual Monarchy officials encouraged the instruction of native languages among POW's, not only for the personal benefit of the prisoners, but also to weaken traditional political bonds in Eastern Europe. The Association, on the other hand, focused on the future welfare of these men and their families through educational programs.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Allied prisoners leave the chapel, constructed by the YMCA, at the officers' prison camp at Wiesa bei Annaberg in Saxony. The exterior of the building is decorated with bushes and trees.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Russian prisoners stand bare-headed in the prison compound at Purgstall during a Christmas celebration during the dedication of the new Association hall in January 1917. A group of Austrian officers stand to the left, next to the POW choir. The YMCA hall is decorated with garland and a large Christmas tree. On the platform by the door stands a WPA secretary, Edgar MacNaughten, and the camp commandant.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- The Executive Committee continued to meet on a monthly basis throughout the Great War and this photo was taken in the Board Room in 1917. The members of the committee include (sitting left to right): F. Thomas, Adolf Hoffmann, Christian Phildius, F. L. Perrot, Paul Des Gouttes, H. Fatio, A. Rappard, H., Audeoud, and E. Choicy, as well as (standing in the rear, left to right) Theodore Giesendorf, Rudolf Horner, and Victor Schlaeppi.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Members of the World's Committee met in Geneva in May 1910 for a plenary session. This photograph was taken on the steps of the World's Alliance headquarters.
- Date Created:
- 1910-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This photograph shows the interior of the Association building at Crossen-an-der-Oder. Russian instructors, from the POW population, teach a class for their fellow countrymen. The YMCA strove to provide educational opportunities to prisoners of war to help them find better jobs and help their families after repatriation.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Actors participate in a scene from a French play in the theater at Koenigsbrueck. Note that the three female parts are played by male actors. The YMCA provided scripts and costumes to help prisoners stage performances and these plays provided the camp population with a source of welcome relief from the monotony of daily prison camp life.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- The stringed orchestra performs during the Christmas service in the YMCA building in Braunau-am-Inn in 1916. Note the extensive decorations in the building which include garland, paper chains, pine boughs, and a large, decorated Christmas tree behind the stage. There are Christmas presents on the floor to the right of the stage, near a phonograph. Association secretaries went to great lengths to provide POW's with Christmas cheer at a time when many prisoners suffered from depression and home sickness.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Russian prisoners observe All Saints' Day in the prison cemetery at Theresienstadt in memory of their dead comrades. Two Austrian officers stand in the center of the photograph, which was taken on 14 November 1916 (the Orthodox holiday). The War Prisoners' Aid office provided the flowers that the prisoners used for decorations for the service.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- The YMCA encouraged civilian internees at Ruhleben to plant gardens outside their barracks to improve the appearance of the camp and to give the prisoners projects to help them pass their idle time while in captivity. The Ruhleben Horticultural Society provided prizes to the best garden in this April 1917 competition.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Mrs. Norrie and these women ran the YMCA hospitality hut at the Cannon Street Station in London and provided a variety of services for British soldiers returning home from incarceration in Germany, including an open canteen. The banner behind the women declares, "The Red Triangle Welcomes You."
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- American doughboys enter a castle overlooking the Rhine River on a sight-seeing tour. These troops occupied Coblenz after the withdrawal of German forces in fulfillment of the Armistice of November 1918. American YMCA secretaries accompanied these forces and continued to provide extensive welfare services.
- Date Created:
- 1919-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This photo provides a view of the main entrance to the new YMCA hall at Darmstadt during the building's dedication ceremony. French Arab prisoners stand as a guard of honor in preparation for the event. The prisoners, who constructed the building, decorated the hall with garlands to celebrate the occasion.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This photograph illustrates the French library collection at Ohrdruf. The American YMCA provided a large number of books and pre-war magazines to stock the libraries of prison camps across Germany.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Cover of the "Bibliotheque des prisonniers de guerre," published by the World's Alliance of YMCA's. This book listed the contents of the different series of traveling libraries available to prisoners of war working on Arbeitskommandos, far from prison camp libraries. The books which composed these libraries were published before the war and focused on history, literature, natural science, and vocational works.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Austrian officials and officers join Russian (to the left) and Serbian (to the right) prisoners for the opening of the James Stokes Hut at Braunau-in-Boehmen, the first Association building for POW's in the Dual Monarchy. Professor Karl Witz-Oberlin, the Secretary-General of the Austrian YMCA, stands in the center of the photograph (he is the bare-headed civilian), while Christian Phildius, a Secretary-General of the World's Committee in Geneva, stands at the angle of the walk (he is in civilian clothing and top hat). Note that the Russian and Serbian prisoners wear identification badges on their caps.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- J. J. Hertig, a Danish YMCA secretary, visits two ill Russian prisoners of war in an unidentified Austro-Hungarian prison camp. A Russian corpsman also poses in the picture to the right. WPA Secretaries made every effort to visit and minister to sick and wounded Allied prisoners.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- An unidentified WPA secretary poses with a group of ten Russian prisoners of war in an unknown Austrian prison camp. These men may have been members of the YMCA Welfare Committee which oversaw welfare activities in the prison camp.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Queen Mary of Great Britain has a conversation with British prisoners who just arrived in London. She volunteered her time to serve at the YMCA hut at the Cannon Street Station.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A Belgian prisoner of war peruses the bookshelves in the Flemish library at Goettingen. The library is well stocked with furniture and pictures decorate the wall. The YMCA made every effort to obtain books for POW's in a wide range of languages.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Members of a Russian band stand in the snow with their musical instruments and the contents of a WPA recreation chest displayed on the ground. An unidentified YMCA secretary in civilian clothing stands on the right hand side. The Association made every effort to provide Allied prisoners with materials they needed in prison camps.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- World Alliance secretaries prepare books for shipment to prisoners of war in Allied and Central Power prison camps from the Geneva headquarters. Prisoners could request books, usually Scriptures or religious tracts, directly from the World's Alliance. Rudolf Horner directed the Book Forwarding Department for the World's Alliance.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This is a group photograph of the American WPA secretaries and their families who had just left Germany in February 1917, after the United States broke off diplomatic relations with the German Empire. The group traveled to Lausanne where some continued WPA work with the World's Alliance and others transferred to war work with the Allied armies. The individuals in the photograph included: 1) Lewis Dunn; 2) Mrs. Alfred Lowry; 3) Alfred Lowry; 4) Louis Wolferz; 5) Mrs. Lewis Dunn and Betty Dunn; 6) Joseph Wehner; 7) A. R. Siebens; 8) Mrs. Conrad Hoffman and Louise Hoffman (holding the teddy bear); 9) Spencer Kennard; 10) J. Gustav White; 11) Carl Michel; and 12) Mrs. Gustav White. It is interesting that the WPA secretaries were able to bring their wives and daughters with them to Germany in support of their mission. Of the transfers, Wehner was killed in France in 1918.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Members of the World's Committee met for the last time before the war at Windsor Castle in England in early Summer 1914. They planned an extensive global campaign, which collapsed with the outbreak of the Great War. The war would pit many of these men against each other in support of their nation's military efforts.
- Date Created:
- 1914-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- African workers transport an invalid under the direction of German YMCA missionaries (the missionaries are standing in front of the litter). The Red Triangle secretaries sought to improve medical conditions in Africa as well as evangelize the Africans as part of their program.
- Date Created:
- 1908-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A World's Alliance secretary is compiling a list of books which will be sorted into traveling libraries and forwarded to prisoners assigned to labor detachments. The Association scoured Europe in search of pre-war books (which would receive faster approval from prison camp censors) in exotic languages (such as Russian, Serbian, and Georgian).
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This outdoor ceremony marks the official inauguration of the YMCA building in the prison camp at Hart. Russian prisoners join Austrian officers and an American YMCA secretary, Edgar MacNaughten (the Senior WPA Secetary for Austria-Hungary), in opening the decorated hall.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This is a photograph of the exterior view of the new Association building in Crossen-an-der-Oder recently completed by POW laborers. The YMCA hut became the center of social, educational, and spiritual activities in the prison camp. Note the imperial German flag flying above the building.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This is the back of the prison camp visitation permit Archibald C. Harte received from the German Ministry of War. The permit provides a general physical description of Harte, including his age, height, hair color, eye color, and distinguishing characteristics as well as his signature.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- An American WPA Secretary, Claus Olandt, poses for a photograph with the members of the YMCA Committee in the German prison camp at Muenster III. The members are British POW's and Olandt is sitting in the center of the group in civilian clothing and bowler hat.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Queen Mary of Great Britain personally welcomes recently arrived British prisoners at the Cannon Street Station in London by the YMCA hut. The English YMCA set up this hut in the train station to provide services to British troops heading for or returning from combat in France.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- The medieval fortress at Narva, in Estonia, served as a repatriation center between Central Power prisoners of war leaving Russia and Russian POW's returning home. The YMCA established a relief station in the castle to provide physical relief to prisoners and their families as they passed through Estonia enroute their homes.
- Date Created:
- 1920-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- The Russian prisoners in Reichenberg display the contents of the recreation chest they just received from the YMCA War Prisoners' Aid organization in Vienna. Each chest held games (Tambola, dominoes, chess, checkers, and Mensch aergere dich nicht), musical instruments (accordions and harmonicas), books, and Russian Orthodox crosses. An unidentified Association secretary, in the civilian clothing and wearing the C.V.J.M. armband), poses with the Russian prisoners. The YMCA committee in the prison camp then sent these recreation chests to POW's working outside of the camp in Arbeitskommandos (labor detachments).
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This is the side view of a former POW barrack in Sofia in very bad repair. The Sofia Association acquired the building after the war and used it for fifteen years for a number of programs. The building was a typical one-story, wooden barrack used by the Bulgarian army.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Three important World's Alliance secretaries, who were active in War Prisoners' Aid, posed for this photograph in 1916. They were, from left to right, Theodore Geisendorf, General Secretary, Geneva and a member of the World's Committee WPA staff; Rudolf Horner, once secretary in Spain and Portugal for the World's Committee Extension Service; and Darius Alton Davis, director of WPA work in France, Italy, and Sardinia.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This photograph shows the exterior of the Danish YMCA headquarters in Copenhagen. The Danish Association provided critical support for the War Prisoners' Aid program for Allied POW's in Germany.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This was the YMCA program for Holy Week activities in the prison camp at Ruhleben in March 1918. In addition to Palm Sunday, Good Friday, Easter Vigil, and Easter Sunday divine services, the Association promoted a theatrical production, "Mary Magdalen," music, and the Ruhleben Horticultural Society's Spring Flower Show.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Russian prisoners of war in an unidentified German prison camp perform in a prison compound. These men are members of the YMCA Orchestra. The Red Triangle provided their musical instruments and their music. By providing instruments, the Association was able to support entertainment programs, often featuring talented musicians.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This photograph shows the YMCA memorial to Americans buried in the cemetery at Rastatt as well as the graves of three American privates who died in October 1918.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- These wounded Russian prisoners of war prepare for their journey home in exchange for wounded German prisoners in neutral Sweden. These men were gravely wounded and would not be able to resume military service; remaining in Germany made them burden for their hosts. A YMCA secretary provided these POW's with the three accordions on the table. The Russians gave the musical instruments to the German prisoners to enjoy during their journey home.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Portraits of the leaders of the German YMCA movement adorned the pages of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Berlin Association commemorative booklet. Friedrich von Schluembach (middle) and Christian Phildius (center lower row) were among the leaders honored in this publication.
- Date Created:
- 1908-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Aerial view of the prison camp at Ruhleben which housed British and Commonwealth interned civilians during World War I. This drawing shows the race track, grand stands, barracks, casino, tea house, New Town, guard room, gates, and hospital which made up the buildings of the prison camp. The Association constructed a YMCA hall on the open ground between Barracks II and XI.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A Russian Orthodox priest conducts an outdoor service in the prison compound at Crossen-an-der-Oder in front of the YMCA building. The German authorities gave the Russians special permission to pray for the health of the Russian imperial family for this occasion.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This publicity poster was part of a campaign to raise $150,000 from college students in the United States in support of the War Prisoners' Aid effort. These funds would pay for WPA secretaries, huts, games, medicine, warm clothing, booklets, text books, and extra food for the 5.5 million young men in one hundred prison camps scattered across Europe. The poster shows a college student sitting in an easy chair, smoking a pipe, and reading a newspaper while a German sentry guards thousands of Allied prisoners in the snow. The poster also features student life in Europe on the left side, fighting in the army, and student life in America, enjoying life to the fullest.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- The YMCA helped boy prisoners in the prison camp at Braunau-in-Boehmen to learn to read and write in this classroom in the Y hall. The Association persuaded Austrian authorities to concentrate Russian and Serbian boys in the Austrian prison camp system at Braunau so they could receive better treatment and the opportunity to gain an education to make them better men and future citizens.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Russian prisoners assemble in the prison compound at Purgstall for the dedication of the new YMCA building on Christmas Day, 8 January 1917. The camp commandant, several Austrian officers, Austrian officials,and several Association secretaries (including Edgar MacNaughten) stand on the platform at the entrance to the building next to a large Christmas tree. A group of Austrian officers stand as group to the left; a choir is about to perform to the left of the platform, while members of the prison band, with instruments provided by the YMCA, peek around the corner to the right, ready for their cue to begin playing.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A Russian prisoner of war orchestra at the prison camp at Deutsch-Gabel poses with Austrian officers (standing to the left) in the prison compound in front of a decorated Christmas tree. There is a YMCA secretary in the center of the photograph (the civilian wearing the bowler hat). The Association provided POW's with musical instruments to form bands and orchestras to provide entertainment and support religious services in prison camps.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This montage shows various scenes from the Hungarian National YMCA Conference held in 1921. After the war, the Association expanded its efforts to develop the Hungarian YMCA. Magercsy, the Secretary General of the National Hungarian YMCA Committee, stands in the middle foreground of the top photograph amid the other delegates. Women supporters pose in the photo to the lower left, while a former prisoner of war and new Red Triangle secretary is featured in the lower right photograph.
- Date Created:
- 1921-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This program marked the official opening of the YMCA hall in the Ruhleben prison camp on 24 December 1915. The Association dedicated the new facility at a particularly depressing time of the year for interned civilians. They were far from their families during the Yuletide season and the YMCA sought to inject some holiday spirit into their weary lives. The program featured a divine service and music to celebrate the holiday.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This is a view of one of the fifteen Association halls the American YMCA constructed in German prison camps during World War I. German officers and guards stand in the foreground.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- The YMCA provided most of the musical instruments and music for this Serbian boys' band in an unidentified Austrian prison camp. The boys learned to play instruments and provided the general prison population with musical entertainment.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Official Inauguration program of the YMCA hut at the prison camp at Goettingen, in French, p. 1. It identifies the official speakers and musical performances.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Photograph of a Serbian stringed orchestra, which included a brass, woodwind, and percussion section, during a performance in the camp compound in an unidentified Austrian prison camp. The YMCA provided prisoners with musical instruments to support religious services and provide entertainment to the general prison population.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- The American YMCA arranged expositions of prisoner handicrafts and sold these projects to provide POW's with a modest income. The prisoners at Cottbus made these handicrafts, which included baskets, wicker furniture, a violin, a balalaika, hats, spoons, pictures, and other goods that were in demand in prison camps.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Secretary John Klanmann, in civilian clothing, stands in the center of a group of prisoners in the prison camp compound at Wieselburg in January 1918. The Swedish Red Triangle worker just gave a Christmas address to the POW's in front of the Christmas tree behind the men.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- American forces cross the Rhine River at Coblenz to begin occupation duties in accordance with the terms of the November 1918 Armistice. A few German civilians watch the Americans march across the bridge. The Allied occupation of three bridgeheads on the eastern bank of the Rhine River eliminated Germany's historic defensive line in the West.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- These three photographs depict the prosthesis donated by the American YMCA to help severely wounded prisoners regain some of their abilities after losing limbs. By providing state-of-the-art prostheses and physical rehabilitation, the Association sought to help these unfortunates learn new trades so they could support their families after the war and not become a burden on society.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Official inauguration program of the YMCA hut at the prison camp at Goettingen, in English, p. 2. The program identifies the official speakers and music presented at the ceremony.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This is an exterior view of the World's Alliance of YMCA's headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland in 1922. The Association would soon move from this building to new facilities on the Quai Wilson on Lake Geneva.
- Date Created:
- 1922-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Seven members of the YMCA Committee at Rastatt pose for a photograph in a comfortable sitting room. They served as the officers of the Rastatt Association, to implement the YMCA program with the aid of an Association secretary, usually Conrad Hoffman, who made periodic visits to the camp to restore supplies and equipment and to address any problems with operations. The WPA Secretary helped organize Associations within each camp, recruiting POW's with YMCA experience or special talents to implement the program. These committees then served as help committees to promote the athletic, spiritual, educational, and social programs of the YMCA. Note the POW identification number on the upper arm of the prisoners.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- The American YMCA funded the erection of this large stone memorial to American prisoners buried in the cemetery at Rastatt.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- English-speaking prisoners of war at Goettingen had access to "The Wooden City," a newspaper which carried information about camp activities as well as cultural and historical issues. In the 15 September 1915 issue, Karl Fries, the Swedish General Secretary of the World's Student Christian Federation, wrote the front page article about Archibald Harte and the YMCA's War Prisoners' Aid program.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Two British soldiers and a sailor stand outside of the YMCA Reading Room at Doeberitz. The photograph caption indicates that these men were members of the YMCA camp committee. The room is busy as several POW's look out the window at the photographer. Prisoners enjoyed the availability of books for entertainment and education.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Representatives of the prisoners of war incarcerated at Goettingen stand in front of the new YMCA hall. The building is festively decorated with pine garlands for the inauguration and the Red Triangle symbol is mounted over the door.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- After the YMCA building inauguration and Christmas service at Purgstall, the Austrian officers and visitors stop for a photograph. The visitors included Austrian Baron von Haitin, the Swedish minister to Austria-Hungary; His Excellency Berks-Fries, Charge d'Affairs; Leche; Pastor Neander (a YMCA secretary); and Edgar MacNaughten, the Senior WPA Secretary for Austria-Hungary, who stand on the front porch of the building. Russian prisoners look on the scene from the background.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- German officers and their guests enter the main entrance of the new YMCA hall at Darmstadt for the dedication ceremony. French Arab prisoners stand at attention for the special occasion outside of the building.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Sir Arthur Yapp, Secretary-General of the English National YMCA, and Mr. McCann, a YMCA associate, meet returning British prisoners of war at the Cannon Street Station in London.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A visiting YMCA secretary poses with the Italian Welfare Committee in the prison camp at Heinrichsgruen in this photograph. The POW's worked with the Association secretary to provide services to other prisoners in the camp, serving as administrators for YMCA supplies and programs. The Welfare Committee accepted the task of providing for the needs of prisoners, maintaining camp morale, and instituting a wide range of services to help soldiers make the most of their incarceration.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- An unidentified Association secretary, sitting in the center, poses with a Russian balaklava band in an unknown Austrian prison camp. The instruments range from small mandolins to the massive bass balalakas in the background (and one prisoner has a pair of cymbals). The YMCA helped provide musical instruments to prisoners to encourage musical performances in prison camps.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Allied prisoners of war, German military staff, and YMCA officials stand outside of the new Association hall in Darmstadt. The building is decorated with pine garlands to commemorate the event.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Group photograph of Indian troops who had been imprisoned in Germany but were released with the Armistice. These soldiers received YMCA hospitality during their brief stay in the Netherlands as they waited for a ferry to take them to England.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This is a group photograph of the War Prisoners' Aid Secretaries who served in Austro-Hungarian prison camps early in 1917. The Senior WPA Secretary in Austria-Hungary, Edgar MacNaughten, sits in the center of the group.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This photograph shows the exterior of the YMCA hall at the prison camp at Frankfurt-an-der-Oder. The POW's constructed the building and it became the center of the camp's social life. The facility was also used for divine services and became known as the Russian church.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- British, Russian, French, and Belgian prisoners of war cram into the reading room of the YMCA hall at Goettingen. They have access to books and pre-war magazines in the Association library. To maximize capacity within the hall, the YMCA provided benches, but not tables.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- The Russian prisoners in this prison camp display the contents of the recreation chest they just received from the YMCA's War Prisoners' Aid organization in Vienna. Each chest held games (Tambola, dominoes, chess, checkers, and Mensch aergere dich nicht), musical instruments (accordions and harmonicas), books, and Russian Orthodox crosses. An unidentified Association secretary, in the civilian clothing and wearing the C.V.J.M. armband), poses with the Russian prisoners. The YMCA committee in the prison camps then sent these recreation chests to POW's working outside the camp in Arbeitskommandos (labor detachments).
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Edgar MacNaughten (center in civilian clothing) and Austrian officers open a new Association building in an unidentified Austrian prison camp. They are surrounded by Russian prisoners of war who will soon enjoy the services offered in the facility.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Secretary Daris A. Davis prepares circulating libraries for shipment to prisoners assigned to Arbeitskommandoes. Prisoners working in labor detachments could not visit the prison camp library and longed for access to books. Each traveling library carried a set of approximately thirty books. When the members of the labor detachment read all of the books, they could exchange the library for a new set of books.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Russian prisoners pose for a photograph on the stage in the theater at Wieselburg. They are standing in front of an arbor scene. Plays provided POW's with a temporary escape from the boredom of the prison camp.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Young prisoners of war in an unidentified Austrian prison attend a math class, organized by the YMCA. The teacher is also a POW, probably a former teacher before the war began. There is an abacus on the front of the table and the students diligently figure out their computations on small chalkboards. Discipline is probably not a problem, given the switch hanging from the teacher's side. The photograph caption is interesting: these young men are in class to gain an education to become productive future subjects in the Austro-Hungarian Empire; most of the boys in these prison camps were Russians or Serbians.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- An unidentified YMCA secretary meets with a group of sick and wounded Russian prisoners of war in an unknown Austrian prison camp. These men are in the process of recovery; they are out of their beds in the hospital ward, but are not yet ready for assignment to their barracks.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- The World's Alliance of YMCA's published "The Messenger to Prisoners of War" in a wide range of languages for prisoners of war in Allied and Central Power hands. This issue was the French version, published in December 1917, and distributed in German prison camps. The YMCA sought to provide POW's with educational and devotional readings to help prisoners pass their time and improve their future lot in life.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French, British, and Russian prisoners of war pack the YMCA reading room in Goettingen. To maximize space, there are no tables to make sure that as many prisoners as possible can be accommodated in the reading room.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- The War Prisoners' Aid Headquarters in Vienna sent these traveling recreation chests to labor detachments to make sure that prisoners detached from their parent camps still benefited from the Red Triangle social program. Each wooden box contained reading material (books, magazines, spiritual tracts, and hymnals), musical instruments (accordions and harmonicas), games (dominoes and Mensch aergere dich nicht), and stationery. Each chest was secured with a lock and chain to prevent the loss of materials.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Soldiers and civilians enjoy Christmas celebrations in the Vienna Soldatenheim early in World War I. A children's "guard of honor" with flags and rifles stands in the middle of the photograph and an orchestra sits on the right. The Austrian YMCA sought to provide diversions for young men serving in the army.
- Date Created:
- 1914-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This is an exterior view of the Copenhagen YMCA building, which served as the national headquarters for the Danish Association.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A group of Russian boys in the prison camp at Wieselburg pose with Secretary John Klanmann. The Swedish secretary arranged for these boys to attend school to gain an education so they could become productive members of society when they returned home.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This poster aptly demonstrated the sea of humanity that became barbed-wire victims during World War I and the role of the American YMCA played in alleviating their hardships. The photos along the border show prisoners from around the world while the quotes in the center point out the assistance the Association was providing in terms of extending hope, food, and comforts. The motto for the War Prisoners' Aid service was "In Prison and Ye Visited Me," inspired by the words of Christ. These captives also helped Red Triangle secretaries establish a relationship with men from the four corners of the globe; this missionary effort could have paid off huge dividends after the war as these men returned home imbued with the Association spirit and mission.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- The editor of The Messenger to the Prisoners of War works on the copy for the latest edition of this monthly newspaper. The Messenger was published in French, English, German, Russian, Serbian, Italian, and Bulgarian by the World's Alliance of YMCA's. The contents included spiritual and moral material, but focused primarily on historical, scientific, and literary articles. The first editor of "The Messenger" was W. Gottsched and he was later replaced by Ernst Sartorius.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A new grave for an American POW, highlighted by the wreath on the cross, stands near the YMCA memorial in the cemetery at Rastatt.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries