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- Notes:
- These French prisoners are tending sheep and cows. This herd is probably part of an unidentified prison camp's food supply system.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A French barber provides a shave to another prisoner reading a newspaper in an unidentified prison camp. This scene was repeated in hundreds of prison camps around the world during World War I.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This is the interior of the prison camp kitchen at Goettingen where French and British prisoners of war smoke pipes and receive instructions on that day's meal. The cooks prepare the soup in the large stoves and vats of potatoes stand along the walls. Mass production of prepared food was essential for the daily maintenance of a prison camp.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- As a propaganda camp, prisoners had access to a wide range of activities at Zossen. The Germans have provided these French prisoners with a studio to work on sculptures. There is a base relief on the floor to the right, a small statue of a French soldier sitting, and a large monument on the small table to the right.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- British, Russian, and French cobblers work in their shop at Doeberitz making new and repairing old shoes and boots. These shops offered important services to prisoners and offered young POW's an opportunity to learn a trade.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A group of Russian, and a few French, prisoners from Langensalza are ready to work in the fields under the supervision of a German NCO and a Landsturm guard. The Russian POW's in front of the wagon to the left carry shovels and pitch forks and await their orders.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French prisoners carry in a load of fire wood on their backs for fuel to heat and run the prison in an unidentified camp. A German guard stands at the right.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French prisoners and German staff members prepare dinner in the huge cookers in the background of the photograph of the camp kitchen at Guetersloh. The food will be served in the dining hall in the large pots sitting on the table. Mass production of rations was essential to feed large numbers of prisoners three times a day.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Prison camps required the services of skilled craftsmen to help the facility operate properly. Four French prisoners work outside of their shop in Landau-Ebenberg weaving baskets. Often POW's apprenticed with experienced craftsmen in prison and learned a new trade which they could practice after their repatriation.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French prisoners, from the captured garrison at Montmedy, work on repairing a railroad tunnel which French troops destroyed during their retreat. This tunnel was part of the Aachen-Paris railway line and was one kilometer long.
- Date Created:
- 1914-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French, Belgian, and British prisoners of war sit in a field which will become the prison camp at Minden in October 1914. The Germans have erected posts and hung barbed-wire around the perimeter of the facility, but the prisoners are living in the tents in the background. The POW's provided the bulk of the labor for the construction of the barracks and other buildings needed to support prison camp operations. War prisoners were kept busy in prison camp construction work early in the war due to the massive influx of Allied POW's into Germany.
- Date Created:
- 1914-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French carpenters at work in the joiners shop in the prison camp at Cassel under the supervision of a German NCO. A pile of benches are stacked on top of the work bench and a guitar hangs from the rafters, demonstrating the talent of these carpenters. Camp carpenters constructed the furniture and other wood products needed inside the prison camp. These workshops also provided training for apprentices which provided them with the opportunity to learn post-war trades.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French prisoners are busy turning over a flower bed in preparation for spring planting outside of the prison camp at Frankfurt-am-Main. They will probably plant food crops to meet the growing food shortages in Germany. These crops might be used to supplement the prison camp's food supplies or the POW's may be working for a private farmer. They work under the watchful eye of a German Landsturm sentry to the right.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A labor detachment of French prisoners of war march down some stairs under guard from the prison camp in Landshut on their way to their daily work. Children observe the men from the grass next to the house.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French prisoners shoe a horse in the prison camp at Heuberg, while an English prisoner holds the horse's bridle. The prisoners provided important services in prison camps, such as blacksmithing, especially since horses played a critical role in transportation during the First World War.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French cobblers and tailors work on repairing shoes and clothing in a work shop at Limburg. A German non-commissioned officer oversees the work from the back of the room. The prisoners provided most of the labor needed to keep the prison camp running smoothly and efficiently. Some POW's became apprentices and learned a trade working in such workshops during the war.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French prisoners of war in the prison camp at Goettingen could apply for a wide variety of jobs at the camp's Business Office. They could choose employment in publicity, in the library, in the theater, etc. In the back of the room stand some interesting wooden models of the Eiffel Tower and a windmill which reflects the expertise of inmate wood carvers.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Two French prisoners create a variety of columns, urns, and planters from cement molds in their workshop at Heuberg. Many of these works would become memorials in the POW cemetery. Note the two pigs rutting around in the background of the photograph. Pork products were a welcome addition to the prisoners' diet.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French prisoners, wearing wooden clogs, plait straw into baskets in a workshop in an unidentified German prison camp.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Prisoners from Muensingen worked in labor detachments on the farms surrounding the prison camp. In this wood block print, a French prisoner tills the soil with a pair of oxen led by a German woman. Women often took over the care of farms when their husbands were mobilized for military service.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A French officer tastes the day's soup in the camp kitchen at Limburg, as Russian and German cooks prepare for the distribution of the meal to the prisoners. Feeding all of the men in a prison camp on a daily basis was a massive undertaking in spite of wartime food shortages.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A French cobbler is busy repairing a shoe at Muensingen in this wood cut print. Note that the shoemaker is wearing wooden shoes due to the lack of leather in the camp.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French prisoners construct the barbed-wire enclosure which will surround their prison camp. Two POW's hold the reel of barbed-wire while another holds the wire in place with a pair of pliers. A civilian and his assist will nail the barbed-wire to the post.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French bakers prepare bread dough in the prison kitchen at Guestrow while fresh bread cools on the shelves behind them. These bakers had to produce a large amount of bread every day to meet the dietary requirements established by the German Ministry of War.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A labor detachment of French prisoners assemble in the morning in the prison compound at Weitmoos in preparation to march off to work under German guard. The photograph was taken from the guard tower. Allied POW labor was critical to support the German war economy, especially after the army mobilized German males for military service.
- Date Created:
- 2013-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Five French prisoners, holding flower pots, pose with a German Landsturm guard, in a garden outside of the prison camp at Frankfurt-am-Main. They are preparing for planting in Spring 1915.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Allied prisoners muster in front of their barracks in the prison compound at Dyrotz for a roll call. English prisoners stand to the right, Russians in the middle, and French POW's to the right. On the lower right hand side of the photograph are the wagons and tools used to support the prison camp on a daily basis.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French and Russian cobblers practice their trade at a work bench outside of their workshop at Danzig. These craftsmen provided important services to prisoners who could not work without proper footwear. Apprentices could learn a new trade by working with experienced shoemakers.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French prisoners are busy in constructio work carrying dirt in wheel barrows at the pond outside of the perimeter security fence at Minden I. They are probably involved in drainage work or shoring up the bank of the pond.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French prisoners spread fertilizer on a field with manure from the horse drawn wagon outside of the prison at Friedrichsfeld. The POW's are spreading guano in the field in preparation for spring planting. Prisoner labor was critical in supporting the German war economy.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Russian and French prisoners pull a wagon full of correspondence and parcels from the train station to the prison camp at Merseberg. Horses were in short supply in Germany after the war started, while POW labor was plentiful. Prisoners took over the job of pulling wagons whenever possible.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- With German labor in short supply and Allied prisoners of war in abundance, the Germans used POW labor to construct prison camps during the war. Two French prisoners work on the perimeter fence; one holds the wire in place with a pair of pliers while the other nails the wire to the post. A civilian watches the activity with interest.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- While a Russian prisoner operates a sewing machine, a group of French and Russian tailors work on clothing outside of their workshop at Koenigsbrueck under the supervision of German guards.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Skilled craftsmen provided important services to prisoners in prison camps. This is the interior of the tailor shop at Muensingen in which French prisoners repair uniforms. The working conditions are very good in this shop; the prisoners have access to light from the large window and electric light, warmth from the wood stove, and a variety of tools, including a sewing machine.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French prisoners of war work in the prison laundry at Goettingen. Two prisoners operate a laundry press while the other POW's pull open special drying racks which hang from nails. Clean laundry was an important task in keeping prisoners healthy through the elimination of vermin.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French and Russian prisoners work on shoes and boots in the cobbler shop at Merseberg. The men are busy making new shops and boots or repairing worn out footwear. These skilled laborers provided an important service in the prison camps and unskilled prisoners gained the opportunity to learn a new trade during their captivity. German guards stand in the back of the shop.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French cobblers, in wooden clogs, make new shoes in a work shop in an unidentified prison camp. They repaired worn shoes and boots for other POWs and produced new shoes when leather was available.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French and Belgian prisoners of war at Duelmen line up in the morning under the scrutiny of German non-commissioned officers as they prepare to march off to work. The photograph also shows some of the wooden barracks in the prison camp.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French prisoners of war and civilian internees pull a wagon in the compound of an unidentified prison camp. When laborers were plentiful, men replaced horses who were needed to support the war effort.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French and Belgian prisoners work on a number of projects in the work shop at Eichstaett. The prisoners at the first work bench repair shoes while another group fixes clothing. Note the sewing machine on the back work bench.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A French prisoner feeds the chickens at a prison camp in Germany with a German guard. The chickens provided eggs for the kitchen and meat for the soup. The work is not overly stressful as the French soldier smokes a pipe.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A French sculptor works in his workshop at Guestrow on a statue which will be part of a POW memorial in the prison camp cemetery. There are three other statues under construction which will commemorate fallen comrades from the prison.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A small squad of French prisoners march off under German guard, possibly on a work detail.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A labor detachment of French prisoners of war repair a defective rail on the tram line on the streets of Frankfurt-am-Main. They work under the supervision of the German sentry to the left.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A scene in the kitchen of the officers' prison camp in Hannoverisch Muenden. The kitchen staff stands in the background with German non-commissioned officers, Allied enlisted men (who served as the cooks), and several French and British officers. Note the conventional stove in the kitchen instead of the huge pressure cookers designed for mass food production found in enlisted men's camps. Loaves of bread are stacked on the shelves in the back of the kitchen.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- The German authorities permitted this French sculptor to continue his trade in prison at Zossen. He was assigned his own workshop and is working on a monument. This workshop also served as a dining room and a place to sleep (note the pile of mattresses on the floor to the left). The prisoners are very comfortable as one reads a newspaper, another smokes, and two others sit down to a meal.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French POW's wash laundry in large wooden tubs in the wash room in the prison camp at Giessen. Clean clothing eliminated vermin and germs and helped prevent the outbreak of epidemics in crowded barracks.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French and British prisoners of war sit and peel potatoes as cooks stir the soup over the stoves. These POW's have a lot of work to do given the vats full of potatoes. It was imperative for the camp kitchen feed thousands of prisoners three times a day to keep all of the POW's healthy.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- The Germans regularly used prison labor to improve the region's transportation infrastructure. French POW's are constructing a narrow gauge field railway at Minden I, under the supervision of German guards.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A labor detachment of French prisoners from Minden are hard at work on a road bed outside of the prison compound. Some of the prisoners are wearing wooden shoes, which often had information about the POW's barracks and serial number. The declining supply of leather in Germany resulted in the distribution of wooden shoes when boots or shoes were no longer available for POWs.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A labor detachment of French and Belgian prisoners of war pull a wagon full of firewood on their way back to the prison camp at Muenster. Firewood was an important source of fuel to heat the barracks at night and to run the boilers, ovens, and stoves in the prison camp. Due to the wartime demand for horses by the German Army, the prisoners had to draw the wagons that carried many of the necessities for camp operations.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French prisoners work outside their carpentry shop under the direction of a German non-commissioned officer at Darmstadt. They are possibly working on furniture or other projects designed for camp use. POW labor provided services to keep prison camps running.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries