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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:
- German troops round up all of the males in a Serbian village for internment during the third invasion of the kingdom in 1915.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Two British prisoners of war plane the bark off wooden logs as a German guard in a Pickelhaube watches their work.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- Women wash their clothing in tubs outside of their barracks at Holzminden. They are accompanied by their children and a man stands on a ladder, to the right, repairing a window.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A Romanian prisoner Arbeitskommando (labor detachment) loads a barge with lumber and boxes on the Danube river under the supervision of German troops.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This cartoon depicts a Belgian work kissing his baby goodbye as German soldiers seize him for employment in Germany. The workers' wife, mother, and child are powerless to prevent his deportation.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Russian prisoners construct a war memorial for fallen soldiers in the town square of an unidentified German town under the direction of German guards.
- 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:
- Russian prisoners in an Arbeitskommando (labor detachment) turn over the top soil on the moorland of Loecknitz under the supervision of a German guard. This labor detachment worked out of the prison camp in Stettin, which was less than two miles away. Allied prisoners replace German farmers, who had been called to arms, to support the empire's agricultural economy.
- 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:
- French women from Ban-de-Sept, a village in the Vosges, sit in their barracks and sew in the prison camp at Holzminden.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- German guards escort a column of British prisoners assigned to an Arbeitskommando somewhere in Germany early in the war.
- 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:
- A labor detachment of British prisoners plane the bark off trees and dig trenches under the direction of German guards early in the war. This work was illegal under the Hague Conventions since the labor supported the German war effort.
- Date Created:
- 1914-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A group of Russian prisoners of war turn over the soil in a field in Spring 1915 in preparation for the planting of potatoes. The Germans began to recognize that idle prisoners in camps were a drain on the war economy and these labor detachments, especially in agricultural production, would become very common across Germany.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- Five British prisoners of war sit on a bench in front of the store room at Limburg peeling potatoes, under the watchful gaze of a German non-commissioned officer. The store room appears full given the bags of supplies behind the window. Note that the British prisoners wear identification bands on their upper left arms.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Allied officers stand in the snow in the courtyard of the prison camp at Freiburg. The officers' camp was located in the old university building in the town and the prisoners had access to the quadrangle. As demonstrated by the heavy now on the branches of the trees, a snow storm just ended. The prisoners are carrying wood to heat their quarters.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A group of Belgian cobblers pose outside their workshop with some of the tools of their trade on the table in this 1916 photograph. These men provided an important camp service in terms of repairing worn out shoes and producing new products. Unskilled POWs also gained the opportunity to learn a new trade that they could practice after their repatriation.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A detachment of British prisoners of war dig a drainage ditch in a field outside the prison camp at Teltow. German Landsturm guards keep an eye on the workers. This area was susceptible to flooding and proper drainage was important to increase agricultural productivity.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- Russian prisoners clear the rubble away from a church in Augustowo in Russian Poland under the direction of German guards.
- 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:
- A labor detachment of Russian prisoners of war from Doeberitz pull a wagon along a snowy road. Given the time of year, the POW's may have been sent to collect firewood, a fuel critical for prison camp operations during the winter. The German Army's demand for horses required prisoners to pull loads to support the camp.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- Prisoners maintained pig stys along the perimeter fence between the compounds at Soltau. The POWs tended the pigs and other livestock to enhance the bland quality of their regular fare and increase their meat rations. The Allied naval blockade had a severe impact on the diversity of POW meals. The stys were located next to one compound's parade/athletic grounds and the road between the compounds. Note the guard towers in the background which were built to observe the barbed-wire fences.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A group of Russian prisoners, under Landsturm guard, await their marching orders in Stralkowo. They have their belongings on the ground at their feet and will probably be assigned to a labor detachment or work camp in the area.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- A British labor detachment, composed of English and Scottish POWs, pulls a wagon, with a German soldier on top, to work in the fields. A German woman on the side of the road has caught the attention of some of the prisoners.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This general view of the prison barracks and compound at Wasbek is from a guard tower. A labor detachment of Russian prisoners enters the main gate after a day's work outside the facility. A German guard counts the POW's as they enter the camp to detect any escapes.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Russian cobblers are hard at work repairing shoes and boots for POW's at Muensingen. POW's had limited access to new shoes while in prison and often had to repair the shoes they wore when they were captured. The workshop is well ventilated by the numerous windows and the POW's have access to electrical lights over their work benches.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- The meat larder at the Lamsdorf prison camp is full of pork, beef, sausages, and other foodstuffs early in the war (this photograph was taken in 1915). A German cook and an Allied POW work in the storeroom in preparation for the next meal. The Allied blockade of Germany placed a heavy burden on the Germans' ability to feed prisoners of war within a year.
- 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:
- A French prisoner plays his self-made cello in the theater at Grafenwoehr. Prisoners often exhibited their ingenuity and talents by making their own instruments or by utilizing other inmates with wood carving skills to construct needed musical equipment.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Russian prisoners of war plant seeds in a newly ploughed field on a German farm. Prisoners engaged in agricultural work were not paid as well as POW's who worked in factories but farm workers enjoyed better meals in relation to their comrades back in the prison camps.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Drawing of German troops collecting and deporting Belgian women and children to labor camps in Germany in 1917 as a priest looks on from the steps of his church. The Germans relied heavily on conscripted labor to support their war industries and did not have access to overseas labor, due to the Allied blockade.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Operating a large prison camp facility like Muenster required a large supply of resources and dependence on Allied labor. Russian prisoners saw trees and stack fire wood in huge piles in preparation for the onset of winter. The Germans sought to save coal and prison camps utilized wood to heat stoves and boilers during cold periods.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Russian prisoners install posts and unroll barbed wire to enclose the prison compound at Buetow. The POW's provided the labor for the construction of prison camps, which included setting up the security to keep them inside the compound.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- British prisoners of war work on a German farm, turning over the soil and sifting stones from the dirt. A Landsturm guard watches their work in the background.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- Serbian prisoners of war crush rocks and work on a military road construction project under German guard in 1915.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- 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:
- Two British sailors saw down a tree while another British prisoner of war holds an axe during some winter work. Two German guards look on and observe their progress.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Russian Muslim prisoners display some of the fine handicrafts in the carpentry shop at Zossen-Wuensdorf. The prisoners have carved three street signs (two for Yorkstrasse and one for Lowenfeldstrasse) while a design hangs on the wall. Note the picture of Kaiser Wilhelm II on the back wall to the left.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Russian prisoners clean and sweep the streets of a Polish town under the supervision of a Landsturm guard. The German occupation of tsarist towns led to improved sanitation and reconstruction employing prisoner labor.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This Dutch cartoon, drawn by Louis Raemackers, illustrates Belgian deported laborers working in a German munitions plant. One of the workers muses that the shell he is making may be the one that kills his son, who is fighting with the Allies on the Yser.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Russian prisoners on a labor detachment build a huge pile of hay for winter fodder. Both the Germans and Allies relied on horses for transportation and cavalry warfare. In the insert is a photograph of a "typical" Russian prisoner.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- A prisoner made this toy and presented it to an Association secretary. The clown and the man in the top hat revolve on the parrallel bars.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A group of Russian prisoners and German soldiers rest for a moment from their work in constructing a second hospital ward at Wasbek. They stand on the frame of the new facility with the building material in the foreground. Note the traditional tree adorning the roof of a new building under construction.
- 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:
- A group of Russian prisoners load a wagon full of apples at a market at Frankfurt-am-Main for transportation to the prison camp. These apples will be pressed into juice and stored in the camp. A German Landsturm sentry stands to the left.
- 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:
- An Arbeitskommando of British prisoners of war march through the main gate of a German prison camp with shovels over their shoulders in parade fashion. Some children watch the parade to the left.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- Prison camps often held art exhibitions which displayed the work of POW's. This is a general view of the exhibition of officers' work at Torgau in 1915, highlighting the paintings which featured portraits and landscapes. The exhibit also included decorative flowers and plants. Sometimes the art work was sold at POW exhibitions, which provided prisoners with extra income to improve their standard of living.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A stout German non-commissioned officer counts off Russian prisoners during a roll call at Buetow. Note the wooden barrack under construction in the background. The POWs were responsible for building new quarters inside the prison camp.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- This Dutch cartoon shows a bound Belgian worker led away by German troopers while a third German soldier bars his wife at the front door to prevent her from helping the worker. Allied control of the world sea lanes allowed the Entente nations to import laborers from China, Southeast Asia, India, and Egypt while simultaneously denying the Germans access to international labor through the blockade.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Three Russian prisoners of war with shovels unload a narrow gauge railway car full of potatoes in a German prison camp. A Landsturm guard supervises their work. Railways were critical for transporting supplies to prison facilities for daily operations.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- The Germans employed prisoners with special skills to support camp operations. Russian POW's work on a number of projects inside the carpenter shop at Muensingen. They are building tables and cabinets with the various tools that are scattered around the workshop and on the walls. POW labor made prison camps self-supporting.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- British prisoners of war participate in compulsory exercise in this drawing of the prison compound at Muenster, including wounded POW's, under the supervision of German guards. Two prisoners are busy cutting firewood to the right; behind them stands a one-story wooden barrack found in many German prison camps.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French prisoners work in a carpentry shop under a German non-commissioned officer in an unidentified prison camp. Some of the prisoners' work stand on the shelves or hang from the ceiling including a guitar, violin, and picture frame. The German coat of arms is featured at the top right and the British coat of arms is at the top left.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- British enlisted prisoners participate in the YMCA Sports Day competition at the prison camp at Cellelager before a large crowd of spectators of Russian POW's and German officers. Note the construction of a new barrack in the background.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A labor detachment of British prisoners of war march through a German town on their way to a work assignment. Civilians watch their progress from the sidewalk and follow them on a bicycle.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Russian prisoners prepare to butcher a recently slaughtered hog in the prison compound at Danzig. Note the white identification badges on the breast pockets of the prisoners. The pig provided the protein for the POW's for the next meal.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- British prisoners of war on a labor detachment march along a snowy road in support of a supply train. One POW is pulling a cart filled with boxes, which may have been parcels for the prisoners. The heavily laden wagon in front is also pulled by several prisoners. POW's often had to march to the railroad depot to load wagons with supplies and parcels for the prison camp.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- The presence of Russian prisoners from Muensingen on German farms grew more common during the course of World War I. This drawing depicts a Russian POW with a horse involved in agricultural work.
- 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:
- This is a section of a map showing the locations of Arbeitskommandos (Allied labor detachments) in the Kingdom of Saxony. The map is coded to identify agricultural labor, industrial labor, work for the state, and . public interest projects. The map is further delineated identifying the Stammlagern (parent camps) where the prisoners were assigned; in this case, the prison camps at Golzern, Koenigsbrueck, and Chemnitz provided the man power for this labor.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- Another Raemacker cartoon shows German guards herding Belgian workers into a railroad car for transportation into Germany. The laborers wave farewell to their families and will soon be off to support the German war effort.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A group of prisoners on a labor detachment are on the march under the supervision of German guards at Muensingen. POW's often worked outside of the prison camp on a variety of jobs to replace mobilized German labor. In some cases, labor detachments were sent on permanent detail to farms, mines, or factories.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Russian prisoners work on rabbit hutches in the prison camp at Aschaffenburg. Rabbit meat helped to diversify the diets of the prisoners and added extra meat to the soup.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- Russian prisoners take a break from work plaiting straw to make baskets and other goods used in the prison camp at Zittau (Gross Poritsch). The POW's are weaving inside a workshop at the facility. Note the German NCO's in the center aisle at the back of the room.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Russian prisoners turn over a field with shovels on an Arbeitskommando for cultivation in preparation for Spring planting as German guards watch their progress.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- Serbian prisoners of war clean the streets of a German town with shovels and brooms under the gaze of a large German guard.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This photograph shows a view of the prison camp at Crossen-an-der-Oder from the central watch tower, showing the church and the site of the future YMCA building the American Association planned to construct. The POW's have already built several barracks and a church inside the compound. The photograph shows several of the camp's barracks and buildings under construction.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries