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- Notes:
- This photograph shows the reading room and library at Cassel. French, Belgian, and Russian prisoners enjoy a wide range of reading materials in the library for both education and entertainment.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Russian, French, and Belgian prisoners of war line up at the window of the camp kitchen at Goettingen where they will receive their barrack's ration of food. They will then carry the meals back to their quarters for the final distribution.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Allied prisoners of war of all nationalities enjoy a restful Sunday afternoon in the prison compound at Goettingen. Colonel Bogen, the camp commandant, stands in the foreground to the left.
- 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:
- A British sailor hands a loaf of bread to a French prisoner under the supervision of a German NCO in the bread warehouse in Zossen. Russian prisoners look on from the right as a British POW loads some bread into a hand truck which will be used to distribute the bread in the camp. Note the stacks of loaves of bread behind the prisoners. Bread was a major component of POW rations in all German prison camps.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- In this water color painting, prisoners walk along one of the camp's tree-lined streets (Allied Boulevard) in Muensingen. Several of the POWs are returning from mail call and are reading their letters on the steps of their barracks or as they walk in the street.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- The French orchestra performs an afternoon concert for recuperating sick and wounded prisoners of war in a garden outside of the hospital ward at Goettingen. The civilian standing to the extreme left, talking to the wounded Russian soldier is probably Archibald C. Harte.
- 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:
- French, French Arab, and Russian POW's mill about the camp compound at Langensalza in this drawing. This was the "main street" of the facility and the illustration shows a barrack and disinfection wagons in the background. The prisoners converse, smoke pipes, read newspapers, and play board games as they pass the time.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Russian prisoners created this sand and cement mosiac of a Kazak Uhlan in 1915. Outdoor art work was a very popular pastime in Koenigsbrueck. Russian and French prisoners flank the work, admiring the detailed craftsmanship.
- 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, Russian, and British officers talk their daily walk for fresh air and exercise along the walls at the prison camp at Marienberg. Some prisoners of war sit on the rampart wall while others are engaged in conversation. Officers who gave their parole to German authorities, promising not to escape, often received permission to visit the local town without a guard.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- POW's from seven countries pose in this photograph taken in the prison compound at Friedrichsfeld. These troops came from Belgium, Britain, France, French West Africa, India, Russia, and Serbia and demonstrated to the German people the global challenge they faced in the war. Such photographs aided the German propaganda campaign; the Germans argued that the Allies had to rely on man power from their subject colonies to support their war effort.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French and Russian POW's, comprising the First Company, line up for roll call outside the old fortress at Rastatt.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Prisoners of war at Goerlitz work in a decorative garden outside of their barracks under the supervision of a German non-commissioned officer. Gardening provided prisoners with a hobby to help break the monotony of prison camp life and improved the general appearance of the camp.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French and Russian prisoners read books and newspapers in the reading room and library at Cassel. They sit at benches and will be warmed in the winter by the large oven in the middle of the room. The rear wall is decorated with a variety of pictures. Given the large number of POW's in the room, reading was important for inmates in terms of education and entertainment during the prisoners' free time.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- The Frankfurter Zeitung published these graphs in July 1915 showing the losses in battleship tonnage and the nationality of Allied prisoners of war in Central Power hands. The number of Russian POW's (1.5 million) dwarfed the numbers of other Allied countries.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This drawing depicts French, Belgian, and British prisoners enjoying the evening smoking and playing cards in the canteen at the officers' camp in Burg. They are served by a Russian orderly and Gladys, the hostess. Prisoners were not totally cut off from the presence of women, who occasionally worked in canteens in German prison camps.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Various Russian nationalities and a French prisoner of war (soldier with the wounded arm) pose with a German non-commissioned officer (center, standing in the back row). This photograph shows the wide range of nationalities that fought in the Tsarist Army during the war from the polyglot Russian Empire.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Seven prisoners of war at Ohrdruf enjoy some refreshments outside of their barracks. French, French North African, Belgian, Russian, and British (Scottish) soldiers partake in a social opportunity early in the war.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This is a general view of the prison camp at Amberg from the guard tower. This photograph shows the prison compound, the barracks, and part of the Bavarian military facility in the background. French and Russian prisoners dominate the inmate population.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French officers sit to the right on the sidelines of a tennis match at Erfurt, as French and Russian enlisted men stand to watch the game. One of the players stands to the left with his tennis racket in his hand.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Fighting lice was the scourge of all POW's during World War I, whether in a prison camp or in the trenches. French, Russian, and Belgian prisoners have set their mattresses in the sun to air out their bedding to help eliminate the infestation. Some prisoners are reading, playing board games, or repairing their uniforms in front of their barracks at Nuernberg. Others have taken the opportunity to wash their clothing and hang them out to dry by the building.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French and Russian prisoners of war pull their fire engine into position for a fire drill, under the supervision of a German Landsturm guard. Fire safety was always a high priority in crowded prison camps and POW's constantly developed their fire-fighting skills. The fire company also used their fire engine to hose down the interior of POW barracks to enhance sanitation.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A large group of Russian prisoners captured by the Germans at Tannenberg pose with three German NCO's and a few French prisoners in the camp compound at Wetzlar. Many of the Russian POW's would not return home for years as a result of the Russian Civil War. Note that some of the Russian POW's are wearing wooden shoes instead of their issued leather boots which reflected the beginning of a leather shortage in Germany.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Russian orderlies stand next to patients a prison camp hospital ward at Dyrotz. Only three of the beds appear to be occupied by the sick or wounded, while the other beds in the ward have clean linen and blankets. A wood stove in the center of the war provides warmth during the winter months.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Russian and French prisoners work in the parcel post office in Koenigsbrueck preparing for the distribution of newly arrive parcels to the camp inmates. German non-commissioned officers searched for contraband and, once approved, the parcels would be distributed to the camp inhabitants.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Patients at Muenster relax outside the lazaret as part of their recovery regimen. French and Russian POWs are recovering from wounds or illnesses and are enjoying the fresh air. The medical staff is standing to the left of the patients behind a barbed-wire fence. They include Allied medics as well as German doctors.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A group of French, Belgian, and Russian war prisoners at Reserve Lazarette III in Luebeck pose for a photograph. Note that the German orderlies are wearing black, white, and red arm bands, the German imperial colors. The Germans captured large numbers of wounded war prisoners during their drives into Belgium, France, and Russia early in the war. Seriously wounded or sick POW's were sent to military hospitals and then to reserve hospitals to speed their recovery.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A group of French and Russian prisoners of war at Puchheim enjoy an outdoor luncheon of hot soup outside of their barrack.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Prisoners set up booths plying a wide range of wares outside of their barracks in Cassel. POW's had access to food and other commodities which they could sell to other inmates. This food complemented the rations the German authorities issued to war prisoners. A German non-commissioned officer checks out the goods for sale at the right.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French, Russian, British, and Belgian prisoners stand in the court yard and on the stairs of the building to the left in the prison camp at Regensburg. Note the white identification badges on the front of the POW's hats.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French, British, and Russian prisoners of war join civilian internees for this picture of the narrow gauge railway in Guestrow. They sit on one of the locomotives and cars with a German NCO and guards, with a second locomotive to the right. The Germans constructed railways in larger prison camps to move supplies, men, and materials as part of the daily operations of the camp facility.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- The stringed orchestra at Bautzen, composed of French and Russian musicians, performs outdoors for the prisoners. German soldiers are among the audience circling the orchestra. Note the white identification badge on the front of many of the prisoners' caps.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Former British, Russian, and German prisoners of war meet at Flushing in the Netherlands as they head home as part of a POW exchange program. Several of these men have received grevious wounds and would not be able to contribute to their nations' war efforts.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- German non-commissioned officers inspect the meat while Russian and French prisoners of war stir the soup. The POW's in this unidentified German prison camp built the camp kitchen, which includes intricate wood carvings.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Allied prisoners of war, primarily Russian and French troops, line up in the prison compound at Goerlitz. Most of the prisoners wear white identification badges on their left breast pockets. Behind the men are a decorative landscaped garden in the center and wooden barracks and prison buildings around the perimeter. In the extreme background is the city of Goerlitz, which includes a church with twin spires.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- The medical staff at Langensalza assembled for this photograph and includes French, Belgian, British, and Russian doctors and orderlies. They assisted the German medical staff in the treatment of sick and wounded prisoners in the camp. Under international law, doctors and medics were supposed to be repatriated, because of their non-combatant status, but the need for medical care in POW camps required Allied doctors to remain incarcerated to care for sick and wounded Entente prisoners.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French and Russian prisoners enjoy a walk with a German non-commissioned officer and a Landsturm guard during their recuperation from wounds or illnesses. These POW's work as assistants in the hospital post office and canteen.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- German non-commissioned officers stand among French, Belgian,and Russian prisoners in this barrack at Ebersdorf bei Chemnitz. There are mattresses on the beds and numerous blankets and pots on the shelves that line the center aisle. Prisoners can eat and read at the tables and benches in the center of the building.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- The camp commandant samples the daily ration in the prison kitchen at Chemnitz. This kitchen employed French and Belgian cooks, to the left, and Russian workers, to the right. Meals were prepared in the large cooker for a large number of prisoners. This usually meant rations of some kind of soup.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A delegation of German doctors, French doctors and corpsmen, and a French nurse visit the hospital at Wetzlar. They stand in front of the hospital ward while prisoner patients stand behind a barbed wire fence. Red Cross inspections became a common practice in prison camps to ensure the best possible care of POW's under the care of the belligerent powers.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A number of incarcerated prisoners (primarily Russian officers with a few French POW's) stand in the courtyard of the fortress waiting for their dinner. There are a number of German guards on the left hand side as well as German staff members to the rear of the group.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- 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 prisoners practice a fire drill at the prison camp at Erfurt with the camp's fire engine. Two prisoners man the pumps to the left while the other POW's have run out the hoses. Several German non-commissioned officers supervise the exercise.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A group of French POW's compete in a game of bowling (skittles) in the prison yard at Muenster III. The game has attracted an international audience which includes several Russian POW's. In the background stands one of the camp's administrative buildings.
- 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, 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:
- French, Belgian, and Russian prisoners assemble in the prison compound at Neumuenster for roll call in front of the camp barracks. The presence of armed German guards suggest that these men will serve in labor detachments outside the facility during the day. A group of Allied medics are assembled in the middle of the photograph with their supplies.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A large group of Russian and French POW's (including a Senegalese prisoner on the ground in the front row) pose for a photograph in the prison compound at Langensalza. Note the POW identification badges on the left arms of the prisoners. The Germans integrated prisoners from various Allied nations into the same prison camp to avoid accusations of favoritism. The Western Entente governments protested against this policy because of the risk of epidemics from Russian troops. The Germans also used photographs of various Allied troops for propaganda purposes to bolster the war effort.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Prisoners of war line up at the counter of the camp canteen to purchase a wide variety of options. By working inside or outside of the camp, prisoners earned camp script (Lagergeld) which they could use to make purchases at the canteen. This photograph was taken early in the war as the shelves behind the counter are well stocked with a wide range of goods and food. Note that some of the workers providing service at the counter are Russian POW's and that several of the waiting prisoners are wearing wooden shoes.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A wagon full of bread has just arrived at Ulm and at the table to the right French and Russian prisoners weigh the loaves and inspect the quality of the bread. The bread has to be distributed to all of the barracks and a a fair allocation was important for POW survival. The quality of the bread in Germany, especially in prison camps, deteriorated dramatically during the war as a result of the Allied naval blockade.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Russian, French, and Belgian officers pose around a cloth-covered table in the prison camp in Halle-am-Saal. The belongings of the officers assigned to this room sit on the shelf and include boxes, photographs, bowls, and cups, while clothing and a pocket watch hand from the shelf.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Drawing of French, British, and Russian prisoners, in piteable condition, leaving a German prison camp and walking home. They are dressed in rages, some are barefoot, and many require walking sticks for support, but they are determined to return to their family and friends.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- The prison camp orchestra, composed of British, French, and Russian musicians, pose for a group photograph with their musical instruments at the prison camp at Goettingen. The orchestra performed at the dedication of the new YMCA hall in 1915.
- 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:
- French, Belgian, and Russian prisoners line up outdoors for their allocation of hot soup from the large metal and wooden pots steaming on the ground in the prison compound at Darmstadt. Once the POW's received their rations, they returned to their barracks to eat their meal.
- 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:
- French and Russian prisoners relax outside their barrack in Koenigsbrueck one afternoon. The men are spending their time reading, playing cards, or engrossed in a chess game under the supervision of two German guards.
- 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:
- German, Russian, and French doctors stand on the steps of the front door of the hospital at the prison camp at Giessen. The Germans often captured Allied doctors who remained behind during a retreat to care for wounded war prisoners.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Russian, French, Belgian, and British POW's stand in line for their daily roll call in front of their barracks at Nuernberg. The Germans integrated the Allied prisoners within prison camps to avoid accusations of prejudice or mistreatment and, mockingly, to promote "comradery" among the Allied soldiers.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Russian and French prisoners man the milk bar at the prison camp at Cassel, selling bowls and glasses of milk to the inmates. German authorities supervise the sale of the milk products. Acquisition of fresh milk from the diary farms around Cassel was not a problem for German authorities in 1915, before the Allied blockade took a toll on the German economy.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French and Russian prisoners of war line up in the camp compound at Stargard in preparation for departure for labor details outside of camp. The German guard is organizing the POW's into Arbeitskommandos. Allied POW labor helped redress the loss of German workers mobilized for military service in World War I.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French and Russian POW's stroll about the prison compound at the reprisal camp at Szczuezyn in Lithuania in 1916. Both the Allied and Central Powers found that reprisal camps had dubious effects on the foreign and military policies of their opponents.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This drawing shows the prison compound at Langensalza, including a Russian sentry standing at the inner gate of the barbed-wire fence near a one-story wooden barrack. To the right stand two covered buckets which were probably used to fetch food for POW's inside this compound (the buckets could have also been used for sanitation purposes but the ladle on one of the buckets undermined this possibility). French and Russian prisoners mill about the compound in the background. The Russian sentry is not armed and may be a prison trustee. The Germans and Russians signed an armistice in December 1917 which ended the fighting on the Eastern Front. Because of critical manpower shortages, the Germans employed trusted POW's to serve as guards to replace German troops who were transferred to front line duties.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A view of the exterior of the hospital ward at Muenster with some French and Russian patients relaxing outdoors. The German medical staff stands in the background next to the hospital ward.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Food parcels from welfare organizations or relatives were a critical component of life in a prison camp during World War I. While Allied prisoners received the same rations as German troops, the quality was probably not as favorable. Prisoners survived on these rations, but certainly did not thrive. Several wagon loads of parcels have just arrived at Muenster from the railroad station and prisoners are preparing to unload the wagons for inspection and distribution. Note that the wagons are designed to be pulled by the POW's and not horses. In the background, a large group of war prisoners await the German inspection and release of these parcels.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Russian and French patients in the hospital ward at Friedrichsfeld peel a basket of potatoes outside in the hospital courtyard. Preparing daily rations was a major undertaking in German prison camps.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Social workers and neutral inspectors often visited prison camps to meet prisoners. In this wood block print, a social worker, probably a YMCA secretary, distributes books to French and Russian prisoners of war at Muensingen. Books were important for entertainment to help POW's pass their time and to support education programs.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French prisoners work on a sand and cement mosaic of Marianne, the symbol of the French republic at the prison camp at Koenigsbrueck. This type of outdoor art work was very popular in the camp. Russian and French prisoners stand around the mosaic for the photograph.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Recuperating prisoners of war stand outside of the hospital chapel at the prison camp in Darmstadt. Catholic nuns operated the hospital at the prison camp.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French and Russian prisoners "air out" their mattresses in the sun outside their barrack in the prison compound at Zwickau. Prisoners had to periodically clean out their bedding and linens to eliminate vermin which could quickly spread diseases in the cramped conditions in the enlisted men's barracks.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French prisoners of war line up to buy refreshments at the canteen in the prison compound at Erlangen. The canteen appears to be well stocked with provisions, suggested by the goods in the window. French and Russian prisoners relax in the shade of a shed to the right. A group of POW's in the middle of the photograph are in a playful mood; one of the French prisoners gives his fellow inmate a pair of "horns" with his fingers.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A cosmopolitan group of thirteen Allied officers, representing Belgium, Britain, Scotland, France, India, French North Africa, and Russia, pose outdoors at the prison camp at Osnabrueck. The Gerrmans used these types of photographs for propaganda purposes to highlight Germany's death struggle with the majority of the world.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French and Russian enlisted prisoners display their wood working projects for two German officers outside of the main prison building at Wuerzburg. There are examples of airplanes, birds, and a windmill which demonstrated the wood working skills of the prisoners. Captivity in prison provided men with considerable time to practice their hobbies and exhibitions allowed the POW's to show off their abilities.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Prisoners of war sell a variety of food and other items outside their barracks in the prison compound in a German prison camp. Prisoners from Britain, France, and Russia assemble to inspect the wares available for sale. Food sales would become far less frequent in the later years of the war.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Interior view of a barrack in Minden I, which highlights the beds and possessions of a wide range of Allied prisoners. French, Belgian, and Russian POWs, as well as some interned civilians, lived communally in these sleeping accommodations. Some of the POWs are eating their dinners at the table at the right. Rations for each barrack were distributed at the camp kitchen on a barrack unit basis and served to the barrack inhabitants at Minden. This avoided the necessity of long quenes as individual war prisoners waited for their rations and sped up the feeding process.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- British, French, and Russian officers, who make up the Sports Committee at Werl, pose for a picture with several of the athletes who received awards for winning competitions that day. Sports days were a way to keep prisoners in shape and improve morale in prison camps.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French and Russian prisoners are working in the prison laundry at Wahn. They stand next to the large bath tubs where POW clothing was washed and some workers hold poles used to mix the clothing in the tubs. In the back of the room stand shallower tubs for rinsing washed clothing. A cart to transport clothing is also in the picture. Clean clothing eliminated lice and other vermin and helped reduce the spread of disease in the camp.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Recuperating sick and wounded prisoners play skittles (bowling) in the hospital ward's garden at Munsterlager. This recreation provided fresh air and outdoor activity for POW's cooped up in bed in the hospital ward.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French and Russian POW's, comprising the First Company, line up for roll call outside the old fortress at Rastatt. Internees were also incarcerated in this facility during the war.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries