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- Notes:
- Prisoners enjoyed their meals in the hotel dining room in Bezau (Kreuzstein), which was vastly different from the mes halls that enlisted men used in Austrian captivity. The Orthodox cross on the back table suggests that the officers' mess might have served double duty as a chapel on Sunday mornings.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- F. Wade drew this picture of a religious service in the YMCA Hall at Ruhleben. A minister delivers a sermon from the pulpit to a packed congregation. The Association made the hall available to members of any faith as a means to promote spiritual life within the prison camp.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French and Russian prisoners made this statue of a suffering man with a drawn sword in memorial to their fallen comrades at Grafenwoehr. The memorial has a Latin inscription, "For the Fatherland," and was dedicated at the prison cemetery.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- The Catholic prisoners at Koenigstein also enjoyed a very ornate chapel for worship services. The altar features a painting of Christ above it with a communion rail at the base of the altar. The chapel features a chandelier, an eternal flame, two statues, pews, and two large ovens for heat in the winter.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A group of Allied civilian internees return to the prison at Traunstein from their Sunday morning service at a local church. The civilians are under guard by German soldiers and Landsturm. While some prison camps had chapels or churches within the facilities for war prisoners, some camps allowed prisoners, who gave their parole not to escape, to visit local churches.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Muslim volunteers practice drilling in marching exercises under the direction of German NCO's in the prison compound at Zossen-Wuensdorf beside the mosque. These men volunteered to fight for the Sultan with the Turkish armies in the East against the British and the Russians.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- The British prisoners produced this Easter card in 1916 which shows the Doeberitz sailor breaking out of an Easter egg sitting on a nest of made of barbed-wire. The British prisoners in this camp constantly demonstrated an ability to find humor in their situation.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Muslim POW's learn to read and write in this YMCA school in the prison camp at Boldogasszonyfa in Hungary. Dual Monarchy officials encouraged the instruction of native languages among POW's, not only for the personal benefit of the prisoners, but also to weaken traditional political bonds in Eastern Europe. The Association, on the other hand, focused on the future welfare of these men and their families through educational programs.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Allied prisoners leave the chapel, constructed by the YMCA, at the officers' prison camp at Wiesa bei Annaberg in Saxony. The exterior of the building is decorated with bushes and trees.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A Roman Catholic priest blesses a sick or wounded prisoner in the hospital ward at Mauthausen (he may be offering last rites). The Italians argued that the Austrians provided insufficient medical attention to Italian sick and wounded in prison camps.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Russian prisoners stand bare-headed in the prison compound at Purgstall during a Christmas celebration during the dedication of the new Association hall in January 1917. A group of Austrian officers stand to the left, next to the POW choir. The YMCA hall is decorated with garland and a large Christmas tree. On the platform by the door stands a WPA secretary, Edgar MacNaughten, and the camp commandant.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Three fresh British graves stand in the New Cemetery at Limburg. The crosses bear the prisoners' names, their birth dates, and the dates of their deaths. POW's arrived in prison camps with wounds and illnesses which sometimes led to their death in captivity.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Irish prisoners at Limburg receive communion during an outdoor Roman Catholic service. The altar stands behind the priests as they administer the sacrament. The German established a propaganda camp at Limburg for Irish Catholics in an effort to recruit volunteers for the Irish Legion, a force that would invade Ireland to free the island from British rule. Irish POW's received special privileges as an enticement to fight for their freedom.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- The stringed orchestra performs during the Christmas service in the YMCA building in Braunau-am-Inn in 1916. Note the extensive decorations in the building which include garland, paper chains, pine boughs, and a large, decorated Christmas tree behind the stage. There are Christmas presents on the floor to the right of the stage, near a phonograph. Association secretaries went to great lengths to provide POW's with Christmas cheer at a time when many prisoners suffered from depression and home sickness.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Italian prisoners of war carry twenty coffins of dead comrades to the cemetery near an unidentified Austrian prison camp. A POW carrying a cross leads the procession.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A rabbi leads an outdoor service for Russian prisoners of war from a set of stairs in the prison compound at Hammerstein. A large number of Russians have assembled to participate in the service, including a man in civilian clothing, possibly a German rabbi. A prisoner in front of the stairs holds the Talmud.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A French Roman Catholic Vicar General visits with the wounded in a ward in Hospital 106 in Cambrai. Once prisoners recovered and became ambulatory, the Germans sent them to prison camps in Germany. If their wounds persisted, they would be assigned to the prison hospital lazaret until they recovered.
- Date Created:
- 1914-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Russian prisoners observe All Saints' Day in the prison cemetery at Theresienstadt in memory of their dead comrades. Two Austrian officers stand in the center of the photograph, which was taken on 14 November 1916 (the Orthodox holiday). The War Prisoners' Aid office provided the flowers that the prisoners used for decorations for the service.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This photo provides a view of the main entrance to the new YMCA hall at Darmstadt during the building's dedication ceremony. French Arab prisoners stand as a guard of honor in preparation for the event. The prisoners, who constructed the building, decorated the hall with garlands to celebrate the occasion.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- An American bugler plays taps in the POW cemetery in Rastatt for two dead comrades. The American YMCA band, to the rear at the left, was part of the funeral entourage. Note the German civilians, including a child, in attendance to the right.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- German officers observe a Muslim outdoor service at the prison camp at Zossen-Wuensdorf. Two iman kneel under a tent while thousands of faithful behind them pray towards Mecca. The Germans encouraged their Muslim POW's to practice their religion freely and strove to attract recruits for the Turkish Army to fight against the Allied infidels.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Members of a Russian choir perform a hymn in front of the altar at the prison chapel at Worms. While there is a Greek Orthodox cross on top of the altar, a Roman cross is stiched on the altar cloth which suggests that his chapel was also used by Catholic and Protestant prisoners as well. Note the arm bands on the upper left arms of the POW's to designate their prisoner status.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Photograph of the well-tended prison camp cemetery at the officers' camp at Koenigstein. Most of the graves are decorated with flowers and plants and protected by iron railings.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French, British, and Russian prisoners sit on prayer rugs facing Mecca outside of the mosque. The Germans hoped to recruit Muslim POW's to fight on behalf of the Turkish Sultan by showing their support for subject Muslims in the French, British, and Russian Empires.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This photograph shows the interior of the mosque at Zossen-Wunsdorf, a gift to Islamic prisoners from Kaiser Wilhelm II. Several men are studying the Koran inside the building. Arabic inscriptions from the Koran decorate the walls of the building. This was first practicing mosque in Germany (others had been moved as war trophies in earlier wars against the Turks and rebuilt in German states).
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This photograph shows a Polish Jewish prisoner in the Russian Army, in captivity in the prison camp at Altdamm. Jewish POW's were free to practice their religion in synagogues in German prison camps during World War I.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This is a copy of the menu for Easter dinner in 1916 in the prison camp at Mauthausen; the dinner included wine for POW's.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Exterior view of the Russian church constructed by the prisoners at Frankfurt-an-der Oder. Craftsman produced ornate doors for the church and prisoners planted trees in front of the building. Many of the Russian POW's were devout Orthodox Christians.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A group of French and Belgian POW's stand outside the church in Sennelager II under a very light German guard. War prisoners often converted barracks into chapels or even constructed church buildings within the confines of the prison facility.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This is a photograph of the exterior view of the new Association building in Crossen-an-der-Oder recently completed by POW laborers. The YMCA hut became the center of social, educational, and spiritual activities in the prison camp. Note the imperial German flag flying above the building.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A horse drawn hearse, accompanied by a German artillery guard of honor, takes a deceased French POW to his final resting place in the cemetery at Rastatt, followed by his comrades carrying wreathes in his memory.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Polish Roman Catholic prisoners participate in confession with a priest in his vestments at Koenigsbrueck. Note the white identity badges on the front of the prisoners' hats.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French POW's at Rennbahn designed and built this memorial in the cemetery with the cooperation of the German authorities for their comrades who died at Muenster III.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Bare-headed and kneeling Russian prisoners participate in an Orthodox divine service in the church in Wahn. There are no pews in the church to accommodate as many prisoners as possible for the service. The building was decorated with pine garlands and wreaths which suggests that this was a Yuletide service. German authorities often permitted POW's to convert unused barracks into churches to accommodate the prisoners' spiritual needs.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- The Russian prisoners in Reichenberg display the contents of the recreation chest they just received from the YMCA War Prisoners' Aid organization in Vienna. Each chest held games (Tambola, dominoes, chess, checkers, and Mensch aergere dich nicht), musical instruments (accordions and harmonicas), books, and Russian Orthodox crosses. An unidentified Association secretary, in the civilian clothing and wearing the C.V.J.M. armband), poses with the Russian prisoners. The YMCA committee in the prison camp then sent these recreation chests to POW's working outside of the camp in Arbeitskommandos (labor detachments).
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- British prisoners produced these Christmas cards in December 1915 with the Doeberitz sailor telling Father Time to get a move on, a reference to the long anticipated end of the war. Prisoners could send these cards home to their friends and families.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French prisoners stand along side the altar in the Catholic chapel at Koenigsbrueck. A German priest in uniform stands to the left of the altar while a French chaplain stands on the right hand side. The spiritual care of POW's was a high priority for clerics who visited prisoners in camps.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Bare-headed and on bended-knee Polish prisoners participate in a Roman Catholic mass at an outdoor chapel at Bustyahaza. The open air chapel is decorated with plants and paintings.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Italian officers paid for the construction of this memorial to the dead Italian prisoners of war buried in this cemetery near an unidentified Austrian prison.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- His Royal Highness Prince Max of Saxony preaches in Russian to a large group of Russian Orthodox prisoners in the prison compound at Heuberg. Note the wooden barracks in the background of the photograph which reflected the war prisoners' quarters in the camp.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This was the cover of the Christmas 1916 edition of "The Ruhleben Camp Magazine." A harlequin and his dog sit in their prison room on top of an American Express box with pen in hand. Two cornucopias spew out parcels and the margins show the internees involved in a wide range of activities. The two articles featured in this 50 Pfennige journal are "Fun and Spandau" and "The Fashionable Tailors."
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This was the YMCA program for Holy Week activities in the prison camp at Ruhleben in March 1918. In addition to Palm Sunday, Good Friday, Easter Vigil, and Easter Sunday divine services, the Association promoted a theatrical production, "Mary Magdalen," music, and the Ruhleben Horticultural Society's Spring Flower Show.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A group of Jewish Russian prisoners sit at a table, decorated with candles in wine bottles, outside of their barracks for their Passover meal. One prisoner pours wine while another reads from the Torah.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This color painting of the mosque at Zossen-Wunsdorf shows the elaborate colors used to decorate the building. Allied Muslim prisoners stand in front of the mosque in the prison compound. Kaiser Wilhelm II paid for the construction of the mosque to show his support of Islam and to recruit troops for his Turkish ally.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This pen and ink sketch depicts the interior of the church in Rennbahn (Muenster II), featuring the altar, the pulpit, the communion rail, and the organ. If there was no chaplain among the POW's, German authorities made arrangements for local clergy to conduct religious services in the camps.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Prisoners often died of wounds or disease while in prison camp. In this wood block print, a group of French prisoners bear a coffin of a comrade on the final march to the cemetery outside of Muensingen. Note the large wreath on top of the casket.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A rabbi leads a Jewish choir composed of Russian prisoners outside their barrack in the prison camp at Crossen-an-der-Oder. The congregation had access to vestments and other religious articles to support religious services in the camp.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A Muslim French North African prisoner of war writes on a board on the steps of a building in the prison camp at Zossen-Wuensdorf. The building may be the mosque located at the facility.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- The Papal Nuncio of Vienna, Monseignor Valfri di Bonzol, made an official visit to the prison camp at Dunaszerdahley on behalf of a request by the Italian government to the Pope. The nuncio investigated conditions inside the camp to determine any mistreatment of prisoners by Hungarian officials.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Prisoners of war constructed this church in an unidentified Austrian prison camp. Note the fine wood-work on the side of the building, the steeple, and the flower boxes under the windows. Churches provided POW's with spiritual relief during their captivity.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This photograph shows the YMCA memorial to Americans buried in the cemetery at Rastatt as well as the graves of three American privates who died in October 1918.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A British aviator receives a military funeral in the prison camp cemetery at Carlsruhe. In attendance at the ceremony are German officers as well as various Allied POW's.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- The barrack captains in the prison camp at Ruhleben sent out this Christmas-New Year's card, decorated with a holly branch, to other civilian internees inside the facility. The card commemorates their first holiday in the prison camp, in December 1914, and three more holidays would pass before the repatriation of many of these men.
- Date Created:
- 1914-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Interior of the chapel at the prison camp at Pforzheim, highlighting the altar and screen. POWs could attend religious services inside the prison camp with priests supplied from chaplains or German clergy.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This sketch of a group of Russian officers at Torgau, enjoying the evening by drinking hot tea and caramel beer while singing hymns in the prison camp canteen. Officers had a lot of time on their hands, especially since they were not expected to work by the German authorities.
- 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:
- Russian prisoners assemble in the prison compound at Purgstall for the dedication of the new YMCA building on Christmas Day, 8 January 1917. The camp commandant, several Austrian officers, Austrian officials,and several Association secretaries (including Edgar MacNaughten) stand on the platform at the entrance to the building next to a large Christmas tree. A group of Austrian officers stand as group to the left; a choir is about to perform to the left of the platform, while members of the prison band, with instruments provided by the YMCA, peek around the corner to the right, ready for their cue to begin playing.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This program marked the official opening of the YMCA hall in the Ruhleben prison camp on 24 December 1915. The Association dedicated the new facility at a particularly depressing time of the year for interned civilians. They were far from their families during the Yuletide season and the YMCA sought to inject some holiday spirit into their weary lives. The program featured a divine service and music to celebrate the holiday.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A Roman Catholic priest in vestments offers communion to a group of Polish officers in the prison chapel at Marmosa-Sziget. The altar is well-equipped and a number of paintings adorn the wall behind the altar.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Russian prisoners participate in the dedication of a memorial to fallen comrades at the cemetery outside the prison camp at Frankfurt-an-der-Oder. A monument stands to the rights, surrounded by four white poles, topped with wreathes. A Russian Orthodox priest and several ministers lead the bareheaded soldiers in a prayer of remembrance.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Indian prisoners prepare unleaven bread from a special wheat flour in an oven in the prison camp at Zossen-Wuensdorf. Indian POW's peer through the barbed-wire covered window to watch the bakers at work. As a propaganda camp designed to recruit Muslim prisoners for Turkish Army service, the Germans permitted the Indian POW's to prepare special meals that were not available in other camps.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A deceased prisoner is taken to the prison cemetery in a horse drawn hearse (note that the pair of horses are wearing black mourning blankets) with a German guard of honor. French prisoners follow their comrade behind the hearse enroute the cemetery.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Three Roman Catholic priests stand beneath potted trees outside of a barrack at Landau-Ebenberg in the Pfalz. There were a large number of French prisoners in this camp and the German authorities appointed priests to serve their spiritual needs.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This is the interior of the Roman Catholic chapel at Zwickau. The photograph shows the altar and communion rail with some French prisoners praying. The Madonna and Child statue to the left of the altar and the fleur-de-lys pattern on the altar cloth indicate the church was used for Catholic masses. The church is relatively ornate with several pictures and a banner in the corner.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Secretary John Klanmann, in civilian clothing, stands in the center of a group of prisoners in the prison camp compound at Wieselburg in January 1918. The Swedish Red Triangle worker just gave a Christmas address to the POW's in front of the Christmas tree behind the men.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Representatives of the prisoners of war incarcerated at Goettingen stand in front of the new YMCA hall. The building is festively decorated with pine garlands for the inauguration and the Red Triangle symbol is mounted over the door.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- After the YMCA building inauguration and Christmas service at Purgstall, the Austrian officers and visitors stop for a photograph. The visitors included Austrian Baron von Haitin, the Swedish minister to Austria-Hungary; His Excellency Berks-Fries, Charge d'Affairs; Leche; Pastor Neander (a YMCA secretary); and Edgar MacNaughten, the Senior WPA Secretary for Austria-Hungary, who stand on the front porch of the building. Russian prisoners look on the scene from the background.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Russian prisoners participate in an outdoor Greek Orthodox divine service on the dock near the prison camp at Danzig. A German steamship is tied to the pier behind the prisoners. Prisoners at Danzig worked in labor detachments in this major German port.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- German officers and their guests enter the main entrance of the new YMCA hall at Darmstadt for the dedication ceremony. French Arab prisoners stand at attention for the special occasion outside of the building.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- The prison camp at Friedberg featured a small Russian Orthodox chapel, which included an altar and six icons on the wall. The altar is framed with plants and is decorated with flowers.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Allied prisoners of war, German military staff, and YMCA officials stand outside of the new Association hall in Darmstadt. The building is decorated with pine garlands to commemorate the event.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Prisoners at Mauthausen carry the coffins of their dead comrades past the barracks enroute to the cemetery on a daily basis. This was the final result of serious wounds and diseases like tuberculosis.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Seven Polish prisoners of war painted this picture of the Black Madonna of Czestohowe during their incarceration in a German prison camp. Artists could enhance the beauty and symbolism of prison camp churches through their art work.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This Red Cross Post Card (Germany No. 20) shows a Russian Orthodox priest, in his vestments, and an assistant with a censor holding a religious service for Russian prisoners in the church in the prison camp at Guben. As the church is decorated with palm branches and one of the prisoners is holding palms, the congregants were probably celebrating Palm Sunday. The POW's wear identification bands on their upper left arms. This photograph was posed--note the soldier to the right who is still wearing his hat inside the church.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Prisoner of War guard duty was almost as monotonous for the guards as it was for the prisoners (although the penalties for German guards caught in the dereliction of duty encouraged greater vigilance). In this drawing of the guard room at Magdeburg, German troops enjoy some holiday festivities with tankards of beer, carol singing, and a decorated Christmas tree.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Roman Catholic internees at Rastatt participate in an outdoor mass. In addition to the French children in the internment camp, German nuns and nurses attended the service.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This photograph shows the exterior of the YMCA hall at the prison camp at Frankfurt-an-der-Oder. The POW's constructed the building and it became the center of the camp's social life. The facility was also used for divine services and became known as the Russian church.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A Russian officer is buried outside the prison compound at Erfurt. Russian prisoners and German officers attend the funeral, along with a Landsturm guard of honor standing in the background. There are two open graves, but a priest, possibly Protestant Minister Charles Correvon, stands to the right next to the coffin of the dead officer and leads the service.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- The Russian prisoners in this prison camp display the contents of the recreation chest they just received from the YMCA's War Prisoners' Aid organization in Vienna. Each chest held games (Tambola, dominoes, chess, checkers, and Mensch aergere dich nicht), musical instruments (accordions and harmonicas), books, and Russian Orthodox crosses. An unidentified Association secretary, in the civilian clothing and wearing the C.V.J.M. armband), poses with the Russian prisoners. The YMCA committee in the prison camps then sent these recreation chests to POW's working outside the camp in Arbeitskommandos (labor detachments).
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- The War Prisoners' Aid Headquarters in Vienna sent these traveling recreation chests to labor detachments to make sure that prisoners detached from their parent camps still benefited from the Red Triangle social program. Each wooden box contained reading material (books, magazines, spiritual tracts, and hymnals), musical instruments (accordions and harmonicas), games (dominoes and Mensch aergere dich nicht), and stationery. Each chest was secured with a lock and chain to prevent the loss of materials.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This photograph shows the well-tended Allied prisoner graves outside of the prison camp at Bautzen.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Post card of the memorial to Allied prisoners buried in the cemetery near Giessen. The memorial features a statue of a woman, two funeral wreaths, and an inscription in Latin. The prisoners dedicated the memorial in 1917.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Soldiers and civilians enjoy Christmas celebrations in the Vienna Soldatenheim early in World War I. A children's "guard of honor" with flags and rifles stands in the middle of the photograph and an orchestra sits on the right. The Austrian YMCA sought to provide diversions for young men serving in the army.
- Date Created:
- 1914-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This photograph shows the interior of the Roman Catholic chapel at Muenster III, including the altar, organ, communion rail, and confession box. Access to a priest and church services provided the prisoners with considerable spiritual comfort during their prison ordeal.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A new grave for an American POW, highlighted by the wreath on the cross, stands near the YMCA memorial in the cemetery at Rastatt.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A British prisoner of war is buried in the cemetery at Limburg with full military honors, which included a German band and a Landsturm honor guard. While his comrades lower the casket into the grave, German officers stand at attention to the right. Civilians from Limburg, to the left, also attended the burial service.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Russian prisoners of war, with their hats in their hands, carry a cross and the casket of a comrade along the barbed-wire fence outside of a German prison camp en route to the prison cemetery.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This photograph was taken by an American YMCA secretary of the mosque Kaiser Wilhelm II built for Muslim prisoners at Zossen-Wuensdorf. The Kaiser had long held the title of the friend of the Muslims and the propaganda camp at Zossen served three purposes. The facility became a recruitment center for captured Muslims to volunteer for service with the Sultan's armies in the Near East. The camp and the mosque demonstrated Germany's concern for the subjugated Islamic people in the Allied Powers' empires. In addition, the prison camp showed the German people that the Entente Powers had to rely on colonial troops to support their war effort.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This Jewish synagoge was located in the prison camp at Frankfurt-an-der Oder. While modest in size, the synagogue has an altar, the Talmud, and some decorations as well as several tables and benches for Scripture study and worship services.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Muslim prisoners at Zossen-Wuensdorf (Halbmondlager) sit on prayer rugs in the prison compound facing Mecca. The POW's have removed their footwear and listen to the address. An iman stands on a platform to the right, addressing the faithful.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A poster from an unidentified German prison camp announcing "YMCA Days," a week long event which promoted War Prisoners' Aid services in the facility.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A Russian Orthodox priest leads a burial service for a Russian prisoner at Spratzern in the prison cemetery. Secretary Hertig, a Danish YMCA secretary, stands next to the priest in civilian clothing. Behind the coffin on the hand truck is an Orthodox cross and the prison camp band, as well as Russian POW's paying their respects. Note the white identification badges on the prisoners' caps.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- While most Allied prisoners survived their captivity in German prison camps, some men died of their wounds, malnutrition, or disease. This is a drawing of the prison cemetery in the woods outside of Muensingen in the snow.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This photograph of the Muslim mosque at Zossen-Wuensdorf shows the dome and the minaret. Kaiser Wilhelm II constructed the mosque for French, British, and Russian Muslim prisoners to demonstrate his friendship for the Islamic people. The Germans used Zossen-Wuensdorf as a propaganda camp to entice Muslims to change sides and fight for the Caliph in the Turkish Army.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Russian prisoners assemble in the snow in the prison compound at Wieselburg for Christmas celebrations in January 1918. Secretary John Klanmann, a Swedish YMCA worker, addresses the prisoners from the platform in front of a decorated Christmas tree. Prisoners carry a cross and religious banners and the POW band stands to the left of the platform.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- An iman calls the faithful to prayer from the minaret of the mosque at the propaganda camp at Zossen-Wuensdorf. Muslim POW's mill about the prison compound near the entrance to the mosque in preparation for devotions.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- The church in Sennelager II in the snow amid the fir trees surrounding the structure. Allied POWs constructed the building and it became the center for religious services in the camp.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A military funeral possession marches to the cemetery outside the prison camp at Ohrdruf. The dead inmate is a French soldier and his comrades serve as pall-bearers in the funeral. The casket is followed by a German officer and chaplains as well as some of the deceased's comrades.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries