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- 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:
- Italian prisoners of war, captured in the Gorizia (Goerz) campaign, march down the mountain under an Austrian cavalry guard, past an Austrian supply column heading up the mountain.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Austro-Hungarian troops escort deserters back to Dual Monarchy lines for court martial. Minority nationalities attempted to cross the lines to escape the war, rather than serve their imperial masters, or to fight for their national freedom.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This train filled with American prisoners is greeted by American and Allied officers at a railroad station in Switzerland.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This is a group photograph of the American WPA secretaries and their families who had just left Germany in February 1917, after the United States broke off diplomatic relations with the German Empire. The group traveled to Lausanne where some continued WPA work with the World's Alliance and others transferred to war work with the Allied armies. The individuals in the photograph included: 1) Lewis Dunn; 2) Mrs. Alfred Lowry; 3) Alfred Lowry; 4) Louis Wolferz; 5) Mrs. Lewis Dunn and Betty Dunn; 6) Joseph Wehner; 7) A. R. Siebens; 8) Mrs. Conrad Hoffman and Louise Hoffman (holding the teddy bear); 9) Spencer Kennard; 10) J. Gustav White; 11) Carl Michel; and 12) Mrs. Gustav White. It is interesting that the WPA secretaries were able to bring their wives and daughters with them to Germany in support of their mission. Of the transfers, Wehner was killed in France in 1918.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- General view of the city of Mosul in northern Mesopotamia showing several buildings and mosques inside the city. The Turks incarcerated British and Indian prisoners captured at Kut-al-Amara in Mosul.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Dead Armenians lay beside a road, victims of the Turkish government's policy of genocide. During the Spring and Summer of 1915, the Turks implemented a deportation policy of the Armenian population by which the Turks marched civilians around in circles until they died of starvation, exposure, exhaustion, or, if all else failed, murder. The Turks sought to exterminate the Armenians from the empire.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Members of the World's Committee met for the last time before the war at Windsor Castle in England in early Summer 1914. They planned an extensive global campaign, which collapsed with the outbreak of the Great War. The war would pit many of these men against each other in support of their nation's military efforts.
- Date Created:
- 1914-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- African workers transport an invalid under the direction of German YMCA missionaries (the missionaries are standing in front of the litter). The Red Triangle secretaries sought to improve medical conditions in Africa as well as evangelize the Africans as part of their program.
- Date Created:
- 1908-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A detachment of French prisoners of war stand at attention in a German town, enroute to a prison camp. A number of German civilians stop to investigate the group out of curiosity, as these men may be their first view of the enemy. Germans would see a great many more Allied prisoners pass through their towns.
- Date Created:
- 1914-01-01T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- When the prison camp at Ruhleben experienced heavy rains, the pond in the infield of the race track increased greatly in size and patrons of the Pondside Stores had to use wooden planks to make their purchases. Entrepreneurs could turn a profit even in prison camps, especially if they excelled in a trade.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- British Indian Muslim troops prepare to slaughter three sheep for dinner at the Muslim camp kitchen in Zossen while French North African POWs watch the processing. Note the pile of potatoes in the background on the ground. Zossen-Wuensdorf was a propaganda camp in which Muslim prisoners enjoyed special privileges. The Germans planned to recruit Muslim POW's to fight for the Sultan in the jihad against the Allies.
- 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:
- French prisoners of war work under the supervision of a German non-commissioned officer folding and stacking linen in a storeroom at Giessen. Clean bed linen helped reduce vermin infestation and promoted healthier standards in the camp.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Turkish officials confiscated diaries and records maintained by Allied prisoners during the war, especially since conditions were often brutal. An Australian officer maintained a diary of his experiences and kept it hidden from Turkish soldiers by hiding his notes between the soles of his hob-nailed boots to avoid detection. These notes became the basis for a book regarding his treatment by the Turks during his captivity in Afion Karahissar.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A British POW drew this picture of Ali of Kedos, a Turkish non-commissioned officer who served as the "second in command" in the prison camp at Kedos.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A World's Alliance secretary is compiling a list of books which will be sorted into traveling libraries and forwarded to prisoners assigned to labor detachments. The Association scoured Europe in search of pre-war books (which would receive faster approval from prison camp censors) in exotic languages (such as Russian, Serbian, and Georgian).
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French prisoners line up with the recently-acquired parcels and Liebesgaben from their family and friends at home. German censors carefully searched these parcels for contraband before releasing them to the prisoners. These parcels contained foods unavailable in the prison camps and greatly improved the diet of the recipients. The camp recently received considerable rain, given the size of the puddles in front of the building.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- In this interesting wood block print, a Russian prisoner holding two birds is conversing through the camp fence with a German woman and a boy, under the scrutiny of a German guard. The Russian prisoner and German woman appear to be conducting some kind of transaction that involves the exchange of the poultry. Prisoners had time to produce a wide range of goods that could be bartered, although the process would not usually be conducted so openly in public.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A German Landsturm sentry walks his rounds along the prison fence at night at Muensingen in this wood block print. The prison guard in most camps consisted of older or moderately wounded men who could not be deployed in front line units. By the end of the war, the Germans employed women and Russians (the Bolsheviks surrendered in February 1918) as sentries in many prison camps to maintain security.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Ruhleben was a segregated prison camp and imperial prisoners from Africa and the West Indies lived in separate barracks. Several of these men have musical instruments (guitars and an accordion), while the man seated at the right is enjoying his lunch. A German guard stands at the back of the room.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Front page of the "El Dschihad" ("The Jihad"), the newspaper for Muslim POW's at Zossen-Wuensdorf. This was issue Number 45 (31 October 1916) and was printed in Berlin. The Germans issued this newspaper as a propaganda tool in Arabic, Turkish, Persian, Urdu, and Hindi to influence Muslim prisoners.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This British prisoner wrote home about his experiences in a German lazeret at Duelmen on 18 January 1918. He praised the German nurses and doctors and the good care they provided during this three-month illness. He wrote the letter on official prison stationery and it received the censor's stamp of approval.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- British prisoners, captured at Kut-al-Amara, designed this coat of arms for the prison camp at Kastamuni. The arms are divided into four quarters: the upper left quarter shows a veil covering pain and agony; the upper right depicts an English lion enchained on a blood red field; the lower right has a rising sun signifying the dawn of hope; and the lower right employs a cross and crescent joined in charity. A prisoner overladen with bread and other provisions is at the left, while a Turkish guard stands to the right. St. Bruno is situated above the arms, making the sign of patience with his right hand and holding an olive branch, in hope for the end of the war, in his left. The camp's motto is "Hope, Brothers!"
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A group of Russian prisoners stand near the barbed-wire fence which encloses the prison compound at Dunaszerdahley. They appear to be part of a labor detachment as many are carrying a variety of tools.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This outdoor ceremony marks the official inauguration of the YMCA building in the prison camp at Hart. Russian prisoners join Austrian officers and an American YMCA secretary, Edgar MacNaughten (the Senior WPA Secetary for Austria-Hungary), in opening the decorated hall.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- For physical exercise, French prisoners compete in a game of leap frog in the compound of a German prison camp. German non-commissioned officers oversee the exercise.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This diagram depicts how the German army cared for wounded soldiers during World War I. Troops wounded on the firing line (1) or in the trenches received first aid at the Truppenverbandplatz (2). After an initial diagnosis, the wounded would travel by ambulance (automobile or horse-driven) to the (3) Hauptverbandplatz, a medical facility close to the front lines where the wounded would receive more intensive care. The doctors would transfer seriously wounded to the (4) Feldlazarette, which was further behind the lines. The most seriously wounded or permanently wounded troops would travel to the (5) Kriegslazarette, hospitals located in Germany by (6A) special hospital trains (Lazarettzug) or by (6B) ambulance (Lazarettauto). Seriously wounded prisoners would be discharged or allowed to convalesce at (7) home until they could return to duty. Allied wounded followed the same procedure for treatment, except that seriously wounded POW's might have been repatriated to neutral Switzerland or Holland to recover from their wounds.
- Date Created:
- 1914-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- German censors found sabotage material in a rubber balloon found inside a can of marmelade preservatives sent to the prison camp at Puchheim from a French POW relief organization in Avignon. The photographs show the address label, the French relief agency stamp, the original can, and the rubber balloon and band which contained the sabotage materials.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This illustration shows the interior of the barracks of a reprisal camp operated by the German Army at Szczuezyn in Lithuania in 1916. The Germans assigned thirty-seven French officers to this punishment facility from 16 June to 4 October 1916.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French and Belgian workers deported from their homes by the Germans to relieve the empire's labor shortage used this type of post card to communicate with their families. This type of post card was used by workers in German-occupied France.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- German soldiers operate seven potato peeling machines in the prison camp at Wittenberg while POW's watch. Normally POW's would assume the task of peeling potatoes by hand, but the sheer number of potatoes required for meals at large prison camps encouraged the Germans to introduce machinery to prepare potatoes and other meals.
- 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:
- This is the back of the prison camp visitation permit Archibald C. Harte received from the German Ministry of War. The permit provides a general physical description of Harte, including his age, height, hair color, eye color, and distinguishing characteristics as well as his signature.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This photo provides a general view of the prison camp at Spratzern, probably taken from the water tower or an observation post. Russian prisoners (37,000 in this prison camp alone) mill about the year between the barracks. In the background one can see the surrounding mountains.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- An American WPA Secretary, Claus Olandt, poses for a photograph with the members of the YMCA Committee in the German prison camp at Muenster III. The members are British POW's and Olandt is sitting in the center of the group in civilian clothing and bowler hat.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- 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:
- 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:
- French officers enjoy a game of pool in the Billiard Room at Mainz. In addition to the four billiard tables, the prisoners could enjoy drinks at the tables in the room.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- The British internees at Ruhleben administed internal affairs inside of the facility. These men served as policemen to provide security inside the prison camp. The British were strongly opposed to German guards patrolling inside the camp.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This 10-Pfennige stamp was issued by the X Army Corps and the camp's name was printed diagonally for use in the prison camp at Hameln.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- Food conditions were harsh for Russian prisoners of war in German prison camps who did not receive food parcels from home. This drawing depicts two Russian POW's scrounging in used ration pots, which contain rejected food, for scraps to supplement their daily rations. These pots contained garbage from the barracks and well supplied British and French prisoners often threw out many of their German rations.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This photograph shows Armenian refugees on board a French ship after escaping the massacre by the Turks in 1915. These survivors are emaciated and look forward to a meal. The Allies sent survivors to refugee camps in Egypt at Port Said.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This photograph shows a group of Italian prisoners of war slowly starving to death in Siegmundsherberg. It was taken secretly with a small camera and smuggled out of Austria by an Italian POW who was repatriated to Switzerland during the war. This photograph was also used to show the effects of tuberculosis among Italian prisoners in Austrian prison camps. Poor diets in Austrian prison camps was the result of the Allied blockade and the reluctance of the Italian government to spend food parcels to prisoners in Italy, especially after the Caporetto disaster.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Russian prisoners march out of the fortress at Przemsyl after Central Power forces recaptured the stronghold in June 1915. Przemsyl, a strategic pre-war Austrian fortress in the Carpathian Mountains, changed hands several times during the war.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- Musical performances lifted spirits within prison camps and this photo shows a Russian POW balalaika orchestra at Muensingen.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- British prisoners of war stand about the compound at the prison camp at Doeberitz early in the war. They appear to be undergoing some kind of interrogation or registration with the seated civilian. The prisoners are wearing the pre-war field hats British soldiers wore before the army issued helmets.
- 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:
- This photograph provides a general overview of the prison camp at Limburg from a watch tower, showing the one-story wooden barracks, found in many west German prison facilities, which accommodated the prisoners. In the background is the twin-spired cathedral in Limburg, overlooking the Lahn River.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- The 9th Hungarian Hussar Regiment overruns the Russian lines during the Battle of Limanova on the Carpathian Front.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- 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:
- A Russian prisoner's belongings hangs on the wall of his barrack at Erlangen. These belongings include clothing, boots, bowls, eating utensils, towels, a variety of pictures (including two photos of pairs of horses pulling ploughs, flowers, and an American Indian), a pipe, a brush, books, and souvenirs from Ingolstadt and Erlangen.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Children play in the streets of the prison camp at Holzminden outside of their one-story wooden barracks. The Germans incarcerated interned French families at Holzminden early in the war as enemy aliens. While the prison camp was segregated into men's and women's compounds at night, internees could visit other sections of the facility during the day.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French Zouaves hold a conversation while smoking pipes in the prison compound at Goettingen. Several French POW's look on at the right. The Zouaves were among the elite units of the French Army.
- 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:
- The Ruhleben Horticultural Society constructed a greehouse on the grounds of the prison camp at Ruhleben so its members could continue to cultivate a wide range of flowers during the winter months.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- Imaginary German view of the surrender of the British at Kut-al-Amara in April 1916. British General Charles Townshend offers his sword to the Turkish commander, with the British flag on the ground in submission. British and Indian troops have begun the process of stacking their weapons on the ground. The city of Kut can be seen in the background.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Queen Mary of Great Britain personally welcomes recently arrived British prisoners at the Cannon Street Station in London by the YMCA hut. The English YMCA set up this hut in the train station to provide services to British troops heading for or returning from combat in France.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Under German guard, Russian prisoners work in pairs to drag their machine guns to a prisoner assembly center and eventual captivity in Germany.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Translation into German of the secret message found in a French prisoner's mail. The Allies used secret codes and chemicals to conceal messages in POW correspondence.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- British and French prisoners unpack newly arrived letters and parcels from home in the mail censorship room at Zossen. German officers inspect the packages carefully for contraband. POW's often complained about the inspection process which required the opening of tins and the reduction of shelf life of these packages. However, contraband was sometimes discovered which kept German authorities suspicious of parcels or information in letters.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- An aerial view part of the prison camp at Doeberitz showing many of the wooden barracks, administrative buildings, camp fence, and a large tent. The tent may be temporary and would eventually be replaced by a building constructed by the POW's.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- A Russian pharmacist works under the direction of German doctors in a well-stocked pharmacy in the prison camp at Guben. Medical units at prison camps had access to modern drugs and other pharmaceutical goods to help combat illnesses that appeared in prison camps.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This is an advertisement for a chair produced in the carpentry shop in a Turkish prison camp. Accommodations in Turkish prisons were usually sparse and carpenters could produce a wide range of furnishings for other men in the camp.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Captured in the joint Central Power offensive which crushed Serbia in October 1915, these Serbian prisoners prepare to board a train for captivity in an Austro-Hungarian prison camp. Although the soldiers in the background are Germans, the guards are Austrians.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- General view of the prison camp compound at the reprisal camp at Szczuezyn in Lithuania in 1916.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Newly captured Russian prisoners march from the railway station to the prison camp at Schneidemuehl under a Landsturm guard.
- 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:
- Photo of four German officers who ran the prison camp at Ruhleben walking through the compound. They include, from left to right, Graf von Taube (administration), Graf von Schwerin (commandant), and two prison camp censors, Rittmeister von Brocken and Graf von Hochberg.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French and Belgian prisoners, and civilian internees, enjoy refreshments at the canteen at the prison camp at Celle. The canteen appears to be well stocked with provisions and the POW's have money to make purchases.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Photograph of a room for French officers at the prison camp at Halle-am-Saal. The officers enjoy separate beds and blanket-covered closets. There are photographs on the bed stands, a tea pot, and packages on the top shelf. A prisoner sits in a collapsible chair knitting while another stands with his pipe. Officers enjoyed a much higher standard of living in comparison to imprisoned enlisted men.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- The medieval fortress at Narva, in Estonia, served as a repatriation center between Central Power prisoners of war leaving Russia and Russian POW's returning home. The YMCA established a relief station in the castle to provide physical relief to prisoners and their families as they passed through Estonia enroute their homes.
- Date Created:
- 1920-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Disarmed French prisoners march from a POW assembly point to a railroad station for incarceration in Germany under a German cavalry guard armed with lances and rifles.
- Date Created:
- 1914-01-01T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- A group of barbers cut hair and shave prisoners in the barber shop in Bautzen. A French prisoner, to the left, is about to leave. Keeping hair short reduced the chance of lice and improved the general health standards of prison camps.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Polish Legionnaires have some fun "flying an airplane" in the prison compound at Bustyahaza. They built the plane from a barrel, a plank, and some spare pieces of wood. Officers watch the prisoners have some fun.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- For the violation of camp rules, prisoners would be punished by being tied to the stake for several hours. Austrian authorities tied this Italian prisoner to the stake in the prison camp at Mauthausen.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- While most enlisted men lived in large dormitory settings, some POW's enjoyed more elegant surroundings. These five French prisoners, probably non-commissioned officers, are enjoying a dinner that includes several bottles of wine and an ample supply of bread, served on a white table cloth. Only one of the participants is in a uniform, which includes a Red Cross armband.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- 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 group of children leave the women's compound of the prison camp at Holzminden accompanied by a Landsturm guard. They pass by a sentry's guard box, which marks the entrance to the women's section of the camp and may be enroute to school or some other activity. Interned civilians were divided into two compounds at Holzminden: one for men and the other for women. The sexes were segregated at night but the gates were opened during the day.
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- The Russian prisoners in Reichenberg display the contents of the recreation chest they just received from the YMCA War Prisoners' Aid organization in Vienna. Each chest held games (Tambola, dominoes, chess, checkers, and Mensch aergere dich nicht), musical instruments (accordions and harmonicas), books, and Russian Orthodox crosses. An unidentified Association secretary, in the civilian clothing and wearing the C.V.J.M. armband), poses with the Russian prisoners. The YMCA committee in the prison camp then sent these recreation chests to POW's working outside of the camp in Arbeitskommandos (labor detachments).
- Date Created:
- 1917-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This is the boiler room in the prison camp at Salzwedel which generated steam for the facility. Prison camps became large towns almost over night as the war dragged on and millions of Allied prisoners streamed into the empire. The POW population became a much greater drain on resources than anticipated in German pre-war planning strategy. The boiler room provided electricity for the camp, including lights for security, and hot water for baths and showers, which was the key to hygiene in crowded prison camps.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- British officers line up on the stairway waiting to receive their pay from the Paymaster's Office. The prisoners received script which they could use to make purchases within the citadel.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- 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:
- This is the side view of a former POW barrack in Sofia in very bad repair. The Sofia Association acquired the building after the war and used it for fifteen years for a number of programs. The building was a typical one-story, wooden barrack used by the Bulgarian army.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Polish Legionnaires look out the windows or sit on the ground outside of their barrack at Bustyahaza repairing and delousing their uniforms under Hungarian guard. When these enlisted men refused to take an oath of allegiance to the new Polish Regency in Warsaw in 1916, the Austro-Hungarians deemed them a security risk and interned them in this prison camp.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- This is a partial view of the prison camp at Groedig which shows the wooden barracks and the hills in the background. Many prisoners took advantage of the sunny weather to dry their clothes on the walls of the barracks and to sit or walk around the compound.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries