During its first several months of operation, Camp Cooke housed a sizable number of hardcore Nazis from Waffen SS units and other formations. Most of these prisoners, and like-minded troublemakers that arrived later in the camp, were transferred to segregated camps for known Nazi sympathizers. For the most part, the POWs at Cooke were soldiers from infantry, armor, and airborne divisions. Among them were men from Field Marshal Erwin Rommel’s Afrika Korps which had surrendered to American, British, and French forces in May 1943. Luftwaffe and a small number of naval personnel rounded out the military services represented in the camp. They were all enlisted men and varied in age from as young as 17 to men in their fifties. By segregating officers
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Seeking to abide by the Convention, the War Department provided the prisoners with not only comfortable accommodations and medical care but also with recreational and educational opportunities. These “intellectual diversions” as required by the Geneva treaty became popular pastimes in the camps. The Army broadly interpreted this requirement to fit its secret reeducation program to “denazify” Hitler’s legionnaires. As authorized by the Geneva Convention, enlisted men were used to fill labor positions left vacant on Army posts by wartime demands. By 1944, the recruitment of American men into the armed forces was causing severe labor shortages in the private sector as well. Despite concerns from organized labor, the Army contracted out much of its prisoner workforce in areas where free labor was unavailable, or was certified in short supply.
There were problems in the camps, to be sure. Nazi groups intimidated fellow prisoners not to work too willingly for their captors and encouraged work stoppages. Other discipline problems included the occasional slacker, the making of moonshine, and
Seeking to abide by the Convention, the War Department provided the prisoners with not only comfortable accommodations and medical care but also with recreational and educational opportunities. These “intellectual diversions” as required by the Geneva treaty became popular pastimes in the camps. The Army broadly interpreted this requirement to fit its secret reeducation program to “denazify” Hitler’s legionnaires. As authorized by the Geneva Convention, enlisted men were used to fill labor positions left vacant on Army posts by wartime demands. By 1944, the recruitment of American men into the armed forces was causing severe labor shortages in the private sector as well. Despite concerns from organized labor, the Army contracted out much of its prisoner workforce in areas where free labor was unavailable, or was certified in short supply.
There were problems in the camps, to be sure. Nazi groups intimidated fellow prisoners not to work too willingly for their captors and encouraged work stoppages. Other discipline problems included the occasional slacker, the making of moonshine, and