Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Wednesday's Wonderful Collection - German prisoner-of-war records, SMC.32.10

During World War II, Camp Joseph T. Robinson in North Little Rock, Arkansas, served as a replacement training camp and German prisoner-of-war camp, with a capacity of 4000 prisoners. Lieutenant Colonel Virgil Caldwell was in charge of the prisoners at Camp Robinson in 1943. By 1945, about 23,000 Germans and Italians had been sent to Arkansas camps. The prisoners were frequently assigned farm work to fill the void left by Arkansas men who were fighting in the war.

This collection contains some correspondence and rosters of German prisoners-of-war at Camp Robinson during World War II. The rosters provide a list of the men in each company and their pre-war occupations.
  • 1943: "Notes pertaining to the German Prisoner of War Camp at Camp Joseph T. Robinson, Arkansas between August and December of 1943," Virgil E. Caldwell (Reel MG00218)
  • 1943 December 16: Heinrich Carl Radinger, Camp Leader, Camp Jos. T. Robinson, to the Camp Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Virgil E. Caldwell
  • 1943 December 20: Virgil E. Caldwell, Camp Joseph T. Robinson, Arkansas, "To All PW Camp and Guard Personnel"
  • Prisoner-of-war rosters of companies 1-12, and surveys of prisoner vocations