Views of America and Views of Germany in German POW Newspapers of World War II

Abstract

After Rommel's defeat in North Africa in 1943 German prisoners of war began to be sent to the United States in ever-increasing numbers, and by January 1945 there were 375,000 German soldiers housed in 130 base camps and 295 branch camps throughout the country.^ In accord ance with the 1929 Geneva Convention regulating treatment of pris oners, the American government provided decent housing and recreational facilities. Cultural offerings included concerts, films, crafts, plays, church services, and in many cases, a camp newspaper. To Alfred Andersch, the life of a POW was such a positive improvement over that of the front-line soldier that he called the camp a "golden cage."^ Since America's wartime enemy soon became a close ally, it is important to investigate the role of the prisoners' American experience in modifying their opinions about the two countries. The experience was obviously very important in the political and literary development of writers like Andersch and Hans Werner Richter, for it led directly to their influential postwar intellectual journal Der Ruf and to Group 47, the writers' circle which grew out of it, but it was probably no less important for thousands of prisoners who were to play less significant roles. Since the Geneva Convention provided that prisoners of war be protected from acts of violence, insults, and curiosity, the general public was kept from associating with them.^ Prisoners were allowed to subscribe to English and German-language periodicals published in North America, but since many could not read English, and since organized groups in most camps sought to prevent other prisoners from expressing any signs of disloyalty to the home government, it is likely that one of the chief sources of information about the United States and best indicators of prisoner sentiment were the newspapers published in the German language by the prisoners themselves. These camp newspapers were not all of one type, however, and the amount of information and the outlook taken toward the United States and Germany varied; it would therefore be useful to compare the pictures of the two countries conveyed by two quite different newspapers, Der Zaungast and Der Ruf.