Italian & German
Prisoners of War
at Fort Harrison

During WW II nearly 425,000 prisoners of war (POW s) were sent to detention camps in the U. S. They were moved far from the front lines where there would be no threat of escape, in the same ships that had taken American soldiers to fight in Europe.

The prisoners of war proved to be a great benefit in the U. S., where manpower was in short supply. Prisoners took the place of farm hands and factory workers who had gone to fight. They harvested crops, maintained roads and buildings, and helped businesses stay open, which in turn strengthened local economy.

The 1929 Geneva Convention was in effect at the time, requiring that prisoners receive the same housing, food, pay and work hours as provided to soldiers of the capturing nation. Enlisted men could do the same jobs as our own soldiers, as long as they were not directly engaged in military activities. Non-commissioned officers could supervise enlisted men, but officers were not required to work. In general, the prisoners were treated very well in the U. s. They had good food and decent living conditions, and records indicate there were very few discipline problems or escape attempts. Many prisoners did not want to leave when the war was over.

The first WW II POWs in Indiana arrived in May of 1943. They were Italians captured in the African Campaign. The majority stayed at Camp Atterbury, although smaller numbers of prisoners were sent to other locations. As a test, some groups were sent to military reservations, where they had an immediate impact on the war effort. Prisoners put to work at military installations, working in the laundry or quartermaster or motor pool, could free-up U. S. soldiers for active military duty.

In January of 1944, 250 Italians from Camp Atterbury moved to Fort Harrison. The Camp Edwin F. Glenn site, used for the Citizens' Military Training Camp in the 1930's, was fenced off and converted into a compound for POW s. originally, two of the three mess halls were turned into living quarters for the prisoners, and the third became their mess hall. After September of 1943, the Italians had switched sides and became our allies, so by the time they came to Fort Harrison; Italian soldiers were already reclassified as "co-belligerents." This made their internment somewhat paradoxical, since they were enemies when captured, but remained prisoners even after these circumstances changed.

The Italians performed Post maintenance, clean-up, and made improvements to the prison compound. They were at Fort Harrison only four months when they were transferred to Fort Hays, Ohio.

In May of 1944, 300 German prisoners, from Rommel's elite "Afrika Korps" moved into the camp. The Germans were extremely proud and patriotic. They arrived still wearing their worn and faded German military uniforms. They left a lasting impression with people who witnessed them goose-stepping in formation to their work site.

One story tells of the Germans assigned to put a new roof on the canteen. They carefully divided two shades of shingles and placed them to form a large swastika on the roof. The staff did not discover their handiwork for several days, after which time the job had to be re-done.

German prisoners were responsible for much of the work on the new Officers Club, now the Garrison Restaurant. They also maintained and repaired other post buildings, performed road work and assisted the quartermaster with laundry, equipment and motor pool duties. Some even waited tables at the Officers Club.

Fort Harrison later became a site for an Army Disciplinary Barracks, a prison compound for American servicemen convicted of offenses by the military court system. Because Army regulations did not allow POW camps in the same military installation that housed disciplinary barracks, Fort Harrison’s POW camp was closed in February of 1945 and the German prisoners moved to Fort Knox, Kentucky.

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Produced by Indiana Department Of Natural Resources Division of State Parks & Reservoirs Interpretive Naturalist Service.

This publication was made possible by an Indiana Heritage Research Grant from the Indiana Historical Society, the Indiana Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The Fort Benjamin Harrison Historical Society especially thanks Larry Helkema who did the research and Jeannine Montgomery for their input to this important historical information.

The POW camp was located in the Camp Glenn area. The interpretive center building was used as a barracks. The compound was encircled by a double fence topped with barbed wire. Trucks entered from the North on Glenn road, passing through two sets of gates to make deliveries to the canteen and mess hall.