Dissertations and Theses @ UNI
Availability
Open Access Thesis
Keywords
World War (1939-1945); Prisoners of war--Iowa; World War, 1939-1945--Prisoners and prisons, American; Prisoners of war; Iowa; 1939-1945;
Abstract
Two base camps, along with their branch camps, located in the state of Iowa will provide the focus for this study. The camps in Iowa, located near the towns of Algona and Clarinda, provide an example of two camps that met or exceeded the criteria set by the Geneva Convention of 1929. The creation and administration of the camps raises three questions which constitute the body of this thesis. The first deals with the founding, administration and operation of the camps. Secondly, the study investigates the daily life of the camp inmates. Finally the third question examines how townspeople and the guards dealt with their new inhabitants. A wide variety of sources formed the foundation for this study. All chapters benefited from the study of newspaper articles from the communities. These articles provided the firsthand impressions of ordinary Iowans confronted directly by the influx of foreigners into their communities. The newspapers show the impact of the war on the homefront. Official government/military records provided documentation of the military standards and bureaucracies that developed for incarcerating the prisoners. An important source for gathering information on the daily running of the camp and prisoners life was gained from letters received by the author from a number of camp personnel and through personal interviews of a Clarinda Camp guard, a farm owner in Reinbeck, and a former Algona Camp prisoner of war.
Year of Submission
1998
Degree Name
Master of Arts
First Advisor
C. David Mckibbin
Second Advisor
Wallace Hettle
Third Advisor
John Baskerville
Date Original
1998
Object Description
1 PDF file (166 leaves)
Copyright
©1998 Julie K. Heintz
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Heintz, Julie K., "The War at Home: Prisoner of War Camps in Iowa During World War II" (1998). Dissertations and Theses @ UNI. 2901.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/etd/2901
Comments
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