7/3/2023 0 Comments Ispeech glassdoorThey all came to North Carolina as enemies of the United States, but many later left as long-term friends of Americans and one another. Max Reiter, a fellow prisoner at Camp Butner, had been a member of the Waffen-SS (the German Nazi Party’s own armed military unit) and was wounded and captured in Normandy, France, in June 1944. Fritz Teichmann was a member of the German Luftwaffe (air corps), captured in Sicily, Italy, in July 1943, and held as a POW at Camp Butner. Matthias Buschheuer-a POW at Camp Sutton-was a veteran of Erwin Rommel’s Afrika Korps, also captured in Tunisia, Africa, in May 1943. Giuseppe Pagliarulo-a soldier of Benito Mussolini’s army captured in Tunisia, Africa, in May 1943-later trained as a member of an Italian Service Unit at Camp Sutton in Monroe. Coast Guard off the North Carolina coast in May 1942. For example, Heinrich Bollmann-a POW at the camp at Fort Bragg-was rescued from the U-352 sunk by the U.S. Attending a baseball game in Charlotte or sitting in a restaurant or movie theater in Monroe, North Carolinians might encounter Italian-speaking members of Italian Service Units-former POWs who had taken an oath of alliance to the new anti-German government in Italy and gotten American uniforms and day passes to see the local sights.Įach had his own interesting story. Farm kids sometimes saw foreign prisoners helping with their fathers’ peanut harvests, picking cotton on a neighboring farm, or cutting pulpwood in the woods nearby. They were among the thousands of prisoners of war (POWs) who spent time in North Carolina during World War II. They had names that sounded strange to Tar Heel ears. They spoke foreign languages and wore different uniforms from those of the American military. Tar Heel Junior Historian Association, NC Museum of History Reprinted with permission from the Tar Heel Junior Historian. Prisoners of War in North Carolina "Enemies and Friends"
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