University Dally Kansan, August 20. 1981
Page 7
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POWs from Rommel's army at KU in '45
By MARC HERZFELD Staff Reporter
Staff Reporter
German soldiers from Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's army invaded the KU campus in the summer of 1945, but fortunately for the University of Kan-
bergen, the soldiers were prisoners of war sent to cut stone for Danforth Chanel.
The 22 German stonemasons, stationed at a camp near 11th and Haskell streets, were part of a contingent of more than 300 World War II businessmen of War who worked for the U.S. local farmers and businessmen.
LAWRENCE WAS suffering from an acute labor shortage in 1945, because most American men were in the military. Farmers were worried that they would be unharmed and businessmen were concerned that they would have to close.
Fred Six, 1001 Avalon Road, whose father located the German POWs with local farmers, remembered the Germans as generous, friendly men.
Six, who was 11 in 1945, said, "We had the propaganda growth about how bad the Germans were, but I remember how pleasant they all were."
C.O. Nauman, 202 Dakota St,
remembered the German POWs with
mixed feelings. Nauman's father,
Clarence, hired the Germans for 80
chop wood and chop wood for
bllr lumber business
"I had the feeling that they were very friendly but you'd better keep your eyes on them," Nauman said. "There was always a distance between us, kind of like having a pet that you think might turn on you."
NAUMAN SAID THAT THE POWs respected his father, partly because of his German ancestry. The Germans had a special shape, although they had opportunities.
"They knew they had a good thing to give us, and we weren't about to give them."
Nauman recalled driving three POWs back to camp in the evening when his car had a flat tire. Nauman, who was 18 and alone in the car, said he could not have stopped the Germans if they had tried to escape.
"I might have had a little fear in the back of my mind, and I thought I would have to change their shoes alone. I am sure that they just went out of our car and changed the tire very quickly."
Nauman said the tire-changing incident was one example of the way he thought the German prisoners tried to superiority over Americans at any task.
"They were always trying to show us how strong they were, and they took a lot of risks that Americans wouldn't."
The accident rate for the German workers was a lot higher than for the Americans," Nauman said.
Nauman said that the Germans considered Americans sloppy and wet.
"THE AMERICAN workers would just throw their shovels in a pile when it was time to eat, but before each noon meal, the Germans would clean all the dishes and then their faces and hands and then comb their hair before eating," he said.
Nauman said that the Germans did not talk about politics.
He said that the "Germans" were usually cheerful and傲慢, while the "Nazis" often caused trouble by refusing to take orders from Americans.
"We always separated between the 'Germans' and the 'Nazis,' "' Nauman said.
Most of the prisoners were, if not anti- Nazi, at least neutral, he said.
"I remember a friend asking one fellow what he thought of Hitler. The soldier just said, 'You have your sevelt, we have our Hitler,'" he said.
He said most of the prisoners were content to live out the war in Kansas, safe from the Soviet and American armies.
However, Nauman said, "Every so often you ran across one that was sort of a bear-cat."
Nauman said that the U.S. Army would discipline the troublemakers among the prisoners, and the Germans punished their own men severely.
One of the 'Nazis' ran afoul of his fellow prisoners, with dire consequences.
"All they ever told me about it was, 'We had a long talk with him, and he fell down the stairs and broke his leg,'" Nauman said.
THE PRISONERS MAINTAINED a measure of autonomy in spite of their situation, teaching classes to each other and ordering from a former German officer.
"The camp was very loosely run," Naunan said. "There were no guys walking around with machine guns guarding them."
Nauman said that most of the prisoners enjoyed their stay near Lawrence and wanted to return after the war.
"They continued to write us for several years after the war, and the ones in East Germany particularly wanted to come back," he said.
Nauman said that his father toyed with the idea of sponsoring the return of some of the workers, but felt an obligation to rehire his American workers when they returned from the war.
Nauman said that none of the prisoners had returned.
The view along 23rd Street confirms Lawrence's status as a college town. A row of restaurant illustrates the student appetite for quick, convenient food on a budget.
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The Zodiac boot collection is available now. Come into Arensberg's for all your fall and winter footwear needs.
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