September 1944
On (or about) September 1, 1944, Abe’s wife Velma received word from the War Department that Abe was “missing in action.”
Stalag Weather:
The average high daily temperature is 66 degrees F; the low 50. About 10 days of rain in September is normal. The average monthly rainfall is 1.77 inches.
On the War Front:
- Allied troops enter Belgium
- The first V-2 rocket land on London
- American troops reach the Siegfried Line, the west wall of Germany’s defense system
- The Red Army has advanced into Poland
Life in the camp was monotonous. At dawn revile sounded. If the weather was warm and dry time was spent outdoors. There was the occasional inspection by the German guards and the daily meal.
Abe recalled that sometimes the boys would play football or baseball.
“Books provided in the camps by the Y.M.C.A. book program made it possible for us to use some of our time that way.”
-Abe
At daylight’s end prisoners returned to their crowded barracks.
“I can say that our sleeping facilities were bad… We slept on boards… They gave us mattress covers but they didn’t have any straw for them. We had light blankets to cover us.”
-Abe
Abe’s son, Ron, recalled his father saying the guards would make the prisoners strip at night so as to discourage them from trying to escape.
And then there were the lice.
“We were allowed one hot bath once a month when they put our clothes through the steam to try and kill the lice that almost everyone had.”
-Abe
Day 18 in the camp marked Abe and Velma’s second wedding anniversary.
Life Behind Barbed Wire:*
Richard Hartman:
“…I was a prisoner… 150 days, five months. You think about it, …the clothes I had on the day I was captured, are the clothes I had on the day I was liberated. I had those clothes on 24 hours a day for 150 days. So, no, we were not beaten, we were not mistreated. But it was a miserable experience. We were cold. We were hungry. And we were lousy. Within, you know, a matter of weeks everybody had lice, and you never got rid of them.
“…Sometime during our stay…the Red Cross came in, and the word went around that they were distributing clean underwear. …I sure got in line for clean underwear, and went and hiked on up to the head of the line. The fellow said, you need underwear? And I said, I sure do. He said, drop your pants. So, I dropped my pants, and he said, you’ve got underwear. Next.”
*Interviews of American soldiers who spent time in WWII German POW camps by the Library of Congress: Veterans History Project: http://www.loc.gov/vets/
Tomorrow: Days 49 – 80
*banner photo courtesy of https://wallyswar.wordpress.com/pow2/
ww2letterproject 
Leave a comment