Many German prisoners of war worked long hours in area fields salvaging crops left behind by farmers
who were serving their country. These men contributed to the labor force on the George Ranch.
A LITTLE PIECE OF HISTORY | By Joan Frances | Photos from Fort Bend County Texas: A Pictorial History –
World War II affected everyone. From Germany to Japan to the United States, families were separated, the economy suffered and communities adjusted to a new way of life. Over 400,000 German, Italian and Japanese prisoners of war (POWs) were brought to the United States. Texas was home to over 70 POW camps, twice as many as other states. Approximately 50,000 German soldiers were brought to military bases, but there was still not enough space for the arriving thousands. Thirty satellite camps were set up, and one of them was in Rosenberg.
According to the Geneva Convention, prisoners should have been housed in a climate similar to the one in which they had been captured, and Texas climate was the most similar to Southern Europe and North Africa. The original site of the Fort Bend County Fairgrounds on Highway 90 was designated the camp for the arriving POWs.
When the POWs arrived in Rosen-berg during the summer of 1943, the entire town came to watch. Some of the women were disturbed at the thought of dangerous “Nazis” living in the city while their husbands and sons were risking their lives fighting overseas. But over time, these prisoners proved to be a valuable asset to the economy of the city.
The original site of the Fort Bend Country Fairgrounds was used as a prisoner of war camp during World War II.
The use of POW labor began soon after they arrived. The War Department approved the mobilization of German hostages to help in factories, industries, hospitals and state agencies but mostly agriculture. The major tasks accomplished by the prisoners included harvesting cotton, corn, hay, rice, potatoes and grain sorghum, cutting cords of wood, clearing acres of land and building or repairing miles of fence. The farmers admitted all of this would have been impossible without the help of these prisoners.
Many of the German inmates in Rosenberg elected to make their living conditions comfortable. They decorated the rooms and adorned the walls with paintings and family pictures, planted flowers and manicured the lawns around the fairgrounds. The German immigrants who lived in the city enjoyed speaking German to the detainees, and the town grew to appreciate the work they did. For the most part, the prisoners were treated well. Meat, eggs, vegetables, coffee and milk were served on a regular basis. The men had access to cigarettes, beer and wine that could be purchased from the camp Post Exchange with government issued canteen coupons for work they did on the farms.
The POWs were also allowed to send and receive mail and to publish German language newspapers with articles and even classified ads. This privilege permitted the hostages to experience freedom and allowed the American authorities to monitor the mood of the camps. When an inmate refused to work, the punishment was the “No Work, No Eat” policy. Loss of privileges, suspension of pay and time in the brig, as well as punishment for all of the camp, was not uncommon.
Prisoners also attempted to escape. Some dug tunnels under the floor of the barracks into nearby fields, some burrowed under the fences and others hid underneath laundry trucks that entered the camp. Most of the attempts were short lived, and inmates were recaptured.
When the war ended in 1945, farmers did not want the detainees to leave. The American labor union insisted they leave the country to make jobs available to returning United States soldiers. President Harry S. Truman ordered all POWs to be shipped back to whichever country wanted them. With the return of their loved ones from the war, the citizens of Rosenberg were able to recover, and history will never be forgotten.