As World War II reshaped rural Iowa, German prisoners of war became an essential labor force, and, in some cases, unexpected friends and neighbors.

A group of POWs staged a sit-down strike at local processing plants. One POW, Heinz Golze, escaped from camps five times. Young women working alongside POWs were said to be "very familiar" with them.

In 1943, hundreds of thousands of German prisoners of war were sent to the United States after the collapse of the Afrika Korps. What they witnessed—industrial scale, agricultural abundance, and ...

During World War II, the U.S. began amassing huge numbers of German prisoners when the Afrika Korps, the Wehrmacht’s elite desert troops, surrendered to the Allied forces at Tunisia in May 1943. As ...

A small, wooden keepsake box adorned with carvings and the inscription, “Gefangenschaft Amerika 1944,” was donated in late January to the Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office for inclusion in the Fort ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Jean Shey was 12 when she first questioned her father’s judgment. He wanted to serve lunch to the Germans. Not neighbors – ...

During World War II, Iowa housed over 25,000 German prisoners of war to address farm labor shortages. Initial fear and skepticism from Iowans gave way to community and trust as they worked alongside ...