Fiedler to share history of Missouri's POW camps

By Nancy Malcom

Nevada Daily Mail

David Fiedler, author of the book "The Enemy Among Us: German and Italian POWs in Missouri during World War II," will speak at the Oct. 10 meeting of the Vernon County Historical Society. The meeting starts at 2 p.m. and is open to the public.

Fiedler grew up in Concordia and has lived in St. Louis for the past 20 years.

He attended Washington University in St. Louis and served in the U.S. Army as officer for eight years.

It was while he was in officer's training in Texas that he found the link that would spur his interest in POWs during World War II. "We were out in the woods one day and I sat under a tree on a concrete cistern cover," Fiedler explains.

"I looked down and on the concrete was etched, 'Built by German soldiers -- 1945.' I was moved that almost 50 years before, another man in uniform a long way from his home, had made his mark with finger or stick in concrete. I ran my fingers through those letters too, making a physical connection to this anonymous German. That brought to me a very real sense of those men being here."

Finding that one clue sparked Fiedler's interest in searching for other evidence and reminders that "the enemy" had been here.

Fiedler has always had an interest in history, but from a unique standpoint. "I'm more interested in history in ways that relate to us today. It takes on a more personal meaning when there are people still around who witnessed it, living and working in places where history unfolded," he said.

He added, "People in Nevada may be more aware of the prisoners having been here because Camp Clark has been such a part of the community for 100 years now."

Fiedler thinks most people, including himself, have no idea there were 15000 German and Italian soldiers that came to Missouri in World War II.

"They were in 30 different camps in Missouri," he explained. "Lots of times these were just agricultural work camps set up in a pasture. POWs worked side by side to bring in potatoes, pick cotton, put up hay, whatever the task was to get done. These prisoners had an amazing amount of involvement with the ordinary people." Unlike any regular prison inmate, the Italian and German POWs were allowed to work and even earn money as prisoners. The U.S. government was concerned about escape attempts and local citizens were worried about their own safety. Both issues never occurred.

There were some problems, of course. Interpreters were few and their services were more directly needed in the war effort on the front lines, not in Missouri.

Fiedler examines this problem in his book and presentation.

"Guards picked up a little Italian and German. The prisoners picked up a little English. They did offer classes in the camps. There were bumps in the language of the agricultural programs." He chuckled and added, "trying to explain work problems in agricultural terms wasn't easy. Sign language and pointing were sometimes inadequate tools to explain the process of making hybrid corn, detasseling, cross pollination, and other farming activities."

Many of the POWs had never been farmers and the concepts were all new to them.

He found the most amazing things were the friendships formed between the enemy POWs and the local Americans. Some of these friendships have lasted for years. One POW recently e-mailed Fiedler to tell of his enduring friendship with an American he has been in contact with since his stay in Missouri.

He interviewed almost 500 people in the process of researching and writing his book. In an effort to get a hands-on feel for the story, he visited Nevada and Camp Clark as part of his research.

"The people there were great!" he said. "Terry Ramsey provided a lot of assistance. Pat Brophy's note about my query in The Bushwhacker Musings got me a lot of responses from people with stories to tell. Stafford Agee took me on a tour of Camp Clark. It was very interesting to physically be on the grounds and see where these things took place." Fiedler says the response to his book has been favorable.

General John W. Vessey, former chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff remarked, "David Fiedler provides us with a fascinating look at a seldom-examined facet of World War II, and, in the process, gives us a fascinating look at ourselves during those times."

"People have written to me to thank me for telling their story before it got lost in history," Fiedler said.

The presentation is about an hour long and features a slide presentation of 50 photos maps, and illustrations.

"It's a fascinating story that was not very well known and was in danger of disappearing as people died off and time passed," Fiedler said. "This was a remarkable chapter of Missouri history and I wanted to capture that in some sense and put it down for other people who may have that same wonder and interest that I had."