The story of a
German POW camp in
Windsor, California during
World War II. Produced by
Robyn Kasper.
Copyright 2014 Kasper Productions. Awarded the
Jack Taylor Media Award by the
Sonoma County Historical Society March 22,
2015.
Selected to be shown on the big screen in the
Windsor Independent Film Festival, in the category Films That Are
True on May 29, 2015 at 6 pm at the
Raven Theater in Windsor, California.
By August of
1944, German soldiers were surrendering to the
Allies in the hundreds of thousands.
Hitler was losing the war, and with massive
American reinforcements of men and supplies, it was more honorable to surrender than to retreat.
Soldiers of all ages and nationalities had started to surrender to the Allies.
Sonoma County housed German
Prisoners of War in the town of Windsor, California, mainly an agricultural, rural community with farmers, ranchers, and winemakers, not too different from today. All of the young, healthy, able-bodied men had gone off to fight in World War II, so, ironically, the German POWs were housed at
Camp Windsor, and commissioned out to help the farmers, ranchers, and winemakers, whose own young sons had gone off to fight in the war.
The American severe labor shortage was alleviated by prisoner labor which freed
American troops for shipment overseas.
It is amazing that so few American soldiers were supervising so many
Germans. There were approximately 250 POWs housed at Camp Windsor. When they would go out to assist the agricultural community, they were only accompanied with one or two guards. The POWs and the guards had a friendly camaraderie at the camp.
The German POWs were treated with courtesy and even some warmth by the American guards.
America could afford to house the Germans.
The Germans had been brainwashed with propaganda into believing that America was in ruins, when in fact it was in full swing, in war mode, and the country was fueling the war. They expected to see the major cities of the
U.S. in ruins, bombed and devastated.
Instead, they saw a healthy America and were soon living in beautiful Sonoma County.
When the war was over, the POWs went back to
Europe. When they went home, they did not know what they would find. They probably had it better here because in Europe the cities were in ruins. They had left an idyllic place, a place where they had food, shelter, and a purpose to their lives, to home, food shortages, and an uncertain future.
This is the story of Camp Windsor.
Featuring the
President of the Windsor Historical Society
Stephen Lehmann, with narration by
John Moran and
Hans Kasper, the story of Camp Windsor comes to life with anecdotes and rare pictures.
Most people are familiar with the
Japanese Internment Camps of
WWII, but very few people realize that there were German
POW Camps in America. A German POW camp was in Windsor, California, a sleepy little town in
Northern California, about an hour
North of
San Francisco.
Visit the Windsor Historical Society’s
Museum located in the historic “Hembree
House” at 9225 Foxwood
Drive, Windsor, California 95492, (
707) 838-4563, info@windsorhistory.org, and see the exhibit that tells the story of German Prisoners of War that spent some of World War II in camps in
California, including one in Windsor! It is open Friday, Saturday and Sunday, except for major holidays from 9:30 to 4:30. The museum may also be opened by appointment.
“Camp Windsor” was produced, written, directed, filmed, and edited by Robyn Kasper of Kasper Productions with additional footage by Hans Kasper. This production was made possible of the use of facilities and services of C Media, a community media center for the
North Bay in
Santa Rosa, California.
© 2014 Kasper Productions
- published: 27 Nov 2014
- views: 3557