From Enemies to Friends: German Prisoners-of-War in Michigan during World War II

During World War II, the United States government created a program, with the assistance of other Allied forces to house, care, and feed foreign Axis troops in the United States. Sent on Liberty ships to American shores, approximately 425,000 German prisoners arrived between 1943 and 1945. Stationed in camps across the country, these prisoners interacted with the citizenry and directly challenged their ideology. For prisoners sent to Michigan, the citizens willfully violated War Department guidelines concerning prisoner treatment. The violations were not inhumane. Rather, the disobedience came from being too friendly, supplying prisoners with food, conversation and clothing, which was expressly forbidden. Violating the orders from the War Department showed the humanness of the American citizens and created opportunities for personal relationships. Through these violations, German prisoners and Michigan farmers established relationships challenging the Nazi ideology. Enemies became friends, upsetting previous stereotypes of the German people during World War II. The notion of Germans being Nazis needs to be challenged in the educational setting, as the narrative proves otherwise. In Michigan, German prisoners were men, not Nazis. They missed home and shared their struggles after the war with their new American friends. The story of the prisoners held in Michigan, needs to be told, both as a narrative and within the overall history of German prisoners-of-war.