Now that school is back in session, I remember my elementary school days where the students had to report on what they had done over the summer. So, with that in mind, the next few Footnotes will focus on what I learned during my five week long summer break from writing the Friday Footnote.
During the five-week period I traveled through nine states and three Canadian provinces, made three presentations, and learned some interesting history related to agricultural and extension education.
My first travel stop was at the Fountain Park Chautauqua in Remington, Indiana where I spoke about “Corn, Tomatoes, & POWs: Hoosier Agriculture During World War II.” Even though this presentation focused on Indiana, what I learned extended well beyond the borders of Indiana.
In preparing for this presentation I learned about a variety of approaches to addressing the farm labor shortage during WWII. I had never heard of some of them. They were:
- Dismissing high school boys (and girls) from school to work on farms as Victory Farm Volunteers
- Establishment of the U. S. Crops Corps
- Utilizing the Women Land Army
- Establishment of the Bracero program with Mexico
- Releasing detained Japanese-Americans from Internment Camps to work in agriculture
- Using captured Prisoners of War housed in American POW Camps.
The next few Footnotes will examine the various approaches used to tackle the farm labor problem of World War II.
Addressing the Farm Labor Shortage with Prisoners of War
When America entered World War II the United States Department of Agriculture reported that two million men had left their agricultural jobs to join the military or work in war industries (which paid much more than farm work). Obviously, this created a labor shortage in the agricultural sector despite the fact the Congress authorized military deferments for farm workers in 1942.
Figure 1. A sampling of newspaper articles across the country about the farm labor shortage during World War II. From left to right: The Lawton (OK) Constitution, March 8,1942/The Fresno (CA) Bee, September 28, 1942/The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, WA), July 4, 1942/ Indianapolis (IN) Star, September. 22, 1944.
Figure 2. Because of the labor shortage many farmers plowed under crops or lost their harvest. Article from the Muncie (IN) Evening Press, June 24, 1943
The first prisoners of war arrived in the United States in September of 1942. Before World War II ended there were approximately 425,000 prisoners of war in America (371,683 Germans, 50,273 Italians, and 3,915 Japanese). They were housed in approximately 700 POW camps across the country. Nevada, North Dakota, Vermont and the territory of Hawaii were the only states that did not have POW camps. A list of the POW camps by state can be found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_War_II_prisoner-of-war_camps_in_the_United_States. Often “satellite” POW tent camps were established near food processing plants near harvest time, but they are not listed on the Wikipedia site.
By April of 1943 a decision was made by the U.S. government to use prisoners of war as agricultural workers. By July of 1943 the USDA developed a procedure for using the POWs. Farmers were to contact the county agent of their county with a request for workers. But the farmer had to certify that no other labor was available, and the farmer would pay the government the prevailing wage for the workers which was 40-50 cents an hour.
At first, farmers within 25 miles of POW camps could request POW help. But you had to have work for 10 POWs. The army would then send out the 10 workers along with one guard to the farm. Later, the 25 mile limit was lifted and remote or satellite camps were established in areas where workers were needed.
The POWs received 10 cents an hour for their labor. For an eight hour day the POW would receive 80 cents. However, this pay was in the form of coupons that could be used at camp canteens to buy snacks, cigarettes, sodas and other goods. (see Figure 3).
Figure 3. Pay coupons for POW labor from Camp Atterbury in Indiana.
The government made a profit on the POW labor. An article in the Washington, D.C. Evening Star newspaper (November 11, 1942) reported the government had made 7 ½ million dollars since the inception of the POW labor program (see Figure 4).
Figure 4. Washington, D.C. Evening Star newspaper, November 11, 1942.
The prisoners performed a variety of farm tasks. The harvested fruit in the Pacific Northwest and New England states. They worked sugar beets in the west. They were called lifesavers by potato growers in Maine and Idaho. Three thousand Germans were rushed to Louisiana to harvest sugar cane. The tomatoes grown in Indiana (which was the largest tomato producing state prior to World War II) were saved by 1,500 POWs when they matured early after a spell of wet weather. Name a farm job and you would find prisoners of war performing them. A USDA report listed 22 crops ranging from apples to wheat in which POWs worked.
The POWs harvested tobacco in Georgia, detasseled corn in Indiana, harvested cranberries in Michigan, and even harvested peanuts in North Carolina. An Italian prisoner of war in North Carolina stated that Mussolini told his troops they would soon be marching across the United States, “but” said the Italian Prisoner, “he didn’t say anything about our picking up peanuts on the way.”
In addition to farm work, POWs were employed in forestry operations and food processing plants. A government report of POW labor from June of 1944 to August of 1945 revealed that agriculture, pulpwood and food processing were the top three industries using POW labor.
Figure 5. From the Greensboro (NC) News and Record, April 30, 1945.
Concluding Remarks
Prisoners of war played an important role in food production during World War II. Their labor kept many farms and farmers in business. Close relationships often developed between farmers and the POWs who worked on their farms.
Most of the German POWs were teenagers and young men who had been forced to be in the German Army. Only 10% were die hard Nazis.
One woman, employed at the same canning factory where German prisoners worked in Elwood, Indiana, brought candy bars to the younger ones, recalling that she “felt sorry for them.”
“They were just people like anyone else,” one woman from Windfall, Indiana declared, recalling the prisoners who picked tomatoes on the family farm during her youth.
“Just like our boys,” noted a man whose father-in-law also relied on POW labor at his farm in Tipton County, Indiana during the War.
After the war ended 5,000 German POWs returned to the United States and many more maintained contact with the farmers and industries they worked for.
Figure 6. The Vincennes (IN) Sun-Commercial, July 20, 1947
The message we can learn from this Footnote is that all people, no matter who they are, should be treated with kindness and respect.
An interesting assignment might be to have your students research how prisoners of war were employed in your community or state.