Summary: In this lesson, you will look at primary sources to investigate the theme of “Freedom & Captivity” as it relates to Prisoner of War Camps.
Share whatever information from this introduction you feel will help provide context for your students before they investigate the primary sources.
World War II POW Camps in Maine
World War II was a global conflict that lasted from 1939 to 1945. Many countries across the globe fought as part of two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. Maine soldiers fought in the war, Mainers on the home front contributed through work on farms and factories.
Maine’s World War II Prisoner of War Camps
Germany and America were on opposing sides, and during the war, German soldiers were captured by the United States military. Rather than let them go free and continue to help the German military, the U.S. military transported them to America as prisoners of war (POWs).
Over 370,000 German POWs were held in 500 camps across the United States. Some of them were right here in Maine! There were about 5,500 Germans in Maine’s POW camps. The camps were located in Houlton, Seboomook, Spencer Lake, Augusta, Bangor, Princeton, and Presque Isle. The largest was Camp Houlton in Arookstook County. Houlton and its branch camps held around 3,500 POWs from 1944-1946.
Camps were usually built in more isolated parts of the state, surrounded by woods and water. They were often converted military installations or Civilian Conservation Corps camps. Some of the camps were on Wabanaki land that had been claimed by the state.
Why Maine?
Why did the camps end up in Maine? Ultimately, it was about labor. Maine desperately needed workers to fill jobs in lumber, agriculture, and food production. Higher-paying wartime jobs were pulling people away from some of Maine’s traditional industries.
The POW camps came to Maine because Maine’s paper companies lobbied to bring them here. The Seboomook, Princeton, and Spencer Lake camps were owned and run by paper companies. Their plan was to use the POWs primarily for lumbering – the prisoners worked cutting trees in Maine’s forests.
The War Production Board had ordered Maine to increase its production by 41%. Pulpwood was necessary for the war – not just for paper, but to make items like smokeless powder, rayon for parachutes, and weatherproof containers to transport food, ammunition and blood plasma.
Even though Maine needed workers to meet government demand, there was debate about whether it was safe to have camps here. Maine is close to the Canadian border, so people worried that German POWs would escape. Also, many civilians just did not want enemy soldiers living anywhere near them.
Once the camps opened, it became clear that people did not need to worry about the POWs having a negative impact on the area. Escape attempts were not common and usually weren’t successful, since prisoners did not want to be lost in the Maine woods.
Although the camps weren’t as bad as people worried, they also weren’t as helpful as hoped. German POWs were usually not skilled lumbermen, and they did not produce as much wood as a trained worker.
Work in the Camps
The Geneva Convention has strict rules for how POWs can be treated. Their health and safety are protected, and they cannot be forced to work. Many prisoners chose to work because they could earn a little money. They were paid around $1 an hour. The prisoners saved up to buy small treats such as chocolate, tobacco, and beer.
Although most of Maine’s POWs worked in the lumber industry, they also had other important jobs such as potato harvesting and food production. Camp Houlton sent POWs out to farms across Aroostook County who desperately needed help getting the potato crop out of the ground at harvest time.
During the potato harvest, prisoners had the unusual opportunity to interact with Maine people. Some German POWs in Maine formed friendships with Maine’s farming families. Some even returned to visit Maine after the war.
Life in the Camps
According to accounts from prisoners, local people, and the Red Cross, the POWs were treated well. The Houlton POW camp provided recreation, including a room for painting and crafts. Some of them formed friendships with local people. Some even moved to the United States after the war or returned for friendly visits.
Prison is still prison, and some POWs fought for freedom. The camps were built for high security, with fences, guard towers with machine guns, and barbed wire. Even so, there were multiple escape attempts. Some men managed to get away, and others were caught.
Mainers realized over time that many of the POWs were regular people who had just been caught up in the war. They were not all German – some were from other countries and had been drafted into the army by German forces. However, there were also POWs who were loyal to the Nazi party.
American Citizens in WWII Camps
Just as there were German POWs in camps in the United States, there were also American POWs in camps in Germany. That’s one reason to treat enemy POWs well – you want to make sure that your own soldiers are treated well by the enemy.
There were also American citizens held in camps right here in America! After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese American citizens were forced into internment camps. From 1942 to 1945, the U.S. government removed people of Japanese descent (including U.S. citizens) from their homes and businesses. Their incarceration in isolated camps is considered one of the worst violations of American civil rights in the 20th century.
The Lesson:
- Present as much as desired from the introductory information below to your students to give them context for the lesson. Depending on reading level, they could read the introduction as a homework assignment, or you could go over it together as a class.
- Students choose (or the teacher assigns) one or more of the primary sources to work with.
- The primary source can be projected/viewed on a big screen by the full class, or printed, so each student has their own copy.
- This is a mystery-solving activity – students should not know details about the sources in advance. Without first seeing the source label information, students practice their observation and analysis skills. They only see the source and have to use their skills to pull out information about it.
- Option 1 – Open inquiry
- The teacher leads a full-class discussion using the prompts “What do you see?” and “What do you wonder?” The class should be encouraged to look at tiny details and pull out clues from each source. This can also work as a whiteboard or post-it note activity, with students writing their own comments in response to the sources.
- Option 2 – Guided worksheets
- Students complete an Analysis Worksheet for each source. They can make educated guesses using whatever information they find in the sources. Note – This can be completed as a class, individually, or in small groups.
- Option 1 – Open inquiry
- Present the source label information (the “answers”) to the students. Were you surprised by anything you learned? Have you found more connections between the different sources?
- Repeat with as many sources as desired.
- Discuss all the sources together. What sources did you work with? What did you learn from them? What questions do you have? How do the different sources connect to the theme or to each other?
- Optional: use the recommended activity prompts and reflection questions for further discussion.
Optional Activity 1: POW’s and the Passamaquoddy
There was a World War II German prisoner of war (POW) camp at Motahkokmikuk (Indian Township), Maine. It was on Passamaquoddy tribal territory that had been taken by the state for Conservation Corps camps. The POW camp’s leader was known for wanting to treat the prisoners fairly and ensure good living conditions.
During World War II, Native Americans, African Americans, and Japanese Americans were often treated very badly – even though many of them defended the country as soldiers and by helping the American war effort. Those Veterans sometimes returned home and were still not given the rights of full citizens. For example, in Maine, members of Wabanaki tribes were not allowed to vote until 1954.
If you’d like to learn more: a team of indigenous archeologists excavated the site. Dr. Bonnie Newsome, a Penobscot scholar, tells the story in this webinar produced by the Abbe Museum:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCj4KedU0-E [1 hour 16 min Youtube video]
Writing or class discussion prompt:
What do you think it would have been like to be a Passamaquoddy person living near the camp? Imagine you are a Veteran who just returned home after being injured fighting in WWII. Talk about how you feel about the enemy soldiers in the prison camp.
Optional activity 2: The Power of Art
Take another close look at two of these sources: the painting and the photograph. They both show the same place: Camp Houlton. It can be hard to believe it – one version looks like a much less scary place to be than the other version! They are showing different sides of the same place.
Class discussion prompt: Why do you think a prisoner would have chosen to make the painting look like that, and not like the view we see in the photograph?
Art prompt: Try creating your own artwork – choose a scene you know well and draw two different versions of it. In one, try to make it look like a nice place where you could be happy. In another, make it look like a place where you’d be miserable. What details are you including in one version, and leaving out in another? Why did you make those choices?
Additional Resources:
- Abbe Museum webinar on an archaeological excavation of a POW camp. Dr. Bonnie Newsome, a Penobscot scholar, shares the story:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCj4KedU0-E [1 hour 16 min Youtube video]
- Maine POW Collection, Digital Commons, UMaine
- Online Maine Memory Network Exhibit: Passing the Time: Artwork by World War II German POWs
- DownEast Magazine: The German POWs Who Tried to Flee Maine for Argentina
Reflection Questions:
- Based on these sources, what was the goal of Maine’s World War II prisoner of war camps?
- What are the similarities and differences between prisoner of war camps and traditional jail?
- How do you think prisoners of war should be treated? Why?
- What role did Maine’s POW camps play in World War II?
Freedom & Captivity Primary Source Sets developed in collaboration between the Maine State Archives, Maine State Library, and Maine State Museum.