An experiment in agricultural labor: the German prisoner of war camp in Council Grove, Kansas.

Abstract

Throughout World War II, a German prisoner of war branch camp operated intermittently near Council Grove, Kansas. The United States Army established such camps to alleviate the shortage of agricultural labor which existed at that time. Under the terms of the Geneva Convention, war prisoners could be required to work for their captors. This allowed the United States to establish the Prisoner of War Labor Program. Numerous federal agencies such as the Department of Agriculture and the War Manpower Commission assisted with the organization and administration of this program. On the local level, the county agent worked with the u.S. Employment Service in overseeing the program. In Council Grove, a committee of area farmers and ranchers organized the Morris County Agricultural Association to help in expediting the procedure for obtaining prisoner labor. Once the camp was established, prisoners performed a variety of tasks. The employers found these men to be hard workers and generally had few problems with them. Most were sorry to see the prisoners leave. A greater number of prisoners of war were used on farms during World War II than in any other form of employment. The success of the PCM program at Council Grove, exemplifies that of the experiment in agricultural labor on the national level.