Camp Concordia
| Company type | Prisoner-of-war camp |
|---|---|
| Industry | Military facility |
| Founded | May 1, 1943 near Concordia, Kansas, United States |
| Defunct | November 8, 1945 |
| Headquarters | Concordia , United States |
Area served | Kansas, United States |
Key people | Captain Carl C. Teufel (noted for educational program) |
| Products | Prisoner of War University educational programs |
Camp Concordia functioned as a prisoner-of-war camp from May 1943 until November 1945, situated near Concordia, Kansas. Its primary population consisted of German Army soldiers captured during the African campaigns of World War II.
Recognized as the largest POW facility in Kansas, Camp Concordia accommodated more than 4,000 detainees at its height within a complex comprising 300 buildings and was overseen by a contingent of 800 U.S. military personnel. The camp is distinguished for initiating an educational program known as the Prisoner of War University, which later received support from the Special Projects Division. Several remaining structures have been preserved and converted into a museum that opened in 2015.
Geography
Located in the rural area of north-central Kansas, Camp Concordia lies two miles north and one mile east of Concordia, Kansas, specifically at 1557 Union Rd, Concordia, KS 66901. The site covers 640 acres and is positioned at the intersection of the Chicago Burlington & Quincy, Union Pacific, and Missouri Pacific Railroad lines.
History
As the first and largest among sixteen POW camps established in Kansas, Camp Concordia's construction commenced in February 1943. The camp was officially handed over to the US Army on May 1, 1943, and ceased operations on November 8, 1945.
The facility encompassed 304 buildings, including a hospital with 177 beds, a fire department, five warehouses, cold storage units, an officers’ club, barracks, dining halls, and administrative offices for both German prisoners and American staff. The total expenditure reached $1,808,860, surpassing the initial budget by $40,000. Warehouses were built as single-story wooden frames set on concrete foundations, insulated with Celotex asbestos material and topped with asphalt roll roofing.
At its maximum capacity, Camp Concordia housed over 4,000 prisoners under the supervision of nearly 800 U.S. officers. The German POWs were primarily transported to the camp by train.
Activities
Under the provisions of the 1929 Geneva Convention on Prisoners of War, only enlisted soldiers at Camp Concordia were permitted to engage in agricultural labor; officer POWs could volunteer for work but few did so. Initial tensions emerged when fifty incoming prisoners were identified as Nazi leaders; consequently, forty-four were relocated by the Army. There were at least two incidents involving prisoner-on-prisoner killings linked to alleged Gestapo operatives; those responsible faced trial and were sent to the federal penitentiary at Leavenworth.
In early 1944, a re-education initiative named the Special Projects Division (SPD) was launched by the War and State Departments. By December of that year, Captain Carl C. Teufel observed that German prisoners had already organized their own higher education programs. Anti-Nazi detainees—comprising lawyers, educators, and clergy—offered roughly 300 courses covering languages, electronics, theology, history, government studies, engineering, medicine, arts, sciences, and vocational skills. This effort was conducted in cooperation with the University of Kansas and received recognition from the German Reich’s Ministry of Education along with fifteen German and Austrian universities. However, in spring 1945, more than one hundred staunch Nazi prisoners were transferred to Alva, Oklahoma. By summer 1945, participation in this educational program had reached an impressive rate of 88%.
Relations with Local Residents
The authorities regarded the POWs as a valuable workforce for agricultural tasks, and they soon began collaborating with area farmers. Lowell May, president of the camp’s preservation organization, reported that tensions between prisoners and local citizens were rare, and bonds of friendship were often formed. Attempts to escape were infrequent and unsuccessful. Conditions at Camp Concordia were relatively comfortable; prisoners participated in outdoor athletic activities, enjoyed musical band performances, and enrolled in courses offered by the University of Kansas. One prisoner remarked on the presence of many Kansans of German heritage, which facilitated easier communication.
Notable Inmates
- Karl Bracher, historian.
- Harald Deilmann, architect and writer.
- Reinhard Mohn, proprietor of the multinational media firm Bertelsmann AG.
Repatriation to Germany
During the fall of 1945, inmates were repatriated to Germany, with many reflecting positively on their time in Kansas. Franz Kramer, hailing from Gundelfingen, Germany, observed that American officials treated prisoners humanely and introduced them to various facets of American culture and the country’s expansive geography.
Subsequent Developments
Following the camp’s closure, Building T-9 was purchased by the Federal Land Bank in June 1947. Later that year, in October, the City of Concordia acquired 166.7 acres of the former camp grounds with plans to create a park and relocate the Cloud County fairgrounds there. These initiatives were ultimately abandoned, leading the city to sell Building T-9 along with other properties. Over time, T-9 served multiple purposes including a skating rink, hog farm, canoe manufacturing facility, and storage space for Thundercloud Park—a horse racetrack located on the site during the 1960s.
Present Condition of the Camp
Several original camp buildings still stand today, such as a prison warehouse, an officers’ club, and a renovated guard tower open for public visitation. The original guardhouse has also been restored. Most of the land is currently utilized for agricultural purposes, with some areas developed for residential use.
Historical documentation related to the camp is maintained at the Cloud County Historical Museum in Concordia, which also exhibits artwork created by former prisoners of Camp Concordia. In 2015, a museum was established on-site to honor and preserve the history of the camp.
To this day, correspondence continues between former POWs, their descendants, and residents of Concordia.
Further reading
- Bell, Rachel Lowrey (1998a). A Proud Past... A Pictorial History of Concordia, Kansas. Marceline, Missouri: D-Books Publishing.
- Carlson, Lewis H., 1997, We Were Each Other’s Prisoners. Basic Books, New York.
- Emery, Janet Pease (1970a). It Takes People to Make a Town, Salina, Kansas. Arrow Printing Company.
- Gansberg, Judith, Stalag USA, Crowell, 1978
- Krammer, Arnold, 1979, Nazi Prisoners of War in America. Stein and Day, New York.
- May, Lowell A., 1995, Camp Concordia: German POWs in the Midwest. Sunflower University Press.
- Taylor, Pamela Howe (2003). The Germans We Trusted: Stories Which Had To Be Told.... Lutterworth Press.
- Thompson, Glenn, 1993, Prisoners on the Plains: German POWs in America. Phelps County Historical Society.
External links
- Photographic journey through Camp Concordia
- Camp Concordia: German Prisoners of War in the American Midwest by Lowell A. May
- Roadside America’s overview of Camp Concordia
- Camp Concordia, featured on KansasTravel.org
- Oral History Collection: Prisoners of Plenty hosted by the Kansas Historical Society