Camp Rupert
| Company type | Prisoner of war camp |
|---|---|
| Industry | Military detention |
| Founded | 1944 |
| Headquarters | Minidoka County, Idaho , United States |
| Products | Agricultural labor by POWs |
Number of employees | 15,000 (maximum detainees) |
Camp Rupert functioned as a prisoner of war facility during World War II, situated in the western region of the United States within Minidoka County, Idaho, to the west of Paul. Constructed at a cost of $1.5 million, it was equipped to accommodate a population of 3,000, featuring barracks, water and sewage systems, as well as a medical center. The initial group of detainees consisted of Italian POWs who arrived in May 1944, followed by an influx of 500 German prisoners in September.
Located in the Magic Valley—an irrigated farming zone on the Snake River Plain at an elevation near 4,200 feet—POWs were engaged in agricultural labor such as planting and harvesting crops. They were transported to work sites in trucks carrying about fifteen prisoners each under guard supervision and assigned specific production targets set by both local farmers and the National War Labor Board. Instructional materials in German, including pamphlets and a film produced by the Utah-Idaho Sugar Company, guided them through their tasks.
The responsibility for supervising POWs fell to the farmers themselves, which occasionally disrupted their own agricultural duties. Oversight of the camp was managed by Fort Douglas in Utah; Camp Rupert also served as a disciplinary center for German and Italian prisoners who exhibited problematic behavior such as strikes or escape attempts. By December 1945, several hundred Waffen SS members were detained there. In total, around 15,000 prisoners were affiliated with Camp Rupert.
Following the conclusion of hostilities in Europe in May 1945, labor demands escalated while food supplies became more restricted. News emerging about Nazi concentration camps prompted heightened enforcement measures; prisoners faced penalties for not meeting work quotas and experienced limitations on leisure activities. During the summer of 1945, 297 POWs staged a strike protesting harsh conditions; confrontations involving violence between inmates and guards were reported.
Camp Rupert reached its maximum capacity in October 1945 with 15,047 detainees housed. Due to labor shortages across the United States, many prisoners remained employed on farms until after the harvest season concluded in fall 1946.
Additionally, several hundred POWs were held at Farragut Naval Training Station located in northern Idaho. Approximately 20 miles west-northwest of Camp Rupert in Jerome County stood the Minidoka War Relocation Center, which functioned as an internment camp for Japanese Americans.
External links
- World War II POWs in Idaho Falls (photographic collection)
- Idaho State Archives Digital Collections – Documentation on Camp Rupert
- Historical Marker Database – Information on Camp Rupert