Internment of German Americans

Detention of German nationals and German-American citizens took place in the United States during both World War I and World War II. During the Second World War, such internments were authorized through Presidential Proclamation 2526, which President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued under the authority of the Alien Enemies Act.

After the U.S. entered World War I in response to Germany's unrestricted submarine warfare, individuals of German nationality were designated as enemy aliens. Two primary internment facilities during WWI were located in Hot Springs, North Carolina, and Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia. Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer declared that all detained aliens were deemed enemies, with their possessions handled accordingly.

By the time of WWII, the United States housed a considerable ethnic German community: more than 1.2 million were born in Germany, 5 million had both parents of German origin, and 6 million had one parent who was native German. Between 1940 and 1948, over 11,000 ethnic Germans—primarily German nationals—were confined at camps such as Fort Douglas, Utah, and Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia. The Department of Justice conducted individual assessments under the Alien Enemies Act, resulting in a relatively small number of detentions. Some ethnic German Americans holding U.S. citizenship were also labeled as suspicious and interned following legal procedures. Similarly, a limited number of Italian nationals and Italian Americans faced internment relative to their population size.

In contrast to Italian and Japanese Americans, those of German descent who were interned have not received formal apologies or financial reparations. In the early 2000s, Congress deliberated on legislation to investigate the treatment of European Americans during WWII but ultimately did not enact it. Since then, historians and activists have drawn attention to these overlooked injustices.

Civilian internees

In 1917, President Woodrow Wilson enacted regulations targeting German-born male residents aged over 14—including naturalized citizens originating from Germany—classifying them as aliens. Approximately 250,000 individuals were mandated to register locally, carry identification cards confirming their status, and report any changes in residence or employment. Comparable requirements were extended to women in 1918. Around 6,300 persons faced arrest; among them, 2,048 (approximately 0.8%) were interned throughout the war at two camps: Fort Douglas in Utah (west of the Mississippi River) and Fort Oglethorpe in Georgia (east of the Mississippi).

The Enemy Alien Registration Section within the Department of Justice oversaw these cases; beginning in December 1917, it was directed by a young J. Edgar Hoover. Prominent detainees included geneticist Richard Goldschmidt and 29 members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO). The BSO conductor, Karl Muck, was interned based on unfounded claims that he refused to perform The Star Spangled Banner, as was Ernst Kunwald, who led the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. During his confinement, Muck conducted a concert in the camp’s mess hall that uplifted nearly 2,000 internees despite wartime restrictions.

Most internees received parole in June 1919 through Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer, although some remained detained until early 1920.

Merchant marine vessels

Prior to the United States' declaration of war against Germany, German commercial ships and their crews located in American ports were permitted to depart freely; by January 1917, 54 such vessels were anchored at mainland ports, with an additional one stationed in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Following the war declaration, approximately 1,800 merchant seamen were taken as prisoners of war. More than 2,000 German officers and sailors were confined at Hot Springs, North Carolina, housed on the premises of the Mountain Park Hotel.

Military internees

Several Imperial German Navy ships that had docked in U.S. harbors before America entered World War I were ordered either to leave or face detention. Initially, their crews were classified as alien detainees before being re-designated as prisoners of war. A prominent case involved the auxiliary cruiser SMS Cormoran, which was interned at Guam after being refused refueling; its crew remained aboard due to a lack of available accommodations. Relations between the crew and local authorities remained amicable until diplomatic ties between the U.S. and Germany worsened.

When the United States severed diplomatic relations in February 1917 and subsequently declared war in April, the Germans stationed on Guam deliberately sank the Cormoran instead of surrendering; six crew members lost their lives and were honored with military burials. The remaining 353 personnel were taken as prisoners of war and transferred to camps on the U.S. mainland.

Treatment of non-German crew members varied: Chinese nationals served as personal attendants within the local community, while Melanesians from German New Guinea experienced confinement accompanied by reduced food rations. Similarly, crews from the cruiser Geier, interned in Honolulu, became POWs after the U.S. entered the conflict.

Several hundred sailors from cruisers Prinz Eitel Friedrich and Kronprinz Wilhelm avoided destruction by remaining in Virginia ports where they constructed a self-contained "German village" at Norfolk Navy Yard featuring housing and facilities. In October 1916, they moved to Philadelphia Navy Yard, maintaining their enclosed settlement behind barbed wire. After multiple escape attempts amid escalating tensions in 1917, detainees were relocated to Fort McPherson and Fort Oglethorpe camps to separate them from civilian populations. Some members of the Cormoran crew were held at Fort Douglas in Utah.

World War II

According to the 1940 U.S. census, there were over 1.2 million individuals born in Germany residing in America, alongside many others with German ancestry; a significant portion had become naturalized citizens and retained political and economic influence—factors that contributed to limited widespread relocation or internment efforts.

Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, roughly 1,260 German nationals were detained amid increased government surveillance; among 254 evacuees from coastal zones who were not Japanese, most were ethnic Germans. Although mass expulsions were considered by the War Department, logistical complications prevented their implementation.

During World War II, a total of 11,507 persons of German descent were interned under the Justice Department's Enemy Alien Control Program, accounting for 36.1% of all internees.

Deportation of Germans from Latin America

The United States received over 4,500 German nationals deported from Latin American countries for incarceration in Department of Justice camps. The FBI had identified suspected subversives across fifteen Latin American nations; after Pearl Harbor, these countries expelled approximately 4,058 individuals. Of these deportees, around 10–15% were affiliated with the Nazi Party; only a small number faced accusations of espionage.

Major internment facilities housing Germans deported from Latin America included locations in Texas (Crystal City, Kenedy, Seagoville), Florida (Camp Blanding), Oklahoma (Stringtown), North Dakota (Fort Lincoln), and Tennessee (Camp Forrest). Some detainees remained confined until as late as 1948.

Research and evaluation

From the late 1900s onward, those interned and their families have advocated for acknowledgment of civil liberties infringements experienced during wartime confinement. In 2005, the German American Internee Coalition was established to raise awareness of internment histories and to seek formal governmental recognition.

The TRACES Center for History and Culture manages a mobile "bus-eum" that travels to educate the public about the treatment of foreign nationals in the United States during World War II.

Since 2001, various legislative proposals have been introduced in Congress aiming to create an independent commission to examine wartime policies affecting European ethnic communities. While the European Americans and Refugees Wartime Treatment Study Act was approved by the Senate in 2007, it encountered resistance due to historical considerations; it later passed a House subcommittee in 2009 but ultimately did not become enacted law.

See also

• American propaganda during World War II
• Anti-German sentiment
• Arizona during World War II
• German prisoners of war in the United States
• History of homeland security in the United States
• Italian American internment
• Italian Canadian internment
• Japanese American internment
• Japanese Canadian internment
• List of World War II prisoner-of-war camps in the United States
• Ukrainian Austrian internment
• Ukrainian Canadian internment

World War I

• Charles Burdick, The Frustrated Raider: The Story of the German Cruiser Cormoran in World War I
• Gerald H. Davis, "'Oglesdorf': A World War I Internment Camp in America"
• William B. Glidden, "Internment Camps in America, 1917–1920"
• Paul Halpern, A Naval History of World War I
• Arnold Krammer, Undue Process: The Untold Story of America's German Alien Internees
• Reuben A. Lewis, "How the United States Takes Care of German Prisoners"
• Jörg Nagler, "Victims of the Home Front: Enemy Aliens in the United States during World War I"
• Erich Posselt, "Prisoner of War No. 3598 [Fort Oglethorpe]"
• Paul Schmalenbach, German Raiders: A History of Auxiliary Cruisers of the German Navy

World War II

• John Christgau, "Enemies": World War II Alien Internment
• Kimberly E. Contag and James A. Grabowska, Where the Clouds Meet the Water
• John Joel Culley, "A Troublesome Presence: World War II Internment of German Sailors in New Mexico"
• Heidi Gurcke Donald, We Were Not the Enemy: Remembering the United States Latin-American Civilian Internment Program
• Stephen Fox, Fear Itself: Inside the FBI Roundup of German Americans during World War II
• Timothy J. Holian, The German Americans and WW II: An Ethnic Experience
• Arthur D. Jacobs, The Prison Called Hohenasperg: An American Boy Betrayed by his Government during World War II
• National Archives: "Brief Overview of the World War II Enemy Alien Control Program"
• New York Times: Jerre Mangione, "America's Other Internment"
• Louis Fiset, "Medical Care for Interned Enemy Aliens"
• John Eric Schmitz, "Enemies Among Us: The Relocation, Internment, and Repatriation..."
• [John E. Schmitz] (2021), Enemies among Us...
• U.S. House Judiciary Committee hearing on wartime treatment

General

• Don H. Tolzmann, editor, German-Americans in the World Wars, 5 volumes.

External links

• [Photographs of the German Village at Norfolk Navy Yard]
• [Handbook of Texas: WORLD WAR II INTERNMENT CAMPS]
• [German American Internee Coalition – comprehensive history and resources]
• [German American Internees during WWII by Karen E. Ebel]
• [FBI Vault – released documents on Custodial Detention]
• "German and Italian detainees," Alan Rosenfeld