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with Heinrich Krahforst, POW at Camp Bowie 1943 – 1945 held on August 11th, 2007 |
| • I was 22 years old
when I arrived at Camp Bowie, we had arrived by boat in New York City where
they put us on a train. It took us days to get to Texas. I was with the
first ones to arrive there.
• We were about 3,000 German prisoners-of-war and were divided into 3 groups and taken to three different sections of the camp: 2 groups of 1,000 prisoners each and 1 group of sergeants and other soldiers with higher rankings (Unteroffiziere and Feldwebel). • We were treated very well, and they always gave us plenty of food. • We came from all parts
of Germany, and I had plenty of friends there.
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• The barracks we stayed
in were clean and nice; a group of
14 prisoners lived in each barrack. • The first half year, we were not allowed to work there, but they encouraged us to improve our living conditions in the barracks and do some landscaping in the frontyards. Actually, they even gave away an award for the most beautiful frontyard.
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| • At the beginning, we
were all sleeping on camp-beds. They were terrible and fell apart quickly.
• They then gave us real
beds made out of iron and real mattresses which were very comfortable,
it was like staying at a hotel!
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• At the beginning, they put us in some ugly uniforms which we hated. We soon discovered a building where they kept some nice clothes for the American soldiers. One by one, we sneaked in, took some of those clothes, put them on and walked around with them. They soon realized what we had done, but nobody ever said a word. A couple of weeks later, we were all dressed neatly, we looked pretty handsome! |
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• Photos of members of Heinrich Krahforst's friends in his barracks. Note the "PW" on the legs of their trousers. |
| • Each barrack had its
own soccer team, and each Sunday we played soccer, they had a soccer field
at the camp.
• After a while, we got pretty competitive…our team was team PW8. • During the week, we were all looking forward to the next soccer game on Sunday.
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| • When it was somebody‘s
birthday, we always had a big party in the evening. The person whose birthday
it was had to organize a case of beer.
• It was American beer, however. Well, try to get drunk with that beer! • It was funny: In the town of Brownwood, it was prohibited to drink beer, but we, as prisoners-of-war, were able to! • We were able to learn
English at the camp. There were two Germans who spoke it very well, they
taught us. I took 2 classes and was finally able to communicate quite well.
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• After half
a year, we were allowed to work. It was my job to mow the lawn and build
pathways.
• My main job was, however,
to work at the telephone office. My boss was Major Schroder, he spoke German
fluently. Oh, what a fine man he was! Always friendly, always treated me
so well.
• Every day, a messenger came by to bring us things. One day, he had to drop off something in town. He took me with him, that was the first and only time I ever saw the town of Brownwood.
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• The telephone office was right next to the photo laboratory. They had a puppy there I got quite fond of and played with every day during my lunch break. |
| • We were able to buy
quite a few things at the camp such as beer, cookies, chocolate and cigarettes.
This was wonderful!
• I was even able to buy 2 wedding bands there. Unfortunately, the one I bought for my wife didn‘t fit later on, but she still keeps it in her jewelry box, it is of very good American gold. • I didn‘t spend all my money there though, when I left the United States, I had saved $132. |
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• I had one good friend
at the camp, his name was Sternjakob.
• He was from Oberzissen and worked in the kitchen, he was a baker. • After I left Camp Bowie, I lost touch with him, I never saw him again. • In 2005, I had to go to hospital for a surgery on my knee. • I had to share a room
with this other gentleman:
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| • I stayed
at Camp Bowie for 2 years, then I went to Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan
for another year. We worked in the fields for the farmers, in Wisconsin
I had to pick potatoes.
• I liked it in the United States so much that I tried to stay there, but they wouldn‘t let us. Many of my friends wanted to stay there, too. They told us though that we had to go to Germany first and then come back as immigrants. • One night, they put us on a train and sent us to New York City where they put us on a boat. • They told us that we
were free now and would be sent to Germany. Well, they lied to us – we
were sent to France where we were also held as prisoners-of-war. Life wasn‘t
as nice there as it had been in the US – it was very tough.
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• When I left
the US, I took with me a lot of things I had been able to buy: chocolate,
cigars for my uncle, the wedding bands and the money I had saved.
• When we arrived in France, however, they took everything away from us. I was lucky though, I had hidden the money and the wedding bands so well that they didn‘t find them ….. • I was able to escape from the prisoners‘ camp with the help of a cute French girl. • It took me weeks to walk to my hometown Oedingen which is near Bonn. When I got close to it, I heard though that it was under French occupation which meant that I couldn‘t go back to my family there. The French soldiers would have taken me back to the prisoners‘ camp. • I therefore decided
to stay at a town called Berkum which is about 5 km from my hometown, it
was under British occupation. I got a job as a truck driver and met my
wife there in 1947. We got married on May 21st, 1949.
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| • When the French left,
I was finally able to go back to my hometown and work at my Dad‘s construction
company.
• After we got our new currency in Germany – the Deutschmark – I went to the bank and got 450 Deutschmarks for the 132 dollars that I had saved in the US. • My wife and I bought our first bedroom furniture with that money.
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• I still think a lot
about my time in the United States. I do remember everything very well,
and I still speak some English.
• I have some very good memories of that time, although I stayed there as a POW. • I want to thank the people of the United States for treating me so well in their country during that time.
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| We want to thank Heike
Haddenbrock for providing us with this interview with Heinrich Krahforst.
She grew up living in the house next to his family, and in her hometown (at that time 900 population, now 2,000 inhabitants) he was "famous" for his stories about his time in Texas. When she went to Germany in the summer of 2007 and did the "interview" with him, a lot of his friends and his entire family were sitting with her in his living room to listen to his story. They were all so proud of him, it was very touching. The young lady, in the photo on the right, is 3 year old Elisa, daughter of Haddenbrock. |
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