during World War two this site was one of many POWs camps on United States soil camp Ruston between 1943 and 1944 4,000 German prisoners of war included were the elite North Africa Corps Luke Wafaa and the captured crew from two u-boat submarines this is their story told in detail for the first time in over 60 years [Music] [Music] at the outbreak of the war in Europe on August 31st 1939 with a massive and quick attack known as the blitzkrieg against Poland Germany's fury began to sweep across Europe in June 1940 Hitler turned his sights against England in a response known as the lend-lease Act of 1940 the United States government began supplying Great Britain weapons of war not troops to help defend England against Germany's Third Reich the German government consequently discounted diplomatic relations with the u.s. and declared war against the United States that same year by mid 1942 the United States was fully involved in the war 1943 virtually all of Europe is under the control of Germany's Nazi regime seeking world domination Hitler moves forces into North Africa where Field Marshal Erwin Rommel scores early victories ascending to a British plan to retake North Africa as a prelude to the invasion of the European mainland the Allies under the command of general Montgomery attack trommel's elite North Africa Corps at El Alamein in the country of Tunisia despite the Germans combat experience and Rommels military genius dwindling supplies and troops ultimately led to victory for Allied forces and the capture of hundreds of thousands of German and Italian soldiers the war was brought close to home for many Americans by the establishment of prisoner of war camps across the United States the capture of several hundred thousand German troops complicated an already critical shortage of prison space in England Britain urged the United States to take on the burden and the War Department reluctantly agreed an extensive building campaign resulted in POWs in 46 of the 48 states they would eventually hold nearly 400,000 POWs or PWS as they recall then after capture all prisoners entered the United States through points of embarkation in New York and Virginia from these points POWs were processed and distributed to one of the main camps or smaller branch camps most camps were located in the south or Southwest far from critical war industries the POWs camps were generally segregated by branch of service rank or political affiliation POWs identified as hardcore Nazis were held separately from other populations camp Clinton Mississippi held nearly forty generals and three Admirals during the war officers and enlisted men were divided into separate compounds some camps contained predominantly Africa Corps Luftwaffe Army or naval personnel most of the camps were designated as extensions of existing military bases but in Louisiana after scouting locations in several parishes a site outside of a small North Louisiana town was chosen for a new internment facility camp Rustin Rustin had contributed its share of young men to the Armed Services some leaving family and farm for first time bluestar banners adorned windows and victory gardens filled backyards the local college Louisiana Tech was the site of a Navy v12 program for training young naval and marine officers patriotic fervor was high perhaps the most visible change to the community was the erection of the powa amp in a frenzy of construction extended over 750 acres the camp was built in accordance with layout plans which had been standardized by the department of war since the camp was literally carved out of the Piney Woods a complete water and sewer system had to be laid three wells were dug to provide water and a large water tower was constructed the first inhabitants of Camp Ruston were not enemy prisoners but American women due to the initial slow influx of captured soldiers the facility first served as a basic training base for the Women's Army auxilary Corps our WAAC the camp was provided under the condition that corps members would move out on 30 days notice if needed for POWs in April 1943 the first 500 recruits arrived at Camp Ruston to form the 42nd Women's Army auxilary Corps regiment in many aspects the training was similar to that received by combat soldiers the basic training course included infantry drill physical training military customs and courtesies defense against chemical attack and regulations days were filled with a detailed schedule of drills calisthenics and classes [Music] some recruits receive specialized training in motor transport to become drivers of jeeps and trucks and make minor repairs to military vehicles although the training operation was large it was short-lived in three and a half months over 2,000 WAAC recruits received basic training by July the whacks were gone with prisoners on the way on August 14 1943 300 enlisted men from Rommels elite Africa Corps arrived to become camp Ruston's first internees Germans coming to rest that's absurd there are enemy I do have grandchildren you know I think all right mr. Roosevelt and give him a piece of my mind the flow of prisoners continued and by October reached a peak population of 4315 men including a hundred eighty one officers all of whom were Africa corps veterans over the next two years troops from other army units and the Luftwaffe would be added the camp's three original compounds grew full resulting in the addition of a fourth compound for officers only in the far northwest section of the camp the camp brought together the most remarkable mixture of nationalities ever assembled in one place in the history of the state of Louisiana Mayo major did you speak English yeah but all we want is to name and rank of each man we don't need any other information do you understand yeah while Germans made up most of the prisoner complement many nationalities were represented Italians poles Russians Yugoslavians Spaniards Hungarians Czechs Vichy French Austrians Dutch Danish and Mongolians even American nationals were found among the prisoner population too many POWs the camp was a life of near luxury one Luftwaffe fighter pilot said it was a tough camp but by the German standards it was still like a vacation we had good food just the standard-issue American food as prescribed by the Geneva Convention the professional cooks that we had among the prisoners made an excellent dinner out of it in quote it was definitely a nicer millet than the scorching heat of the North Africa desert or the chilling winters of Europe sports and physical activity were serious pastimes among the prisoners a large athletic field permitted soccer the camp's most popular sport sports allowed interaction between the camps captives and its guards these activities indicated an amical if not congenial relationship between the prisoners and their captors academic pursuits were also popular among the prisoners American staff and qualified prisoners taught classes that included chemistry geography literature mathematics and political theory some of the prisoners past the time creating intricate crafts in front of many barracks were miniature models created of rocks cement and mud in front of one building in the Africa Corps compound was a mock-up of a sports complex about ten feet squared not all the prisoners at Camp Ruston were career soldiers many were professionals who found themselves in the military in a time of war their ranks included professional painters and other artisans musicians physicians and university professors music was an important aspect of camp life the prisoners had their own orchestra radio station kwk H and Shreveport even broadcast a musical production of the Rustin POWs consisting of a medley of waltzes foxtrots and jazz songs by practicing near trades at Camp Ruston these citizen soldiers helped their fellow inmates through the tedious days behind the Bob wire have a world from home but prison camp life was not a complete life of leisure chores around the compound were mandatory the camp was kept immaculately clean with some attempts at landscaping enlisted prisoners worked in maintenance shops the guards mess-hall the hospital and laundry many prisoners were loaned out to local farmers cutting timber and tending crops the POWs found picking cotton to be brutal work work details were frequently sent out to other government facilities such as Barksdale Army Airfield stories abound about the sense of camaraderie that apparently existed between some guards and prisoners each compound of the camp was serviced by a canteen where prisoners could buy toiletries and other items lieutenant 28 hours of what picking cotton or something you get 80 cents a staff of prisoners supervised by the camp's Post Exchange officer operated the canteens among the most commonly sold items were pens pencils notebooks magazines newspapers paperback books tobacco products and playing cards until mid 1945 a number of food and refreshment items were available for purchase by the prisoners in the mess halls prisoners ate as well as their keepers possibly even better since the prisoners at Rustin had some excellent cooks among their numbers some foodstuffs in short supply among the kitchen populace could be found in the camps kitchens across the nation however public pressure was brought to alter prisoner meals so that they did not appear to be serving their time in luxury accommodations in May 1945 the provost marshal general supervisor of all POWs camps restricted foods available to prisoners and prohibited further sale of candy cookies beer and soft drinks movies were shown regularly to the prisoners but no motion picture had the impact of film of the German concentration camps gas chambers and mass graves one night when the POWs gathered for a monthly movie dozens of armed MPs crowded into the room then the Holocaust films were shown the POWs were visibly shaken by the images staring in disbelief that their government would commit such atrocities it was one thing to kill in battle another to be a murderer the story of camp Ruston is intertwined with mystery and military secrets one of the most closely guarded secrets of world war two was the capture of u-505 the u-505 was captured off the west coast of africa on June 4th 1944 by the u.s. Navy led by the USS guadalcanal American warships launched an intensive depth-charge attack that forced the u-505 to surface as the u-boat surfaced American destroyers and aircraft raked it with machine-gun fire one u-505 sailor was killed and several wounded the captain gave the order to abandon u-505 and to scuttle her to prevent the u-boats capture only the very front of the boat and the top of the conning tower was still above the water a boarding party closed in before the u-505 could slide below the surface in a feat of expert seamanship by a crew of mostly teenagers the u-505 was rescued from a watery grave the submarine became the first man of war captured on the high seas by the US Navy since 1815 fifty-eight prisoners had been taken from the water during the action one man had been killed and three wounded including the 505 s commanding officer the u-boat was secretly hidden in Bermuda and the crew was interrogated in Norfolk Virginia where they received black peel W uniforms later they were taken under heavy security to a railroad train the windows were nailed shut during the two-day trip to Rustin the guards on the trip were unique a u.s. navy baseball team was pressed into service to guard the prisoners learning the story my father really changed my life forever he was a baseball prodigy in 1940 he was recruited and signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers at fifteen years old sent off to one of their feeder system farm teams and to be developed he was moving up developing nicely but 1941 the bombing of Pearl Harbor it changed his life along with the life of the entire nation he was placed on a touring baseball team similar to what the USO would be today it was sent to North Africa plating on the United States Navy or the Africa Torre baseball team he's been most the war they're playing with his teammates wasn't really like being in the Navy as such he was there to play baseball but as the war started moving on to the European continent the inner way from North Africa they sent the baseball team home they didn't know what to do with him they had thought about saying them back to their basic training because it really never had basic training and one night in the middle of the night well in Norfolk Virginia they are awakened from sleep by the shore Patrol taken to a Quonset hut where they're forced to sign some documents we're here in a secrecy once the documents were signed they were told that the United States Navy in captured a German u-boat that the prisoners were being held there at Norfolk Virginia for processing and that they were going to be transferred to a remote camp in northern Louisiana and the United States Navy baseball team would be in charge of guarding after a while they became bored and just watching the prisoners watch down and my father got the idea that maybe they should be let out of the pen and play base yeah you taught to play baseball [Music] the 5:05 crew slipped into camp Rustin sometime in July 1944 the sailors had no clue where they were and no idea they were so far from the sea employees and guards at the camp were sworn to secrecy and couldn't tell anyone about their presence all the nurses and all the military people they are sworn to secrecy with the punishment of a court-martial and execution if anybody ever would one let one word or that the voice of marine Cove was here when I been the trustee of the captain I could say defense I never knew there was a submarine crew here there was good reason for the secrecy although the seizure of an enemy vessel was a major accomplishment the true value in the capture of the u-505 lay in the discovery of an enigma code machine and codes used by the German Navy to communicate if Germany knew the u-505 had been captured the codes would be changed when the International Red Cross visited camp Rustin it was refused admittance into the u-505 compound on at least three occasions the Red Cross inspectors were turned away from the sailors compound eventually there would be less time for soccer and baseball for the u-505 as the end of the war drew near and the need for secrecy faded the sailors were assigned to work crews around Rustin sawing timber and picking cotton like the other POWs life is a u-boat Submariner during world war ii was an indescribable adventure the fear the dangers and the very nature of life underwater required strength of character and nerve beyond comprehension Horst blumen Berg was the only member of the u66 four crew to be sent to Camp Ruston in August 1943 bloomin Berg sub was caught on the surface and attacked by US Navy plane the crew jumped into the Atlantic before their doomed u-boat slid under the water for the last time the American aircraft did their best to rescue survivors by dropping rafts and life vests and calling ships to the scene eight hours later 44 survivors were taken to Casablanca and eventually found their way to Fort Meade Maryland and later fort hunt Virginia for interrogations of a submarine you do not know if your life the next morning it was relatively dangerous we're not taking the course let's say if you sank a tank on ship lines and American coasts or out in the Atlantic on the convoy you would have pretty bad feeling about the people which would be flirting and warning order but you have your train your brain not to think about it because tomorrow morning the same thing can happen to you although the internees of camp Ruston were well treated and did not want for necessities or even conveniences prisoners in a time of war are expected to attempt to escape their captors the only u-boat sailor known to have escaped camp Ruston was Horst bloomin berg of you 664 during his imprisonment in various allied camps during the war bloomin burg escaped several times for short periods - bloomin berg the thrill of the escape even for a short respite outside the wire was worth any punishment the authorities could impose on May 2nd 1945 general yodel chief of operations in the German High Command and his staff entered Allied headquarters there the terms of unconditional surrender were signed on may 8 1945 the world celebrated VE Day the day when the world was free of the dangers of the Nazis On February 3rd 1946 the last prisoner of war left and the camp was officially closed in June 1946 over time the buildings came down [Music] four soldiers prisoners and local citizens association with camp Rustin was an unforgettable experience that molded their future attitudes towards their fellow man like most World War two Pio W camps in the United States little remains today to mark the ground once inhabited by thousands of soldiers and sailors only two dilapidated buildings remain near Rustin but the rough outline of the compounds can still be seen [Music] okay okay you need to turn the batter in turn it turn around [Music] hits ball there is a battle crack not like you probably know what I'm talking [Music] [Music] like that and then you're gonna throw it down here to him [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] for a copy of this program call one eight hundred nine seven three seven two four six or go online to WWLP b org