by Emilee Dehmur

The first few prisoners to help were chosen. The guards gripped their guns tightly and opened the door to the outside world. This was the first time the Germans had set foot outside of the camp since they arrived. Each German had two American soldiers by their sides. As they arrived at the first farm, the men jumped out eager to do work outside the camp. They worked until the sun went down and were closely guarded until they were safely back behind the walls of Crossville.

Colonel Harry E. Dudley Papers, 1916-1966, Tennessee State Library and Archives

Officers, when not working, would still practice their religion at camp church.

Life continued like this for a few months. The only new thing to happen was the Italian POWs arriving. That caused some problems at first. The Germans and Italians did NOT like each other, not one bit. Their part of the camp had to be separated from the Germans to keep fights from happening. Other than that, daily life stayed the same.

The men who were working outside of camp began to make friends with the townsfolk and showed they could be trusted to not run off. Not that they had any place to go if they tried. Instead, they were given more freedoms and what was once a closely guarded trip to the farm was now just getting dropped off and picked up from work.

One night, as the Germans were eating dinner, one man looked around. “Hey, where’s Johan?” A few men glanced around and shook their heads.

“I haven’t seen him since breakfast,” another one shrugged. Johan, as they would later find out, was still back at the farm. The American soldiers had simply forgotten to pick him up at the end of his workday. 

Life was pretty relaxed around Crossville. The men had come from different backgrounds and had different talents. One of the soldiers painted a giant mural in the rec hall. Another carved German scenery in a piece of wood. These men were some of the brightest minds in Germany. Half of them had masters or doctorates. So, they decided to put all of their knowledge together and formed the Crossville Internment Camp University. At camp university, men could study more than fifteen different subjects!

Colonel Harry E. Dudley Papers, 1916-1966, Tennessee State Library and Archives

POWs could read and learn about many different subjects while at camp.

Colonel Harry E. Dudley Papers, 1916-1966, Tennessee State Library and Archives

Men writing and studying at Crossville.

Yes, sometimes they had issues and problems, but for the most part the Germans had gotten used to camp life. They decorated their rooms with things they bought from the Sears Roebuck catalog, sat around drinking beer and playing cards. That is…until the day the movies came.                                 

Eager: Very excited or interested.

Mural: Large painting on a wall or ceiling.

Masters or Doctorates: A college degree that is higher than a Bachelor’s.

Sears Roebuck Catalog: A book that you could order items from. If Amazon were a magazine.