Allen V. Koop - Stark decency: German prisoners of war in a New England village
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Stark decency: German prisoners of war in a New England village
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Stark Decency is a window into the events of two vastly different worlds: German combat veterans captured in North Africa and Normandy, and the small New Hampshire logging town which found itself hosting the prison camp. Each side was forced to confront its prejudices and fears, and examine the merits and flaws of its ideology. Then, an astonishing thing happened: in their rural isolation, sharing harsh weather conditions and the pinch of wartime rationing, friendships began to develop. Prisoners and their guards sometimes even worked together to meet the daily pulpwood quotas, and little handmade gifts to the local villagers cemented friendships that continue to this day.
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Stark Decency : German Prisoners of War in a New England Village
author
:
Koop, Allen V.
publisher
:
University Press of New England
isbn10 | asin
:
0874514681
print isbn13
:
9780874514681
ebook isbn13
:
9780585269634
language
:
English
subject
World War, 1939-1945--Prisoners and prisons, American, Prisoners of war--New Hampshire--Stark, Prisoners of war--Germany, Stark (N.H.)--History.
publication date
:
1988
lcc
:
D805.U6K57 1988eb
ddc
:
940.54/72/73097421
subject
:
World War, 1939-1945--Prisoners and prisons, American, Prisoners of war--New Hampshire--Stark, Prisoners of war--Germany, Stark (N.H.)--History.
Page i
Stark Decency
Page ii
Page iii
Stark Decency
German Prisoners of War in a New England Village
Allen V. Koop
Page iv
UNIVERSITY PRESS OF NEW ENGLAND publishes books under its own imprint and is the publisher for Brandeis University Press, Dartmouth College, Middlebury College Press, University of New Hampshire, Tufts University, and Wesleyan University Press.
University Press of New England Hanover, NH 03755 1988 by Allen V. Koop All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Koop, Allen V., 1944 Stark decency. Includes bibliographies. 1. World War, 19391945 Prisoners and prisons, American. 2. Prisoners of war New Hampshire Stark. 3. Prisoners of war Germany. 4. Stark (N.H.) History. I. Title. D805.U6K57 1988 940.54'72'73097421 88-5550 ISBN 0-87451-458-4 (cl). ISBN 0-87451-468-1 (pa).
Page v
to Jennifer and Heather
Page vii
Contents
Foreword
ix
Author's Note
xi
1. Introduction
1
2. A Place Called Stark
7
3. Americans and Prisoners of World War II
16
4. The Germans
28
5. Strife in a Bitter Place
40
6. From Barriers to Bonds
76
7. Peace and Despair
97
8. Commencement
108
9. Auf Wiedersehen
115
Notes
124
Index
135
Illustrations follow page 60.
Page ix
Foreword
"Remember those in prison as if you were there with them." Hebrews 13:3
As far as I know there are not many books on German POW camps in the United States of America. Presumably the matter has not proved a magnet to historians because it lacks the elements of high drama: The inmates of those camps were treated correctly, housed and fed properly, and even given a chance to better themselves by acquiring the skills of a trade or an additional education.
True kindness does not advertise itself. Therefore, decent behavior under adverse circumstances, while honored and remembered by the individual beneficiaries, seldom reaches, and rarely leaves a lasting mark on, public consciousness. In writing this book, Allen Koop obviously acted on the impulse of the notion that decency such as that found at Camp Stark should not be forgotten. He tells a tale of implied compassion and of humane values staunchly upheld by a community of simple folk. And we are not allowed to forget the fierce pressures on this haven of unselfconscious goodness from an outside world in turmoil.
We Germans have a long collective memory of war times. We are aware of what it means to be a prisoner of war. We know what it means when the guardians of prisoners forget their own humanity. Even today, more than forty years after the end of World War II, nearly every German family either has a family member or knows somebody who spent some time behind barbed wire as a prisoner of war.
On the chessboard of European history, which has seen so many changes, the Germans figured with varying luck as kings, bishops, ormore often than notpawns. All age groups of our nation are aware of the suffering we inflicted on our own citizens and later on our neighbors. The education of our people
Page x
about the horrors perpetrated by Germans during the twelve years from 1933 to 1945 began immediately after the war, when the occupying Allied forces issued licenses to our publishers and broadcasting stations; that process of education has been going on ever since. This continuous education has sharpened our eyes for human suffering wherever it occurs. It has also fortified our minds and alerted our hearts to take a determined stand against any repetition of such suffering. The painstaking examinationespecially of our Nazi pasthas also brought to light redeeming nuggets, examples of moral courage and decency holding out against crushing odds of baseness and depravity.
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