Editor’s Note: As this story reminds us, we Americans know how to be kind to our fellow human beings.
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During WWII the U.S. sent some of the German POWs to live in the American South in the winter and to Whitewater State Park in southeastern Minnesota in the summer. From Whitewater State Park they worked on local farms and at the Lakeside Packing Company in Plainview.
As a young, pre-school girl, I lived in Plainview and had a faint memory of a crew of prisoners working on our farm one summer day. Was it 1945 or 1946?
This question and others were answered by Jeremy Darst, Interpretive Naturalist at Whitewater State Park, who recently gave a presentation at the Wabasha County History Museum on the prisoner of war camp at Whitewater State Park.
Mr. Darst confirmed that it was 1945 and 1946 so I was 5 or 6 years old when they came to our farm. They most likely helped harvest a field of peas that went to Lakeside Packing Company.
At the end of the presentation, one Plainview area gentleman stood to tell the group that the prisoners worked on their farm. As he had been older than me at the time, he was able to give more details about his communication with his father and his father’s treatment of the men. He remembered that the men had been given white bread with lard as sandwiches for lunch. His father thought the men deserved a sufficient meal for their work, so he invited them into the house for a substantial noon meal.
Then I stood to say that I remembered a crew of prisoners coming to our farm to work for the day. I knew that my father had learned that their provided food was not sufficient, so he had told my mother that the “crew” needed a meal. I remember that my mother set the large, extended dining room table and prepared a farmer’s meal of meat and potatoes with cake or pie. As my mother spoke German, she was able to talk with them. I specifically remember that when the men finished eating, they were very grateful to her.
The presenter thanked us for sharing our memories. He went on to say that providing a meal to the POWs was strictly “against the rules”! Even though the men were the “enemy”, my parents and others felt the kindness of a substantial meal was earned as thanks for their work.
Copyright © 2025 Jan Strand
A POW camp in Minnesota during WWII (Source: mprnews.org)
Ann Sigford’s comments are being temporary blocked by the server for some unknown reason so I’m posting for her what she wrote me in an email: “What a beautiful story. My Swedish husband tells of running into someone who had met an elderly East German man who said his POW years in America were the happiest years of his life. It could have been your wonderful parents and neighbors who saw beyond the label of POW to see the hungry humans before them. They lived the Golden Rule. Thank you for sharing your story!”
Wow! What a story! I had no idea Whitewater State Park was a POW camp. The kindness shown by local farmers and their families is truly heartwarming. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for sharing your mini memory Jan. There can never be enough kindness in the world. I remember the kind gestures I experienced in times of loneliness, shortage of money, illness and how much it meant to me. No doubt when those POW were released (hopefully they were at some point) they treasured those acts of kindness and passed them forward.
I love this memory. Being kind to strangers was also part of my farm background. In spite of the brutality of the war, these men experienced human kindness and the true spirit of Americans.
Every day, or almost every day, I have a Minnesota Moment, and today your story is that. So glad we live in Minnesota. Plenty of other places have kind, generous and welcoming people. Every day. Grateful.
Hi Jan: I am a war baby, born in 1946. I am relatively new to southeastern Minnesota, so I much appreciate your recollection and ‘mini memory’. Welcome to the writers group.
Richard