Prisoners of World War II in the USA
During WWII, over 51,000 of the over 425,000 prisoners of war held in the United States were Italian while over 5400 were Japanese. (ASF WD Monthly Progress Reports, sec. 11, Administration. Copy in Lewis, Prisoner of War Utilization, pp. 90-91). Of these, about 7,000 Italians and 8,000 Germans were sent to Utah (POW population lists (NARA RG389 Entry (A1) 458, Boxes 1444-1446).
After the war, the personnel files of all POWs were returned to the country for which they fought. The only remaining information for Italian POWs in our National Archives are one-line entries (for most) in a roster list from 31 March 1945 (see POW CD). Some of their interview sheets remain here (National Archives Record Administration), as well as some references in camp newsletters (state or college archives, usually). For Germans, the roster lists remaining here only show name and POW number.
To obtain personnel files for former Italian POWs, please write to:
Ministero della Difesa
13th Div - Stato Civile e Albo d'Oro
viale dell'Esercito, 186
00143 Roma
Italy
I also suggest that you write to his local military tribunal office (for his town of birth) to acquire his complete military record (with a gap from his capture to his re-patriation). For each of the above, you'll need to send a letter of authorization along with a copy of your ID to show relationship.
To obtain personnel files for former German POWs, please write to:
Deutsche Dienstelle (WASt)
Postfach 51 06 57
D-13400 Berlin
Germany
U Boats of the Reich: This website has lots of info on U Boats of WWII.
To obtain personnel files for former Japanese POWs, please write to:
Military History Department National Institute for Defense Studies
2-2-1 Nakameguro, Meguro-ku
Tokyo, 153-8648
Japan
The web site is www.nids.go.jp/english/index.html.
Another good source is:
International Committee of the Red Cross
19 avenue de la Paix
CH 1202 Geneva
Switzerland
I've been collecting information on the experiences of these prisoners and the community members who came into contact with them. A non-profit organization called "TRACES of 400,000: Museum, Archive, Culture, Conference and Activities Project" has similar goals concerning all of these WWII Prisoners of War in the US. I spoke about "World War II Italian Prisoners of War in Utah" at their international TRACES (http://www.traces.org) conferences in 2002 and 2003. That PowerPoint Presentation on the "Prisoners of War in Utah During World War II", complete with over 70 photos is available on CD through Utah POW CD.
CDs containing the national rosters for Italian Prisoners of War held in the continental US on 31 March 1945 are available through POW CD.
A listing of all Prisoners of War who died in the US can be found at www.gentracer.org/powdeathindex.html.
Kathy is scheduled to present at an assortment of conferences and meetings in 2024, see www.gentracer.com/schedule.html. Descriptions of family history presentations are located at www.gentracer.com/presentations while WWII presentations are at www.gentracer.org/wwpresentations.
My
last POW book is titled American Prisoner
of War Camps in Colorado and is available at Amazon in paperback format. More information about POW camps in my book titled Prisoner of War Camps Across America and is available in Kindle format at Amazon.
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