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German Afrika Korps prisoners of war interned on campament in Wilmington, North Carolina, accessed German-English dictionaries, listened to the radio, maintained gardens, and watched mess-hall movies, especially Abbott & Costello.
Each received a three-dollar monthly scrip allowance for cigarettes, drinks, and other minor expenses from the canteen they managed. It contained non-critical items including ginger ale and fruit drinks (no colas); temporarily, a daily beer; and roll-your-own cigarettes, their only tobacco.
Officials observed that POWs expected Germany to fall and prepared for trouble. Nothing, none came. Prisoners accepted the May 8, 1945 V-E Day news “mighty fine,†and completed usual tasks.
Productivity increased. Night fertilizer details of 25 men began producing 200 tons in eight hours. Sawmill workers cut 2,000 feet of timber during an eight-hour shift over 1,000 previously. Other workers clocked 12 to 18-hour days.
But after th war the US government wavered on closing the camp and sending them home, causing labor concerns. Crops required harvesting. With their homeland in shambles, or under Soviet communist occupation, some wished to stay. In Nov 1945 the first contingent left for Europe. Farmers contracted with those remaining.