Site of World War II P. O. W. Camp
Orange, Orange County, Texas
Marker Inscription
During World War II, over 50,000 German prisoners of war were interned in over 70 Texas P. O. W. camps. Base camps were established at military bases throughout the state. The base camps operated a number of branch camps in their respective areas. Detailed from a base camp at Huntsville, about 140 German prisoners were housed in a U. S. Army tent camp near this site in 1944. Located on land owned by the Lutcher Moore Lumber Company, the camp was built with construction materials and labor provided by the Orange County Farm Labor Committee of the U. S. Agricultural Extension Service. Transported to their work details by army trucks each day, the German prisoners worked as laborers in area rice fields, helping to bring in the harvest of farmers whose employees had gone to war. The work of the prisoners became a crucial element in the area's wartime food production, and many of the prisoners enjoyed good working relationships with their employers. Although the original prison camp operated for only a short time in 1944, prisoners transported from camps in China, Texas, and Edgerly, Louisiana, were once again employed on Orange County farms in 1945.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
During World War II more than 50,000 German prisoners of war were held in over 70 camps across Texas, and in 1944 about 140 of them were housed in an Army tent camp near this site, branching off the base camp at Huntsville. Trucked out each day to the rice fields, the prisoners helped bring in harvests for farmers whose own workers had gone to war, often forming good relations with their employers. Their labor proved crucial to wartime food production, and prisoners returned to work Orange County farms again in 1945.
Why it matters
It recalls a little-known home-front reality—enemy POWs quietly sustaining American agriculture—and the surprisingly humane working relationships that grew up in the Texas fields.
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Related events
- · World War II
Themes & tags
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