Denazification of German WWII Soldiers at Fort Robinson

Podcast description: Fort Robinson in northwest Nebraska once served as a World War II prisoner of war camp. One of the war’s best-kept secrets was a special program meant to denazify German soldiers, implemented at camps across the country, including Fort Robinson. This episode explores this secret program through the 2005 Nebraska History Magazine article, “Still the Old Marlene: Hollywood at the Fort Robinson Prisoner of War Camp,” written by Melissa Marsh.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
The following episode features ahistoric article from the
Nebraska History magazine. This article may reflect the
language and attitudes of its time and while it offers
valuable insight into the past, may contend expressions or
viewpoints that are outdated or offensive by today's standards.
Any outdated terms do not reflect the current views or
perspectives of the Nebraska State Historical Society.
Welcome to the Nebraska History podcast.
I'm your host, Chris Goforth. Each episode we explore articles

(00:22):
written and published in Nebraska History Magazine.
Fort Robinson in northwest Nebraska once served as a World
War 2 prisoner of war camp. One of the war's best kept
secrets was a secret program meant to denotify German
soldiers implemented at camps across the country, including at
Fort Robinson. This episode explores this

(00:45):
secret program through the 2005 Nebraska History Magazine
article Still the Old Marlene Hollywood at the Fort Robinson
Prisoner of War Camp written by Melissa Marsh.
Bill tonight too many girls. Sounds like a nice one.
German prisoner of war Wolfgang Dorschel scribbled this comment
in his diary on February 25th, 1945, a year and four months

(01:10):
after his arrival at the PW campat Fort Robinson in northwestern
Nebraska. Dorschel, like thousands of
other prisoners across America, loved to watch movies,
especially popular Hollywood films, and he braved the dry
Nebraska heat and the icy chill of winter to pack into the camp
movie house with his fellow prisoners and indulge in one of

(01:31):
America's favorite pastimes. But there were those who had
aims other than simple entertainment for Hollywood's
portrayal of America and sought to incorporate film into one of
the best kept secrets of the Prisoner of War program, the
Intellectual Diversion program, a top secret endeavor to de
Nazify Hitler soldiers held in American prison camps in

(01:54):
Nebraska, there were three PW base camps, Camp Atlanta in
Phelps County, Fort Robinson in Dawes County, and Camp
Scottsbluff in Scottsbluff County.
Camp Scottsbluff was the oldest of the three, with prisoners
arriving as early as June 1943. In addition, Italian prisoners
were briefly interned at Fort Crook in Sarpy County near

(02:16):
Omaha. With the exception of those at
Fort Robinson, most of the prisoners worked as agricultural
and contract laborers. Of the three, only the PW camp
at Fort Robinson was located near a military post.
The War Department decided that most large base camps could not
efficiently distribute the prisoners where they were needed

(02:37):
as workers, and a network of branch camps was created to
house more than 100,000 prisoners in the US who could be
working in private industries, including logging, meatpacking,
mining, railroads, foundries, and agriculture.
Branch camps were highly diversified in both capacity and
layout, and more than 500 were built across the country.

(03:00):
In Nebraska, Camp Atlanta had some 15 branch camps.
In the southern half of the state, Camp Scottsbluff had four
branch camps. Fort Robinson was chosen as APW
camp for its adaptability to thepurpose it was isolated, it had
excellent railroad connections, and there were many work
projects to keep the prisoners busy.

(03:22):
Since it was an Army remount depot housing thousands of
horses and had canine dog units as well, there was no shortage
of work for prisoners on the Fort grounds.
All in all, it seemed a perfect place for German prisoners to
wait out the war. The first German prisoners to
arrive at Fort Robinson were members of Rommel's 10th Panzer

(03:43):
Division from the North Africa Campaign.
Captured in May of 1943, they arrived at Fort Robinson on
November 19th, 1943. Although many prisoners had been
conscripts with little or no loyalty to the Nazi regime,
about 30% of the prisoners in American camps were Nazis or
Nazi sympathizers. The value of D nazification in

(04:06):
the hundreds of prison of war camps in the United States have
become apparent As early as March of 1943.
Even in the quiet rolling hills in buttes of the Fort Robinson
camp, far away from the battles raging on European soil, Nazism
was alive and well. Prisoner of war Staff Sergeant
Harry Heunmorter, a 37 year old senior ranking noncommissioned

(04:30):
officer, was pro Nazi. Worse, the other prisoners had
elected him camp spokesman, an important position guaranteed by
Article 43 of the Geneva Convention.
The camp spokesman offered an important link between the
American command and the prisoner community.
But Heunmorter had been in the German military for over 13

(04:53):
years and Hitler's rhetoric had taken root.
He came to Fort Robinson November 1943 with the first
batch of prisoners captured in Tunisia by the British,
according to a Field Service camp survey of February 15th
1945. His character was beyond
reproach. He is honest and sincere in his

(05:15):
dealings, commands the respect of the commanding officer as
well as the men in the compound.His pro Nazi tendencies were no
secret to the other prisoners, indeed they had elected him to
his post. But there were those who had
grave misgivings about their survival if they stayed at the
camp. In a letter to the War

(05:36):
Department, a group of Austrian prisoners at Fort Robinson
requested a transfer to an Austrian camp.
In the letter they identified Hume Mortar as quote the head
Nazi, and also made accusations that the American camp commander
had a strong dislike for the anti Nazis and Austrians Quote.
We have repeatedly asked the American leadership to separate

(05:59):
the Nazis from the anti Nazis, and likewise in the American
prison of war camps. But in this prisoner of war camp
with the camp commander, this isnot possible.
End Quote. They were not the only Austrian
PWS to flood Washington with transfer petitions.
In addition to these letters, Secretary of War Henry Stimson

(06:21):
declared quote. It is the opinion of this
department that Article 9 of theGeneva Prisoner of War
Convention does not have the effect of placing on the United
States the obligation to segregate prisoners of war of
Austrian origin or nationality. End Quote.
This directive continued to holdeven by the Assistant director
of the Prisoner of War Division,Major Edward Davison, who

(06:44):
stated, quote the segregation ofAustrians from German prisoners
of war will not be of special advantage to the Special
Projects program. End Quote.
Camps with Nazi spokesman were not uncommon and often became
models of efficiency. A well run camp would endear the
Nazis to the American command. This apparently became evident

(07:05):
to those with anti Nazi feelings.
In the letter mentioned above, the Austrians wrote quote, every
other word of Colonel Blaine is my Africans, which by that
Mister Colonel Blaine means his Nazis.
End Quote. Indeed, it has been suggested
that the Americans seem to have an unwritten policy of making
any concession that helped keep the compounds running smoothly.

(07:29):
The general aim of the American command was to maintain
tranquility. Tranquility at Fort Robinson was
a common thread weaving through the numerous inspection reports.
Remarks included, quote, the entire camp presented a neat
appearance. The Swiss representative stated
that his investigation had disclosed the morale of the
prisoners at the camp was very good.

(07:49):
He had no complaint to make whatever with regard to the
physical setup of the camp. And quote, the writer feels that
the camp commander is administering this camp very
effectively and in a very efficient manner.
End Quote. Still, many incidents involved
Nazism occurred at Fort Robinson.
Prisoner Ernst Gunther Umack wasput into protective custody

(08:12):
because other PO WS had threatened his life.
A memo to headquarters from CampCommander Colonel Arthur C
Blaine detailed the reasons surrounding Umack's situation.
Because he read and translated American newspapers for other
prisoners, many called him a traitor.
Umack was scheduled to be transferred to Camp Carlisle in
Pennsylvania where his anti Nazitendencies may make him

(08:34):
valuable. However, a memo from Colonel
Russell H Sweet dated August 2nd, 1944 stated quote he is not
desired at Carlisle, End Quote. And it was recommended that
Umack be transferred to an anti Nazi camp.
Umack finally ended up at Camp Ruston in Louisiana.
Prisoner Otto Ludvig had made anti Nazi statements in the

(08:57):
camp, one of which spokesman Hewn Mortar recorded in a letter
attached to the transfer order quote.
Inquiries made with the company leader Colonel A reported that
Ludwig at dinner time used in the mess hall.
Colonel A the following sentencedirected to his comrades.
If we win the war, I will never return to Germany.

(09:17):
If we lose it, I will deliver the Nazis to the knife.
End Quote. Goonworder went on to explain
that Ludwig's transfer would be in the interest of good order
and discipline among German soldiers in this camp.
Camp commander Colonel Blaine agreed, stating that Ludwig's
continued presence in this camp is considered dangerous to
himself. Ludwig was in protective custody

(09:39):
to prevent harm from befalling him at the hands of other
prisoners. Ludwig's transfer to Camp McLean
in Mississippi was authorized onFebruary 22nd, 1944, a mere four
days after the incident was reported.
He returned to the Fort in 1987 and recalled the incidents
leading up to his transfer, including cold water thrown on

(10:00):
his bed and a severe beating. Quote, I got very bad treatment
from my comrades, he said. That's the reason why they sent
me later to Camp McLean in Mississippi and quote, Such
occurrences only fueled the efforts behind the RE Education
program. As early as March 1943, the War
Department had recognized the need to break the grip of Nazism

(10:21):
in the PW camps through RE Education.
According to the proposal sent to General Frederick Osborne of
the Information and Education Division through General George
C Marshall. The program's goal would be such
that, quote, prisoners of war might be exposed to the facts of
American history, the workings of a democracy, and the
contributions made to America bypeoples of all national origins.

(10:44):
End Quote. Yet Major General Allen W
Gillian, the Provost Marshall General, thought the plan
unwise. Quote.
Enemy prisoners of war are for the most part not children.
Those who have sufficient intellectual capacity to be a
value to a post war world have already built the philosophical
frameworks of their respective lives.

(11:06):
Those whose minds are sufficiently plastic to be
affected by the program are probably not worth the effort.
End Quote. The plan was shelved on June
24th, 1943, but Nazism in the camps became worse.
Wedding out Nazis from the anti Nazis eventually became the tool
of choice to control the violence.
On July 17th, 1944, a comprehensive directive from the

(11:30):
War Department was issued segregating the Nazis from the
Anti Nazis. All German army officer
prisoners were to be separated from their non commissioned
officers and enlisted men to be put in either the Anti Nazi Camp
Rust in Louisiana or to the Pro Nazi Camp Alva in Oklahoma.
German NC OS were isolated at camps designated for their

(11:52):
service command. Prisoners from the 7th Service
Command, which included Fort Robinson, were to be transferred
to Camp Clark in Missouri. Nevertheless, stories of camp
violence continue to emerge. The public was frustrated by
perceived government inaction, and the situation soon became
fodder for editorials, columns and letters to the editor.

(12:13):
Even Eleanor Roosevelt became involved after Dorothy Bromley
of the New York Herald Tribune and syndicated columnist Dorothy
Thompson presented the problem to her missus.
Roosevelt spoke to her husband, who then spoke to the
Secretaries of War and State. They in turn told the new
Provost Marshall, General ArcherLurch to get out the year old

(12:36):
plan produced by General Marshall.
Despite the public outcry and demand for resolution of the
Nazism problem, the War Department knew it faced several
important obstacles. The most important was the
Geneva Convention's rule prohibiting captors from
subjecting enemy prisoners to propaganda.
This carried far reaching overtones.

(12:57):
If word leaked of German prisoners being subjected to
propaganda, American PWS held inGermany might then be subject to
retaliation. The government's desire to
protect American PWS required that the program remain A
closely held secret. But how did one get around the
Geneva Convention itself? Article 17 contain the necessary

(13:20):
loophole, the article stated. Quote So far as possible,
belligerents shall encourage intellectual diversions and
sports organized by prisoners ofwar.
End Quote Since intellectual diversion was encouraged, it
remained up to the War Department to choose the proper
subjects and media. Representatives of the War

(13:41):
Department and the State Department concluded that quote,
if selected media for intellectual diversion were made
available in the camps, the curiosity of the prisoners
concerning the United States andits institutions would provide
the means for their re education.
End Quote. The program was put under the
command of the Office of the Provost Marshall General, who

(14:02):
created a subcommittee to establish the policy and
procedures of the Intellectual Diversion Program.
The program officially began on September 6th, 1944.
The American public, still unaware of the secret program,
continued to criticize the War Department.
But by November, when an articleentitled What to Do with German

(14:25):
Prisoners, criticizing the stupidity of the government and
handling the PWS appeared in theAtlantic Monthly, personnel
ready to begin the reeducations program were already arriving at
the camps. Under the direction of Colonel
Edward Davison and Major MaxwellMcKnight, the Prisoners of War
Special Programs Division was formed, enlisting the talents of

(14:47):
a variety of academics and intellectuals, including Walter
Schoenstedt, a German novelist who had fled the fatherland,
Robert L Kunzig, a lawyer and professor, and Harvard Professor
Howard Mumford Jones. The Prisoners of War Special
Programs Division staff worked at 50 Broadway in New York City,

(15:08):
a location chosen to avoid revealing the intrusion of
academia into military affairs and to avoid the scrutiny of
officious military overseers. The core objective of the plan
was outlined by Provost Marshall.
General's Office quote. The prisoners would be given
facts objectively presented but so selected and assembled as to

(15:31):
correct misinformation and prejudices.
Surviving Nazi conditioning, thefacts, rather than being forced
upon them, would be made available through such media as
literature, motion pictures, newspapers, music, art, and
educational courses. Two types of facts were needed,
those which would conceive them of the impracticality and

(15:53):
viciousness of the Nazi position.
If a large variety of facts could be presented convincingly,
perhaps the German prisoners of war might understand and believe
historical and ethical truth as generally conceived by Western
civilization, might come to respect the American people and
their ideological values, and upon repatriation to Germany,

(16:15):
might form the nucleus of a new German ideology which will
reject militarism and totalitarian controls and will
advocate a democratic system of government.
End Quote. To fulfill such a lofty goal,
the Idea Factory, as it came to be known, was born.
Originally begun at Camp Van Atten in upstate New York and

(16:36):
moved to its permanent location at Fort Kearney in Rhode Island
five months later, The Idea Factory consisted of German PWS
who were carefully screened for their anti Nazi attitudes and
their responses on questionnaires.
Although this selection was not foolproof, the Americans did
have an advantage. Hitler's impending defeat had

(16:58):
soured many Germans against Nazism.
Others had never been ardent admirers of Nazism.
Moreover, when the reeducation program appeared, many PWS had
been prisoners for two or three years, offering them ample
opportunity to think about Germany's status in the world.
These prisoners were involved inthe experimental phase of the

(17:20):
reeducation program. Although pro Nazism was still a
problem in the camps, this groupwas determined to do something
about it. The special project staff then
assembled a division of specially qualified German
prisoners, writers, professors and linguists who were dedicated
anti Nazis. All were volunteers, all were

(17:41):
officers, and all renounced their Vermont rank, lending the
group in egalitarian air. The prisoners enjoyed far more
freedom at Fort Kearney than they had at their camps.
No guards or towers policed their movements, and they even
were permitted to take the ferryto Jamestown in army trucks to
pick up their supplies. Perhaps, however, this elite

(18:03):
group was not the most prudent choice.
Although the group was happy to be among other intellectuals,
Ron Robin writes quote. They aided and abetted the
construction of an intellectual enterprise with little
acknowledgement of the cultural standards and preferences of
rank and file. PO WS End Quote.
Since they were at the core of the program, many of their

(18:26):
cultural biases would show in the program itself.
Robin believes the academic, intellectual and cultural tastes
of the Idea Factory did not meshwith the tastes of the average
prisoner that ultimately would have adverse effects on the
program. The Idea Factory was separated
into subdivisions which includedQuote, A film section which

(18:48):
reviewed movies and translated synopsis.
A review section which made recommendations on the
suitability of material passed on by other governmental
agencies. A translation Bureau which
translated the curriculum designed in the New York
headquarters. A camp newspaper section which
monitored the tone of some 70 camp newspapers and Der Roofs,

(19:10):
the national POW Newspapers editorial staff.
End Quote. The reeducation program had not
yet begun when Wolfgang Dorscheland the rest of the first
prisoners arrived at Fort Robinson in November of 1943.
According to Dorschel's militaryrecord book, he was born in 1911
in Tombach, Deitharts, making him 28 years old at the start of

(19:32):
World War 2. Old enough to have escaped the
brainwashing attempts of the Hitler Youth, Dorschel saw first
hand the atrocities committed bythe Nazis.
He lived near the Buchenwald concentration camp and in years
later described the experience. Secrecy was vital, and when
convoys from the train station to the camp traveled through

(19:53):
town, citizens were ordered to close their shutters and stay
off the streets. Dorschel took supplies to the
camp but had to sign papers promising secrecy.
Quote. It's hard to explain to a free
man 50 years later why we couldn't talk.
I didn't talk because I had signed a contract not to talk.

(20:15):
But also, I knew the minute thatI talked.
I would be in the concentration camp too.
End Quote. Dorschel refused to join the
National Socialist Party and even when he was drafted into
the German army, Dorschel kept adetailed diary during his years
as APW, offering an intimate glimpse into life at the Fort

(20:37):
Robinson camp. By January 1944, the profits
from the camp's canteen were high enough to purchase a 16mm
film projector. Dorschel's first diary entry
regarding the film came in late February 1944, a comment on the
costume classic The Flame of NewOrleans starring Marlene

(20:58):
Dietrich. Wonderful.
Dorschel wrote Still the old Marlene as 1930 in Blue Angel.
It is not clear if this was the first movie Dorschel saw at the
camp or if he did not write anything about the first film
shown. Nevertheless, the decision to
show a movie starring a famous German actress, by then an

(21:19):
expatriate from Germany to Hollywood, could hardly have
been an accident. The movie house at Fort Robinson
consisted of two barracks buildings.
Once every five days, each prisoner could attend a film
program of a feature length filmand two shorts.
The pay for the rental of films,$100, was withdrawn from the PW

(21:40):
fund every 10 days. The assistant executive officer,
Captain Jason Silverman and the camp spokesman usually wrote a
short synopsis of the film to distribute to prisoners who
lacked English skills and most American movies were subtitled.
Films were not strictly regulated before the RE
Education program. Up until 1945, the camp

(22:01):
spokesman, Harry Hyun Mortar usually selected movies.
Hyun Mortar made it a point to select films that quote showed
American life in the worst possible light and quote.
According to Alfred Thompson, who began as an enlisted man on
staff of the RE Education Program and later became its
assistant executive Officer, thefilm program was the most

(22:23):
influential portion of the RE Education Program.
And the predominant point of view was that the prisoners were
spending too much time and too much money for films which were
not of the nature as would be ofthe benefit to them or to the
United States, their keeper. The films chosen at Fort
Robinson only emphasize this point.

(22:44):
YMCA Inspector Howard Hong's report of July 31st, 1944
reported a problem with the choice of films.
Although there was no shortage of men attending the film
programs, quote, they did not especially care for most of the
films. The low quality of content left
them a deepening impression of an inferior America.
And that there's nothing other than whiskey drinking gangsters,

(23:06):
wild women and horse thieves. And quote, worse.
Hong said the prisoners had beenoverheard discussing the films.
If this is America, they would say America is centuries behind
us. In a letter to his parents on
February 13th, 1946, Alfred Thompson shared his perception
of the camp spokesman's film choice.

(23:28):
Quote They purchased from private companies the worst of
movies one could choose, interspersed with musicals and
heavy drama which appealed to the extremes.
Deanna Durbin ruled the roost with Tex Ritter and his pals on
the other side of the corral fence.
America became to them a land ofhalf naked women fighting
families, the roaring West and the gangster East End.

(23:51):
Quote Dorschel's diary is testament to both Thompson's
assessment and Howard Hong's report.
Movies listed in his diary included numerous Abbott and
Costello films such as Ride Em Cowboy, which Dorschel called
Very Very Funny, Kit, The Ice, One Night in the Tropics, Pardon
My Sarong and Whodunit, which Dorschel called Nice, a funny

(24:15):
criminal film. Marlene Dietrich.
Films such as The Seven Sinners and Deanna Durbin films,
including First Love, It StartedWith Eve and The Master of
Melody, were also offered. But Thompson suggested another
reason why only certain films were available to the prisoners.
He said that many private companies were out to make money

(24:36):
by selling cheap films to the camps at a fat profit.
Thompson wrote Quote. They filled their shelves with
trash, advertised half hundred of good films of which they had
but a few copies, and sloughed the bad films off on the PW
camps as substitutes and Quote. But not all films before the RE
Education film program began were trash.

(24:59):
Dorschel's diary included an entry from December 16th, 1944,
which read. I left the Mark Twain film.
I did not like that film. January 5th, 1945, read As you
like it from Shakespeare as filmwith Elizabeth Bergner as
Rosalind in Old English, and I read the American text.

(25:19):
A very good film. January 21st, 1945 the entry
read a film about settlers and their towns in America, the war
with Indians and the Revolution.War of 1775 was good.
His entry of February 10th 1945 also read film Folly Girls.
Not much to it. On March 18th 1944 Dorschel

(25:45):
recorded a particularly interesting incident.
Quote the film with Marlene Dietrich has caused a fence.
The film was showing buy war bonds.
They had to break up the movie. The film was very good playing
somewhere in America. End Quote.
The cause of the argument by warBonds either came from the movie
itself or one of the short newsreels.

(26:08):
Although Dorschel does not explain precisely why the
disturbance occurred, some possibilities can be inferred if
Marlene Dietrich herself were promoting war bonds, which would
hardly be surprising consideringthe effort Hollywood put into
the war cause. The fact that a German actress
supported the United States instead of her home country
might have offended some prisoners, but more than likely

(26:31):
the prisoner saw the logo at theend of the film that said, buy
War Bonds, which undoubtedly reminded them of their situation
and of Hollywood's contribution to Germany's defeat.
Film, especially the popular Hollywood genre, was a sensitive
subject to the Special Projects Division of the Office of
Provost Marshall General. Lieutenant Colonel Edward

(26:51):
Davison, director of the division, had deep misgivings
about the popular culture churned out by Hollywood.
Davison wanted to focus more on the original reason for the RE
education program, intellectual diversion, and films showing
democracy in a positive light. Indeed, Davison believed in the
power of words and ideas and thought the scourges of modern

(27:15):
times could be controlled if intellectual leaders of
altruistic vision would take charge.
Instead of popular Hollywood movies, Davison wanted to show
government films focusing on education and science.
Hollywood movies without a political theme could be shown
occasionally, but certainly not often.
However, his ideas disregarded the prisoners love for popular

(27:38):
Hollywood movies. Davison had undoubtedly taken
such a stance after it became widely known how effectively
many pro Nazi camp spokesman like Fort Robinson's humor had
used the film program to their advantage.
Before the RE education program,films were a standard part of
camp recreation that had become a tool for those bent on showing

(28:01):
America in a less than flattering light.
Early on in the camps, films such as Lady Scarface, 7 Miles
from Alcatraz, and Legion of theLawless portrayed America as
ripe with rampant gangsterism, corruption, and showed the
debilitating effect of democracy.
In response, The Idea Factory screened hundreds of films

(28:24):
eliminating those depicting gangsters or prison life, those
ridiculing an ally, those misrepresenting the American
scene by stressing the plutocratic aspects.
Hot Musicals, films containing depression and slum scenes,
racial slurs or strife between capital and labor, blood and

(28:45):
Thunder, cowboy pictures and films of unrealistic Hollywood
scenes. It would appear that after such
a thorough wedding, not many would survive the cut, but
plenty of options remained to both entertain and educate the
prisoners. One prominent German PW active

(29:05):
in the film section of the Idea Factory was Doctor Wilhelm Dorr.
Dorr wrote a paper on American movies and German society.
He stated, quote, American box office hits might prove to be
politically detrimental. End Quote.
He recommended that no gangsters, no horse thieves, no
playboys, no vamps, not too manymillionaires, not too much

(29:28):
society as it inevitably provokes feelings of envy and
hatred in people who are forced to give all that up.
Slapstick comedies and westerns also concerned Dorr as he
suggested that for those who wanted to use a film as a means
to escape reality, quote, let itbe 1 of innocent minds like that

(29:50):
of Grimm's and Anderson's tales.End Quote.
The American movies most likely to fit Dora's prescription were
primarily musicals and cartoons.Since both demonstrated
technical skill and were innocent in content.
Other workers in the Idea factory wanted to shelve the
whole film program. Hans Werner Richter had a deep

(30:13):
seated fear of mass culture as the opium of the masses and
considered film the worst of all.
Richter believed that quote movies left little room for
reflection. They induced preordained
mindless responses from audiences.
End Quote. But more important, Richter and
others thought film would lower the intellectual tone of the

(30:36):
program. This point of view also failed
to consider the ordinary averageprisoner who did not meet the
higher academic or intellectual standards of many of those in
the Idea factory. Because of this failure to
understand the mind of the average prisoner, the success of
the program remained in doubt. At Fort Robinson, however,

(30:59):
Captain Silverman managed to locate films that he thought the
prisoners would find the most productive.
According to a camp inspection report on February 27th, 1945,
Silverman planned to acquire several films from, quote,
American industrial organizations on technical
subjects connected with those industries.

(31:19):
End Quote Silverman also made ita point to acquire German
language film from the YMCA about once a month, Dorschel
writes. On February 16th 1944 quote the
YMCA has loaned us a film in theGerman language, The Big Poet
with Gustav Frelich, Carolina Hohn, Otto Wernicke.

(31:42):
Another German film Dorschel mentions is Ich libe Dish with
Marika Rourke which he called very nice.
The German films added to Silverman's popularity with the
men leading Major Helmut Knoll to comment Quote The prisoners
of war seem particularly appreciative of such a picture
and as a result considerable goodwill have been created

(32:03):
between the prisoners and the Assistant Executive Officer by
this one effort. End Quote.
No one could dispute the popularity of movies among the
prisoners once the film section of the Intellectual Diversion
Program was implemented. In the late summer of 1945, Fort
Robinson PW Camp Commander Colonel Arthur Blaine wrote a
memo to the Commanding General of the 7th Service Command in

(32:26):
Omaha stating that a sufficient number of standard 16mm motion
picture projectors were now under the ownership of the PW
Fund to carry out the provisionsof the movie program.
However, building space continued to be a problem.
Quote, the only building at thiscamp available for showing of
movies is a converted recreationhall which will only seat about

(32:47):
220 persons. For this reason, it has been
necessary to hold from 11:50 showings of each film and
holding the film for approximately 5 days.
And quote, as attending films was not mandatory, this
indicates how useful film could be in reeducating the prisoners.
Thompson also wrote of attendingfilms, although he undoubtedly

(33:10):
went to the Army Post theater since it was forbidden for
Americans and the German prisoners to attend films
together. Quote I have just returned from
the theater, saw the picture of the clock with Judy Garland.
Although it did not appeal to meas a picture with great deal of
meat to it, yet there was enoughsimple good humanness about it
to make it quite enjoyable. It is not often that such a

(33:31):
picture appears in wartime. Much of the subject matter
concerns itself with war drama and war heroism out worn long
ago as far as a servicemen are concerned.
End Quote. War dramas were a prevailing
genre in America and many were included on the approved list by
the Special Projects Division. War movies emphasize the

(33:54):
difference between American and German ideology, often
portraying American soldiers exhibiting patriotism and the
Germans acting out blind loyalty.
The Story of GI Joe, a film biography of war correspondent
Ernie Pyle, demonstrated such principles, but even more
compelling was The Sullivans, a 1944 film depicting the story of

(34:16):
five self sacrificing brothers killed during the Battle of
Guadalcanal. The film emphasized disobeying
illogical or erroneous commands as four brothers refused to heed
and abandoned ship order while attempting to rescue the 5th
brother who was trapped by the ship's sick Bay.
The rescue attempt did not succeed.

(34:37):
The film summary ended with quote The boys died as they
lived the five of them together.End Quote.
A sentiment intended to emphasize the American ideology
of noble self sacrifice and the ability to think independently
of military orders when they would jeopardize A comrade.
These were ideas the Special Projects Division considered key

(34:59):
to reversing the effects of German military psychological
brainwashing. Other war films on the approved
list included Gung Ho, So Proudly We Hail, and 30 Seconds
Over Tokyo. One war based series in
particular found favor among PW camps.
Frank Capra wrote Why We Fight while a major in the US Army

(35:22):
Signal Corps. The Army Chief of Staff, General
George C Marshall, commissioned the film to help explain the
government's policy to America'sarmed troops.
The film Attendance Mandatory was shown at Fort Robinson with
remarkable results, according toThompson.
After the prisoners were told that Why We Fight had also been

(35:43):
shown to American personnel, quote, they were astounded at
the reality with which the Americans approached the
question of war in Europe and quote.
One of the Idea Factory screeners, Oscar Vintergerst,
analyzed the series and came to a different conclusion.
He said quote, the documentary film serves the prisoners as

(36:04):
finger pointing to a future which will be hard but
nevertheless worth living for and it will educate them on
becoming valid members in the community of nations.
End Quote. However, Venter Gerst doubted
that pro Nazis would be affectedby the Capra series.
He argued that different cultures simply viewed film in

(36:25):
different ways, whereas Americans might view marching
stormtroopers with a mixture of fear and amusement because they
simply did not understand blind loyalty to fanaticism.
The scenes would excite loyal Germans.
Since the Capra series was produced primarily for an
audience of American soldiers, Winterguest did not believe it
would change the German mindset.The series was intended to

(36:49):
arouse fear of the Nazi demon rather than illuminate the
inevitable hopefulness of the Nazi pipe dream.
Although Thompson did not elaborate on his explanation of
how the prisoners at Fort Robinson reacted to the scenes
of Nazi parades, he did believe they had responded favorably to
other aspects of the films. The Capra series continue to be

(37:11):
one of the frequently shown productions, as did another
popular film, The Defeat of Germany.
During his visit to Fort Slocum in New York for the reeducation
conference, Thompson had purchased the film at Macy's
department store with money fromthe Canteen Fund.
He showed it to the prisoners atFort Robinson with remarkable
effect. He says, Quote, I think the

(37:33):
$18.50 is completely worth its expenditure.
End Quote. Thompson also wanted to show two
other films, The Battle of Britain and The Battle of
Russia, that he hoped would elicit similar responses.
The Special Projects Division had goals for the film program
that were more intellectual and less emotional.

(37:55):
A May 8th, 1945 Special ProjectsDivision memo discussed the
criteria a film shown to prisoners should meet.
It stated Quote. Emphasis should be placed on
subjects which give a true picture of United States history
and traditions, the growth and development of American
democratic institutions, the great industrial and natural

(38:15):
powers and resources of this country, and American cultural
achievements. End Quote.
A catalog of more than 6000 films classified according to
subject headings accompanied thememo.
The Provost, Marshall General, had already drawn up a
preliminary list, although none of the films have been
officially screened for content.Among the more than 15 approved

(38:39):
subjects were biography, American Statesman series,
civics and patriotism, Economicsand Business, labor and Labor
Relations, general education, United States travel, U.S.
government activities, religion and ethics, U.S. history and
current events, and American literature.

(39:01):
Unfortunately, such films did not enjoy the large following
that the Special Projects Division hoped for.
Dorschel wrote in his diary on August 30th, 1945.
Quote a film, Life in America. Very good, but unfortunately not
too many visiting films of that kind.
End Quote. Dorschel also mentions 3

(39:23):
excellent films, Courage, Mr. Penn and Prelude to War Films of
the War Department. While Dorschel, a progressive
anti Nazi and leader in the reeducation efforts, attended
these films, it appeared that many prisoners did not.
The Special Project Division's disregard for the average
prisoners interest in popular movies probably made the film

(39:47):
program less effective than theyhad hoped.
Since attendance was voluntary. Dorschel's diary suggests that
many prisoners were just not interested in intellectual
movies. However, attendance at showings
of one group of films was mandatory.
The Nazi Atrocity films After the defeat of Germany and the

(40:08):
subsequent unveiling of the RE education program to the public,
the Special Projects Division decided the atrocity films could
be used as a lesson in collective guilt as well as a
tool of RE education. The prisoners at Fort Robinson
were aware of the films before they arrived.
Quote. As yet we have no news of

(40:28):
atrocity films, but expect to have them in short while,
Thompson wrote in June 1945. He continued by saying most of
the internees await with anxietytheir arrival and showing news
that other camps have already had opportunity of seeing them
disturbs them to no end for theyfear they shall be left out of
the program. The films arrived a month later

(40:50):
on July 31st, 1945, Dorschel writes.
Quote showing a film from Concentrancion Slaga.
The film made a deep impression on the PO WS End Quote.
But for some prisoners, the Naziideology ran deep and they
refused to believe films showed what they claimed.
Some were convinced the bodies of Jews killed by the Nazis were

(41:12):
actually E Indians killed by theBritish.
Understandably, many prisoners might have refused to believe
the film simply because they could not digest the fact that
their own country and people were responsible for such
atrocities. The films received mixed
reactions from other camps across the country.
At a viewing of the films in Hollerin General Hospital in New

(41:34):
York, quote, a few men held handkerchiefs over their eyes.
One sat with a bowed head with his hands tightly covering his
ears for most of the film. The majority, however, remained
outwardly unmoved. End Quote.
Some reacted with horror and shame, demonstrating their
outrage by burning their uniforms as at Camp Butner in

(41:54):
North Carolina. Others voluntarily raised funds
to give to the survivors of the concentration camps.
But the sheer horror of the films could not convince even
some Americans, a guard at Camp Belle Glade in Florida told PW
Horst. Finky Quote.
Don't believe that baloney. End Quote The Office of the
Provost, Marshall General took asurvey of more than 20,000

(42:18):
prisoners preparing for repatriation to ascertain what
influence the films had. Only 36% of those surveyed
believe the facts of the atrocity films to be true.
The popularity of the offerings of the film section of the
Intellectual Diversion Program far surpassed any other aspect
of the reeducation effort in PW camps throughout the country.

(42:41):
Thompson called it a quote worthy attempt to bring the
prisoner of war a type of movie program which would show America
in its true light on one hand, and which would give him a
rounded program of entertainmentand experience on the other End
Quote. But Thompson also believed it
was quote too little, too late. He cited several deficiencies in

(43:02):
the program, including the difficulty in showing films in
branch camps as well as in the main camps.
Branch camp showings were infrequent, not only because of
their distance from the main camp, but also in the interest
and attention they received for the base camps.
And these were the camps. These were the men who most
deserved and needed such relaxation, entertainment, and

(43:23):
education. The language barrier posed
another problem. Thompson acknowledged that the
average prisoner had a good command of simple, everyday
English, but conversational language was often beyond them,
making it difficult to follow. Movies quote True action often
spoke the words as loudly as thecharacters, but this was the

(43:45):
exception rather than the rule. Thereby it was discovered that
much of the meat of the story went far over their heads and
was missed, with the result thatthe moral value of the picture
was lost. End Quote.
Other problems plaguing the filmprogram included the lack of
funds to buy sufficient film projectors.

(44:05):
The machines often broke down, and replacement parts were hard
to come by. In regions with sweltering
summers, it was difficult for the prisoners to sit through a
movie in the heat. At Fort Robinson, summers were
hot and dry. Thompson wrote of prisoners who
would often sit through a movie in swimming trunks, and often
less than that when his two hours of entertainment were

(44:28):
through. He often wondered whether such
punishment was worth the price he paid, both in canteen checks
and in heat fatigue. The fragility of the film itself
was also a cause for concern. After multiple showings, German
language films loaned by the YMCA often had become badly
damaged, and those on the West Coast who received the films

(44:49):
last were usually very disappointed in the films
physical quality. While Thompson's experience
derives mostly from Fort Robinson, he also participated
in the School for Democracy at Fort Eustis and was able to
gather information from other assistant executive officers and
prisoners from camps from aroundthe United States.
Whether or not the film program stimulated democratic thinking

(45:12):
among German prisoners is hard to calculate.
Other than the survey on the atrocity films, no studies of
the film program itself were ever undertaken.
Yet, according to the Office of the Provost Marshall General,
between June 15th, 1945 and January 31st, 1946, a total of
8,243,035 admissions were recorded.

(45:36):
On average, every prisoner saw 30 feature films.
The program also generated moneyfor the Central Prisoner of War
Fund, bringing in a total of more than $1.2 million.
It was obvious the film program was widely popular with the
prisoners. If some of those figures were
more representative of the feature film programs turned out

(45:58):
by Hollywood than the intellectual movies.
The Provost Marshall General's Office did not distinguish
between the two. Wolfgang Dorschel and Alfred
Thompson work closely together on the Intellectual Diversion
Program and their friendship carried on well after World War
2. The two attended APW reunion at
Fort Robinson in 1987. Both provided the Fort with

(46:22):
invaluable materials, including lesson plans from the
Intellectual Diversion Program and personal mementos from other
former PWS held at Fort Robinson.
Dorschel made the trip to Fort Robinson a total of three times,
but the first was the most memorable.
Quote Friday. When I came back for the first

(46:42):
time in 42 years, I looked up atthe Buttes.
My first impression was it was like being home again and forth.
Thank you for listening to the Nebraska History Podcast.
To learn more about Nebraska History Magazine, to listen to
more podcasts, or to support ourpodcast by becoming a member of
the Nebraska State Historical Society, go to

(47:04):
history.nebraska.gov/podcast. And don't forget to subscribe to
the podcast and get notified when we release new episodes on
your favorite podcast platform. Until next time, I'm Chris
Goldford.