Customer Reviews

Stalag Wisconsin: Inside WWII Prisoner of War Camps

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My folks had a farm at the time and we had the WWII German POW's working on the peas planted for the canning factory. The farm was located 5 miles to the north of Waupun, Wis. The folks had conversations with the prisoners because they spoke fluent German. They really enjoyed their talks with the prisoners and I remember them sort of talking and laughing even though I could not understand them. They liked me because I guess it reminded them of their children in Germany. I liked them and we never had a bit of trouble with them. So the book has a lot of historical memories for me and certainly is something that I am not sure too many people remember. Thank you for the record of a very historical and importent event of our time.
Allan

I have read this book twice. I grew up in West Central Wisconsin, close to Altoona, where the author is from. My dad was in WWII and was of 100% German ancestry, so this book intrigued me.

The author has done an excellent job in researching this book, and the topic is fascinating. Wisconsin the 1940's was heavily German, and therefore, POW's could always find somebody who spoke German. Betty wrote about the experience at specific camps, and interviwed local people, and also interviewed some former German prisoners.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and highly recommend it.

I live in one of the towns in this book. We knew about the camp, but it was long gone by the time we were of an age to understand its meaning. I have also shared this with other Wisconsin natives and it has been very informative.

This book was written by a former/retired high school teacher, and it reads like a high school history project. Very simple writing style. This is a disappointing read if you've read a lot of WWII history by the big names. If you are looking for "local history," this may be an option for you. There are numerous anecdotes here but there is nothing very deep, nothing intellectually challenging here.

It would probably have been more interesting if the author dug around to talk to some of the Nazi sympathizers in the state. How about the German Bund's presence in Wisconsin? The Nazi flag flying from businesses in Wisconsin?

I wonder how many in Wisconsin sympathized with their prisoners? I wish that the author would have explored this, instead of just telling us how many POW's worked in each town's cannery & who ate at whose dinner table throughout the state.