What were the Rhine meadows camps?

What were the Rhine meadows camps?

The Rheinwiesenlager (German: [ˈʁaɪnˌviːzn̩ˌlaːɡɐ], Rhine meadow camps) were a group of 19 camps built in the Allied-occupied part of Germany by the U.S. Army to hold captured German soldiers at the close of the Second World War.

  • Prisoners held in the camps were designated disarmed enemy forces, not prisoners of war.
  • How many Germans died in US camps?

    In total, it is thought that the mortality rate in the camps was as high as one percent and that no more than 56,000 German prisoners died. The Rheinwiesenlager were not the worst camps to be held as prisoner in, during and after WWII, though the American’s could have been much more humane in their treatment.

    Did the US starve German POWs in ww2?

    Dwight D. Eisenhower, as head of the American occupation of Germany in 1945, deliberately starved to death German prisoners of war in staggering numbers. Their deaths were knowingly caused by army officers who had sufficient resources to keep the prisoners alive.”

    Where were the Allied POW camps in ww2?

    Most were captured in a string of defeats in France, North Africa and the Balkans between 1940 and 1942. They were held in a network of POW camps stretching from Nazi-occupied Poland to Italy.

    What was the worst POW camp in WW2?

    Stalag IX-B
    Stalag IX-B (also known as Bad Orb-Wegscheide) was a German World War II prisoner-of-war camp located south-east of the town of Bad Orb in Hesse, Germany on the hill known as Wegscheideküppel….

    Stalag IX-B
    In use 1939–1945
    Battles/wars World War II
    Garrison information
    Occupants Allied POW

    How did us treat German POWs?

    Prisoners had friendly interaction with local civilians and sometimes were allowed outside the camps without guards on the honor system (Black American guards noted that German prisoners could visit restaurants that they could not because of Jim Crow laws. ), luxuries such as beer and wine were sometimes available, and …

    What were the Rheinwiesenlager (Rhine meadow camps)?

    The Rheinwiesenlager (Rhine meadow camps) were a group of 19 camps built in the Allied-occupied part of Germany by the U.S. Army to hold captured German soldiers at the close of the Second World War.

    What happened at the Rhine-meadows?

    The following is an excerpt from the testimony of a former soldier and guard at the Rhine-Meadows camps, Martin Brech . The Rheinwiesenlager or Rhine meadow camps, were a group of 19 camps built in the Allied occupied part of Germany by the U.S. Army to hold captured German soldiers at the close of the Second World War.

    How many German prisoners were kept in the Rhine camps?

    After a while most of the camp’s outside the Rhine river were eventually closed and the prisoners sent to the Rhine camps. One can assume the finally about 5-6 million Germans were kept at those camps. Conditions at the Camps:

    What was it like at the Rheinwiesenlager?

    Two of Bacque’s eye witness reports may illustrate the conditions at the Rheinwiesenlager: An American’s Report: “April 30th was a stormy day, rain, snow, snow rain intermingling and a bone chilling, cold wind blowing from the North across the flats of the Rhine valley towards the camp.