Der Ruf or The Call was a German language newspaper published in Fort Kearny in Narragansett, Rhode Island during World War II by captured prisoners of war (POWs). It was distributed to about 140 other POW camps in the United States. At the time, Fort Kearny was the headquarters of a secret campaign to deprogram German POWs from Nazi ideology and instill democratic ideas, in the hopes that on their return to Germany they would influence the democratization of the country.
A scan of the front page of the November 15, 1945 edition of the POW paper Der Ruf
A scan of the front page of the August 14, 1946 edition of the paper
German prisoners of war in the United States
Members of the German military were interned as prisoners of war in the United States during World War I and World War II. In all, 425,000 German prisoners lived in 700 camps throughout the United States during World War II.
Entrance to Camp Swift in Texas, August 1944
A current (2013) sign outside the Owosso, Michigan, WWII P.O.W. camp where German soldiers were held. The site had been and is currently the Owosso racetrack.
Dennis Whiles, aka Georg Gärtner (July 4, 2009)
Dos Palos POW Branch Camp (Firebaugh, California) Final Report
