Leesburg German Prisoners of War Research

Access and use

Location of collection:
Thomas Balch Library
Thomas Balch Library
208 West Market Street
Leesburg, Virginia 20176
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Alexandra S. Gressitt
Phone: (703) 737-7195
Fax: (703) 737-7195
Restrictions:

Collection open for research.

Terms of access:

No physical characteristics affect use of this material.

Preferred citation:

Leesburg German Prisoners of War Research , 2017- (SC 0125), Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, VA.

Summary

Extent:
less than .33 cubic feet
Creator:
Charles J. Bugajsky, Ashburn, VA
Abstract:
This collection consists of research materials related to the Leesburg Prisoner of War branch camp, the Front Royal base camp, and other prisoner of war camps in Virginia during World War II that were collected by military historian Charles J. Bugajsky.
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Leesburg German Prisoners of War Research , 2017- (SC 0125), Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, VA.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection consists of research materials related to the Leesburg Prisoner of War branch camp, the Front Royal base camp, and other prisoner of war camps in Virginia during World War II that were collected by military historian Charles J. Bugajsky. Included are property records and tax maps plotting the location of the camp near Leesburg, War Department reports copied from the National Archives and Records Administration relating to the Front Royal base camp and its branches, transcribed newspaper articles from the Loudoun Times-Mirror and Warren Report and other newspapers from 1944-1945, and photocopied secondary source information about US prisoner of war camps in general.

Biographical / historical:

In August 1942, in order to preserve badly needed supplies and manpower on the European front, the United States War Department began to move all Axis prisoners of war [POW] to camps within the United States. Camps operated according to 1929 Geneva Convention rules, providing health care, housing, and food comparable to those received by American soldiers. Camps were largely constructed in southern states where mild winters limited heating costs, Virginia alone hosted camps with more than 17,000 German POWs during World War II.

In 1944, the War Department selected a rural location near Leesburg for a temporary camp. One of seven branch camps under the jurisdiction of a base camp in Front Royal, it was joined by camps in Winchester, Fairfax, Timberville, Lyndhurst, White Hall, and Flintstone, Maryland. The Leesburg camp, located on farmland owned by the Moss Family, housed between 150-200 POWs in 1944 and 1945. POWs helped to alleviate wartime labor shortages by providing additional agricultural labor for local farms. Prisoners were contracted to local farm and orchard owners who paid 40 cents per hour for their labor. Picked up each morning and returned each evening to the camp, prisoners did not receive any payment for their labor, but were issued coupons that could be used only at an exchange in the camp. Loudoun County farmers found the POW labor to be satisfactory, and in July 1945 sent protests on the prisoners' behalf to US Army authorities and Senator Harry F. Byrd (1887-1966) requesting improved rations. On 4 October 1945, the Loudoun-Times Mirror reported that the camp would soon close, with repatriation of all prisoners expected to be completed no later than March 1946.

Acquisition information:
Charles J. Bugajsky, Ashburn, VA
Processing information:

Processed by Laura Christiansen, 2017

Accruals:

2005.0059, 2007.0035

Physical / technical requirements:

None

Physical description:
.