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Re: Two Questions-Internment



During World War I (that's WW one), German prisoners of war, mostly sailors from interned ships, were held at Fort Douglas in Salt Lake City.  In addition, there were (according to Alan Kent Powell's book Splinters of a nation : German prisoners of war in Utah / Salt Lake City : University of Utah Press, 1989.) "...870 enemy aliens and 200 conscientious objectors".  The former were mostly German or Austrian birth and "were interned because of apparent pro-German sympathies, membership in the Industrial Workers of the World, socialist leanings, or other activities judged to be un-American." (p. 31) (Sounds familiar, doesn't it?; a page right out of John Ashcroft's book).  Kent's book covers both wars.  During WW II, as far as I know it was only German and Italian prisoners of war.  There were satellite camps in the state, including one down in Salina, Utah, where the prisoners worked in farms around the area.

The University of Utah campus is mostly located on land that was originally part of Fort Douglas.  An interesting sidelight to this came last year, as the campus was getting ready for the Olympics.  Part of it was construction of a pedestrian bridge called the Legacy Bridge, which goes over Wasatch Blvd from Fort Douglas to the main campus.  Fort Douglas was where the Olympic Village was located, and the athletes marched over the bridge during the opening and closing ceremonies. (when it was just students dodging cars on that very busy street, it was OK; but when there was a chance that international athletes might get run over by one of Utah's notoriously bad drivers, we had to spend $600,000 on a bridge!)  Anyway, while they were building it the contractors dug right down into layer after layer of prisoner of war camp artifacts.  Apparently one end of it was right where part of the camp was located.  We were just talking about that yesterday, wondering what happened to all the artifacts.

Roy Webb, C.A.
Multimedia Archivist
Special Collections Dept.
J. Willard Marriott Library
University of Utah
295 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City, Utah   84112
(801) 585-3073
roy.webb@library.utah.edu 

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