Letters from the "Fritz Ritz": German POWs in America during World War II

The personal writings of German Prisoners of War (POWs) in the United States during World War II have the potential to generate a unique understanding of the internment experience of the average German soldier. Letters and diaries, as opposed to oral history, remove the potential for post-war reflections by the participant. Through the study of letters and diaries of two German POWs, I intend to provide depth to our understanding of life inside the average POW Camp in the United States during the Second World War. I have chosen a collection of 50 letters, three diaries, and one sketchbook from two German POWs that were in very different stages of life, but brought to similar circumstances by the fortunes of war. By examining their writings, much can be learned about the daily lives of these German soldiers that were held in captivity far from home while fighting for a government that many of them did not support. The purpose of this research is also to encourage further inquiry into the variety of primary source documents written by German POWs during the war and their potential impact on our understanding of the war itself