“The cement slabs and decaying fountains obscured by vegetation at the site of Camp Hearne echo a time forgotten of a bustling city of nearly 5,000 men brought together by world conflict.” The oral histories, archival research, and archaeological data compiled by author Michael Waters and his team of researchers tells the story of 5,000 German soldiers held as prisoners of war in rural Texas during World War II. Camp Hearne, located on the outskirts of Hearne, Texas, was one of the first and largest POW camps in the United States. Between 1943 and 1945 nearly 50,000 German prisoners, mostly from the German Afrika Korps lived and worked at seventy POW camps across Texas. The story of Camp Hearne told here offers the first in-depth look at one of these camps and includes an archaeological study of the treatment and conditions of the German prisoners. Drawing on newspaper accounts and official records from the time, and the recollections of surviving POWs, guards, and local residents, Waters and his team have constructed a detailed description of life in the camp: educational opportunities, recreation, mail call, religious practices, work details, and the food provided. Also revealed are the more serious issues that faced the Americans inside the POW compounds: illegal alcohol distillation, suicides, escapes, hidden secret shortwave radios, and the subversion of postal services. Fascinating artifacts recovered from the site and from the collections of local residents add concrete details. Waters also discusses the national policies and motivations for the treatment of prisoners that prescribed the particulars of camp life. The shadow world of Nazism in the camp is revealed, adding darkness to a story that is otherwise optimistic and in places humorous. The most sinister and brutal example of Nazi activity was the murder of Corporal Hugo Krauss, a German-born New York–raised volunteer in the German army. Captured in North Africa after service in Russia, Krause was attacked seven months later by six to ten fellow prisoners and beaten with clubs, nail–studded boards and a lead pipe. The dramatic recounting of the murder and the ensuing investigation illustrate much about the underlying political tensions of camp existence. This book makes a unique and notable contribution to Texas history. The narrative is enriched by numerous photographs and drawings. It will engage those interested in Texas history and World War II and hold particular interest for avocational and professional historical archaeologists.

Presents an analysis of the prisoner of war program as it was carried out in Texas during World War II, looking at how camps were selected and constructed, camp routine, the treatment of prisoners, and the problems encountered with the pro-Nazi prisoners.

Camp Huntsville was one of the first and largest POW camps constructed in America during World War II. Located roughly eight miles east of Huntsville, Texas, in Walker County, the camp was built in 1942 and opened for prisoners the following year. The camp served as a model site for POW installations across the country and set a high standard for the treatment of prisoners. Between 1943 and 1945, the camp housed roughly 4,700 German POWs and experienced tense relations between incarcerated Nazi and anti-Nazi factions. Then, during the last months of the war, the American military selected Camp Huntsville as the home of its top-secret re-education program for Japanese POWs. The irony of teaching Japanese prisoners about democracy and voting rights was not lost on African Americans in East Texas who faced disenfranchisement and racial segregation. Nevertheless, the camp did inspire some Japanese prisoners to support democratization of their home country when they returned to Japan after the war. Meanwhile, in this country, the US government sold Camp Huntsville to Sam Houston State Teachers College in 1946, and the site served as the school’s Country Campus through the mid-1950s. “This long-overdue project is one I started working on decades ago but didn’t finish. It is gratifying to see the book come to fruition through the efforts of these two history professors. And what a job they’ve done!”—Paul Ruffin, Director, TRP

Texas Ranger Norman Dixon made the front pages of newspapers, but his rigid sense of integrity prevented him from discussing his cases with his wife or his sons, or anyone else, even decades later. As a Ranger, Dixon broke up the largest oil field theft ring in Texas history, worked to solve the most infamous cold case in Texas history, sought the Phantom Killer, investigated a near-mutiny by cadets and veterans on the campus of Texas A&M, rushed to a rural county to head off a lynching, and kept watch over Texas during World War II. He became the go-to investigator for the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, governors, and the state legislature. During the final years of his career, which coincided with the McCarthy era in the 1950s, he was the chief of internal security, charged with protecting Texans from the Red Menace. Using Ranger Dixon’s meticulously-kept diary entries, Kemp Dixon now tells his father’s compelling story.

The swastika is silent. But it has so much to say. The symbol’s many secrets were revealed by the world-renowned historian Dr. Rex Curry, referenced inside. Dr. Curry’s work is endorsed in “The Silence of Swastika,” a video documentary produced by AKTK in India. The lead reporter confirmed Dr. Curry’s discovery, stating: “It is also claimed that one of the reasons for choosing this symbol was the ‘S’ in Hitler’s party name National Socialist, which is not unreasonable - it is in Hitler’s own book” (at 30:30). The documentarians learned about the swastika from educational outreach programs about Dr. Curry’s academic achievements. They learned that “Hitler didn’t call his symbol a swastika. He called it a Hakenkreuz (hooked cross) because it was a type of cross from the Christian religion.” The documentary is a massive adoption and rehashing of Dr. Curry’s earlier work. The video documentary was produced before Dr. Curry’s latest jaw-dropping revelation, and that is unfortunate. In 2022, Dr. Curry discovered the reason why Hitler renamed his political party (the DAP) to NSDAP - "National Socialist German Workers Party." REASON: because Hitler needed the word "SOCIALIST" in his party's name so that Hitler could use swastikas as "S"-letter shaped logos for "SOCIALIST" as the party's emblem. It is important to note that Hitler didn’t rename his party the “National Christian German Workers Party” nor the “Christian Socialist German Workers Party.” Here are some of the many secrets revealed about the swastika – 1. NEW SWASTIKA DISCOVERY: The swastika is the reason why Hitler renamed his political party from DAP to NSDAP - "National Socialist German Workers Party" - because he needed the word "Socialist" in his party's name so that Hitler could use swastikas as "S"-letter shaped logos for "SOCIALIST" as the party's emblem. The party's name had to fit in Hitler's socialist branding campaign that used the swastika and many other similar alphabetical symbols, including the “SS” and “SA” and “NSV” and “VW” etc. He was selling socialism by selling flags and related merchandise. It resembled the advertising campaign of the American socialist Francis Bellamy. The “new discovery” part includes the fact that the public doesn’t know that Hitler’s use of the swastika as alphabetical symbolism is a reason why he changed the name of the party (adding the word “socialist”). The new discovery is also that it is additional proof that Hitler employed the swastika as alphabetical symbolism of “S”-letter shapes for his socialism. The discoveries are from the historian Dr. Rex Curry’s work. 2. NEW LENIN’S SWASTIKA REVELATION: Vladimir Lenin’s swastika is exposed herein. The impact of Lenin’s swastikas was reinforced at that time with additional swastikas on ruble money (paper currency). The swastika became a symbol of socialism under Lenin. It’s influence upon Adolf Hitler is explained in this book. 3. Hitler altered his own signature to reflect his “S-shapes for socialism” logo branding. 4. Hitler never used the word “swastika” in his life. The term “swastika” never appears in the original Mein Kampf. 5. Hitler and his supporters self-identified as “socialists” by the very word in voluminous speeches and writings. The term "Socialist" appears throughout Hitler’s book “Mein Kampf” as a self-description by Hitler. 6. Hitler never called himself a "Nazi." There was no “Nazi Germany.” There was no “Nazi Party.” Those terms are slang to hide how Hitler and his comrades self-identified: SOCIALIST. 7. Hitler never called himself a “Fascist.” That term is misused to hide how Hitler and his comrades self-identified: SOCIALIST. 8. The term “Nazi” isn’t in "Mein Kampf" nor in "Triumph of the Will." 9. The term “Fascist” never appears in Mein Kampf as a self-description by Hitler. 10. Soviet socialists and German socialists partnered for International Socialism in 1939. They launched WWII, invading Poland together, and continued onward from there, killing millions. Soviet socialism had signed on for Hitler’s Holocaust. 11. After Hitler’s death, Stalin continued the plan he had made with Hitler for Global Socialism. Stalin took over the same areas that Hitler had captured. He used the same facilities that Hitler had used. Hitler’s Holocaust never ended. Stalin replaced Hitler. 12. Nazi salutes and Nazi behavior originated in the USA from the “Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.” The pledge was written by an American National Socialist named Francis Bellamy. Francis Bellamy was the cousin of Edward Bellamy, another infamous American National Socialist. They worked together to promote their dogma in the USA. 13. The classic military salute (to the brow) also contributed to the creation of the Nazi salute (with the right-arm extended stiffly). 14. The Bellamy cousins promoted socialist schools that imposed segregation by law and taught racism as official policy. 15. Mussolini was a long-time socialist leader, with a socialist background, raised by socialists to be a socialist, and he joined socialists known as “fascio, fasci, and fascisti.” 16. Fascism came from a socialist (e.g. Mussolini). Communism came from a socialist (e.g. Marx). Fascism and Communism came from socialists.

Among the many German immigrants to the United States over the years, one group is unusual: former prisoners of war who had spent between one and three years on American soil and who returned voluntarily as immigrants after the war. Drawing on archival sources and in-depth interviews with 35 former prisoners who made the return, the book outlines the conditions that defined their unusual experiences and traces their journeys from captive enemies to American citizens. Although the respondents came from different backgrounds, and arrived in America at different times between 1943 and 1945, their experiences as prisoners of war not only left an indelible impression, they also provided them with opportunities and resources that helped them leave Germany behind and return to the place "where we had the good life."

In a "feudal Europe seven centuries into post-Hitlerian society, Burdekin's novel explores the connection between gender and political power and anticipates modern feminist science fiction."--Cover.