The Origin and History of Camp Michaux’s Prisoner of War Photographs: A New Discovery

The photographs in the collection at the Cumberland County Historical Society (CCHS) that document the history of the Pine Grove Furnace Prisoner of War Camp at Camp Michaux during the Second World War come from several sources. The primary source is from a collection originally owned by Major Laurence Thomas, the camp’s commander that were taken by the Army Signal Corp. This collection contains pictures of German and Japanese POWs, usually working around the camp or in candid poses and photos of the camp during various seasons of the year. The original photos are held by the Adams County Historical Society (ACHS). ACHS permitted CCHS to make copies of those photos for their collection. A second source is from a set of 131 photographs in possession of the Cumberland County Historical Society (CCHS), purchased at auction in 2005. Many of the items purchased at the auction were from the Pine Grove Furnace POW Camp and it was assumed that the prisoner photos were also from there. The set referenced above includes close-ups of individual prisoners wearing name tags. Some are group photos. A few are of guards. One is of an artist and painter (next page). On file with these photographs is a hand-written note that states “Believed to be Pine Grove Furnace.”¹ However, close examination reveals inconsistencies with what is known about the Pine Grove Furnace camp and raises questions about their origin. Is this second source of photographs really from the Pine Grove Furnace Prisoner of War Camp? And if they are not, then what may we learn about their true origin, and what engaging story might they tell? A search for answers will reveal German prisoners of war supporting the recovery of thousands of wounded American servicemen, stories of trust and mutual respect with their captors, and an indirect relationship to presidents and celebrities.
It cannot be overstated that regardless of the origin of this collection, it remains a valuable record and resource of World War II history. While many POW photos exist from camps throughout the country, few are as detailed regarding individual prisoners as these. Prisoners’names and serial numbers are visible on many of them and contain clues to their origin. It is a remarkable collection. However, future generations researching the history of the various iterations of what today is known as Camp Michaux need to build upon an accurate foundation found in the original source material regarding the camp, particularly during its 30 months as a WWII Prisoner of War Interrogation Camp. It is for this reason that I document and present my findings regarding this particular collection of photos.
AT CLOSER EXAMINATION
To begin, the barracks building shown in the background of these photos shows a horizontal white slat board siding with every other vertical slat used as part of the window frame. At Pine Grove the German prisoner barracks were covered with tar paper (photo page 48). The newer barracks later used to house Japanese prisoners had horizontal slat boards but they were wider with a different style of windows.² While this is only an observation, it lead me to continue further research to determine the photos’ origin.
In 2011 a Pine Grove Furnace prisoner records database was created by CCHS using the transportation records from the National Archives. For the first time, the names of individual prisoners could be searched against a digital database. This furnished the opportunity to check the names of at least seven prisoners with readable name tags from the
photo collection to confirm their possible presence at Pine Grove Furnace. While the prisoner records database may not be entirely complete, none of the names referenced were found to have ever been at Pine Grove: K. Brinks, Karl Dittrich, Franz Schromm, Willi Bussmann, Heinz Klawikowski, Luther Hauser and Hirmann Verburg.³ In 2018 a set of several photographs acquired by Timalea Knouse appear to have been taken at the same location as those in the CCHS collection. Most notable is a duplicate photo of “the painter” that exists in both this newly acquired set and the CCHS collection. Each photograph is stamped on the reverse with the name “KELLEY’S STUDIO, Hagerstown, Maryland.”⁴ Kelley’s location provided a new lead in the search. I was fortunate to find John Fry, an historian with the Washington County Free Library in Hagerstown, Maryland. Mr. Fry provided invaluable knowledge about Kelley’s Studio and its role during World War II. Mr. Kelley was a civilian and commercial photographer under contract with the government to photograph war prisoners and traveled to POW camps in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. Kelley’s work in West Virginia may gain relevance as we continue.⁵ It has been well established that no civilian or commercial photographer would have been permitted entry at Pine Grove Furnace Interrogation Camp due to its clandestine classification. An exception to this could possibly have been after the war ended, when we know that family members of guards and military staff were permitted visitation.⁶
There is another clue to the photos’ origin in several of the prisoner’s name tags. Prisoner’s serial numbers were not assigned until after their arrival to a POW camp in the U.S. and were in a unique format. The first number indicated the Army Service Command military district in which the number was assigned (1 through 9), followed by a W for War Department, then a letter representing the prisoner’s country of service, in this case G for Germany. Following this was each prisoner’s unique sequential number.⁷
There are at least three prisoners who have serial numbers in this format: Karl Dittrich, K. Brinks, and Erich Knabe. In all cases, their numbers begin with 5WG, indicating their numbers were assigned within the 5th Service Command. While prisoners from other service commands could be brought to Pine Grove for interrogation, Pine Grove Furnace and Pennsylvania operated under the 3rd Service Command. The 5th Service Command comprised four states: Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia.
During this research, a prisoner was selected from the CCHS collection whose name and serial number are readable to attempt a search on that POW’s background and in which camps he may have been held. Fortunately, the visible background in these individual’s photos is the same and it appears that the prisoners took turns sitting in the same seat while the camera was likely fixed on a stand or tripod. If one individual’s location could be identified, it could solve the mystery of which POW camp held the entire group. I selected a prisoner whose number was not assigned in the 5th Service Command and could more likely have been at Pine Grove. I chose Heinz Klawikowski, serial number 31G-132677,
(photo on cover ) This format of serial number denotes that Klawikowski was captured in Europe, served with the German army, and was assigned his number prior to arriving at his designated POW camp.8 This began a long series of disappointing responses and non-responses over a two-year period. A research attempt through the U.S. National Archives (NARA) revealed that the United States returned all World War II prisoner records to Germany after the war.⁹ After a long request and waiting process with the German Federal Bundesarchive in Berlin, Germany, Department of Personal Information for the First and Second World Wars, I finally received the news I’d been waiting for: a complete World War II record of POW Heinz Klawikowski and his internment in the United States had been found.
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS
Heinz Klawikowski was born June 23, 1919 in Danzig, Germany. He served as a Corporal with both the German Air Force Construction and Armored Engineer Battalions before being captured in August 1944 in St. Lo, France. After spending nearly six months in a British POW camp, Heinz was transferred to the United States and by March 1945 had arrived at the internment camp at Camp Ashford, White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. Heinz and his fellow prisoners at Camp Ashford were assigned to work at the nearby Ashford General Hospital, which has an intriguing story all its own.¹⁰
In September 1942, the U.S. Army took over the Greenbrier Hotel, an opulent resort and spa with its roots dating back to before the Civil War. Some of its earliest guests include Davy Crockett, Dolly Madison, Francis Scott Key, Ulysses S. Grant and General Robert E. Lee. Through the early twentieth century the Greenbrier continued to host prominent politicians, business owners and executives, diplomats and presidents. Among them were the Vanderbilts and Rockefellers, General John. J. Pershing, Eleanor Roosevelt, and celebrities Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Mary Pickford and Ethel Barrymore.11 The army converted the Greenbrier into the 2000-bed Ashford General Hospital where over 24,100 American soldiers were treated throughout the course of World War II. Known as “a Shangri-La for sick and wounded soldiers,” recovering servicemen enjoyed the luxurious recreational facilities including golf courses, tennis courts, walking trails, swimming pool, spa and baths, and monthly dances in the ballroom with live entertainment. Ambulatory patients savored meals in luxurious dining rooms under crystal chandeliers.¹² Specializing in vascular and neurosurgery, the hospital utilized the Greenbrier’s sports facilities to aid in physical therapy.¹³
Heinz Klawikowski and his fellow POWs at Camp Ashford pictured in the CCHS collection maintained the sprawling grounds, gardens and buildings, worked as butchers, bakers and chefs in the kitchen and mess hall, operated the laundry, PX and supply services, and worked in the lifts and laboratory, helping to fill the labor shortage during the war. During the harvest they also worked on local farms.¹⁴
Gerhard Schneider was a German POW at Camp Ashford who worked in the basement catering department at the hospital: “Teamwork was very good and I was treated as a colleague and immigrant. It didn’t take me long to get used to my new work environment.” When American colleagues left on weekend family visits, Gerhard was often left in charge of
Sunday duties handling the kitchen deliveries. On one occasion, he was tasked with a special request that highlighted the cooperation between the prisoners and American staff: “I was told to accompany a Sister (she had the rank of an officer) back to her home. The trust, which such a request showed, made me feel really good and proud.” Another source of pride came for Gerhard and the German POWs when they learned that a number of wounded American soldiers arrived who had been treated and cared for in Germany. They were captured prisoners who had been sent home through a Red Cross exchange agreement. “A commission of military doctors met to assess the wounded soldiers and word got around that the commission had been very pleased with the skill of operations and had praised the good work of the surgeons.”¹⁵
The army chose Ashford Hospital as a center for rehabilitation for some of its high-ranking officers like Generals Bradley and Wainwright. When General Eisenhower came to stay in one of the country houses on the grounds, a POW and master baker from Dortmund, Germany prepared an impressive cake for his reception. So grand was the confection that it had to be transported by truck. The officer in charge was so thrilled by the baker’s work that he arranged previews for groups of officers in the house.¹⁶
According to Gerhard, the skilled POW workers were held in very high regard, and prisoners got on well with the guards. “On returning to camp from work we were body searched by guards, to ensure that nothing illegal was being carried. As time went on, the body searches became less intensive and trust on both sides was established.” He recalled some of the daily life at camp: “At 1700 hours at the signal of a trumpet, all Kompanies had to stand to attention in the camp street as the American flag was lowered. The food in the camp was good and there was plenty of it. Medical treatment was administered either at the camp sick bay or the local hospital. In the evenings we went for walks within the camp perimeter, but kept our distance from the brightly lit up fence area.”¹⁷
Lauramae Miller, a member of the Army Nurse Corps at Ashford General Hospital, held fond memories of the prisoners. “Near the hospital was Camp Ashford, a 165-acre stockade for enemy prisoners of war. Lauramae saw the German POWs working on the hospital grounds and in the kitchen. The Germans sang as they marched to work. Word of the singing prisoners spread, and before long it was not unusual to see a dozen cars parked by the road with Americans waiting to see the prisoners and to hear them sing. Lauramae said that some of the POWs were sad on V-E Day because they did not want to return to Germany.”¹⁹
While POWs logistically supported the American soldiers’ recovery, often behind the scenes, the local civilian community supported the GI’s in an open display of patriotism and morale boosting. The American Legion Auxiliary held a picnic on the lawn for the veterans, calling for donations of books, magazines, games and radios for the men. In an act of kindliness that reflected the period, the Legion gifted²⁰ the wounded boys with 2000 cigarettes. With many of the area’s young eligible bachelors fighting the war overseas, local girls were happy to become willing dance partners with single enlisted men at celebrations and parties. As a result, army chaplains found themselves officiating weddings at the hospital.²¹
While at Camp Ashford, Heinz Klawikowski learned of Germany’s defeat and surrender. Gerhard Schneider’s account describes the mood of the POWs: “There was no lack of conversation. Our thoughts were often with our loved ones at home, wondering how things were. We had already accepted the fact that Germany’s capitulation was inevitable. When
it finally happened, all went quiet; everyone’s thoughts were with their loved ones at home. Our manner was polite and disciplined and the Americans reacted accordingly. In short wewere well respected… We experienced fair and humane treatment, according to the Geneva Convention.”²² As the repatriation of prisoners began in late 1945, the POWs attended a course at Fort Eustis, Virginia. Run by American soldiers, classes were designed to improve and widen the POW’s knowledge and understanding of the American way of life. Impressed upon them were the ideals of democracy, and the history, development and government of the United States. Prisoners received checks for usually a few dollars, as payment for wages earned while working at Camp Ashford.²³
In May of 1946 Heinz Klawikowski was transferred to British custody and would be interned at four additional prisoner of war camps in England before finally being discharged and returning home to Germany on February 3rd, 1947.²⁴ With the war over and the repatriation of POWs completed, Ashford General Hospital was closed. The Greenbrier returned to its former status as a luxurious hotel and resort, hosting visits by Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Red Skelton, Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Walter Cronkite, Princess Grace of Monaco, Chuck Yeager and Jackie Gleason, to name only a few.²⁵ Many of the hotel’s guests had little knowledge of the contributions made by Heinz Klawikowski and the other prisoners of war in the operation and maintenance of the resort during World War II. During the Cold War in the 1950s the U.S. government would once more utilize the Greenbrier, constructing a secret underground bomb shelter to be occupied by the U.S. Congress in case of nuclear war. The bunker maintained a state of operational readiness until it was decommissioned in 1992.26 Gerhard Schneider would return to the Greenbrier in 1950, later writing that he was welcomed with open arms and received every possible assistance: “The news of a former POW visiting soon spread, and I met many
Americans who were very pleased to see me. I was made very welcome wherever I went. I also visited the place where I used to work and had a reunion with the chef, an occasion which was marked with the opening of a bottle of whisky.”²⁷
oday the Greenbrier continues to represent the finest of resorts and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Still frequented by celebrities and presidents, more recent visitors include Ron Howard, Michael J. Fox, John Travolta, Colin Powell, Barbara Eden, Raquel Welch, Brooke Shields, Bill Gates, Jane Seymour, Jennifer Garner, Tom Cruise,²⁸ and all U.S. presidents from Eisenhower through George W. Bush.²⁹ It remains one of the country’s leading golfing destinations, each yearhosting the popular PGA golf tournament known as “The Greenbrier Classic.”
With White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia being within both the 5th Service Command as well as within Kelley’s Studio’s contract perimeter, it appears reasonable that the POWs pictured in the CCHS collection were interned at Camp Ashford and not interrogated at Pine Grove Furnace. A recently discovered 1982 document at CCHS referencing these prisoner photos does in fact suggest that this collection may be from a POW camp in West Virginia.³⁰
Negotiations were still ongoing at the time of this publication regarding moving this collection of photos to West Virginia. Photographs of Heinz Klawikowski and his comrades are likely making their way to White Sulphur Springs and may be presented on the Greenbrier’s social media pages in the near future, bringing this collection full circle to its original home. These findings open an exciting new story to these prisoners’ role in the war, and historians in Greenbrier County, West Virginia and personnel at the Greenbrier Hotel are enthusiastic about the discovery.
Though enemy prisoners of war, Heinz Klawikowski and his fellow POWs served in an atmosphere of earned mutual respect, trust and cooperation at Ashford General Hospital. Together their contributions supported the recovery of America’s returning wounded veterans in the mountains of White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. POW Gerhard Schneider remembered: “Because of our behaviour and manner we somehow contributed even then to a better understanding between all people.”³¹ For the healing American soldiers, their convalescence at the Greenbrier would likely be the most lavish and opulent experience of their military service.
While I respectfully submit that this CCHS collection may not be connected to the Pine Grove Furnace Prisoner of War Camp, its images and the story they tell will remain linked with an enduring chapter of history on the American home front during the Second World War.