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Part V - This n' That at Camp Fannin
By Marvin Mayer
This will be the fifth and final segment in the series of articles about Prisoners of War at Camp Fannin. It will be a mish-mash of comments that just didn't "fit in" elsewhere. I hope you have enjoyed reading the series as much as I have enjoyed writing it.
The theme throughout this series has been the outstanding manner in which Fannin's POW encampment was run. Kudos have been recorded and repeated in earlier articles in which at least two Germans returned and sought American citizenship after being repatriated. In this part V, I want to focus on the positive aspects surviving the ravages of war, and how humane treatment of enemy prisoners proved to be more effective than physical dominance.
Case #1 - Hans Schmidt. Most people who have ever been incarcerated want nothing to do with the place they called "home" during that term of imprisonment. German Hans Schmidt was an exception to that rule. Quoting from an article appearing in the November 2, 1992 Tyler Morning Telegraph, Schmidt "…lay in a Camp Fannin hospital cot, surrounded by U. S. infantrymen. Plagued by a hip injury, the German prisoner of World War II was admitted to the hospital which formerly served … U. S. military." The article quotes Schmidt saying he was the first German to be in the hospital. Despite bearing the prisoner of war "label," he said he held no bitter memories of his stay in East Texas between 1943 and 1946. In fact, he also is quoted as saying he was treated better at Camp Fannin than any other war camp.
Nearly 48 years after the war, Schmidt brought his daughter to the United States. Starting their tourist visit in New Orleans, ventured west to Arizona, and eventually returned to East Texas. Schmidt's daughter, Iris, is quoted in the article as saying, "The reason we came to the States, my father wanted me to see the old place again. For me, it's better than I thought it would be. For him, he was able to see America the way it really is."
Case #2 - Fritz Haberland. Another German POW at Camp Fannin put in writing his praise for the camp and the way he was treated. On August 25, 1947 from his home in Germany, Fritz Haberland wrote to the Camp's commandant.
"Dear Sir,
Very likely you will be greatly surprised to receive a letter from Germany. But no boubt you will recollect the years, when you were a C.O. of a P.W. camp. Well, and I was one of the prisoners under your command.
Having returned home now from England and being a free man again, an overwhelming feeling of gratitude urges me, to write this letter. When we met last time at Camp Fannin, timidity and embarrassment kept my mouth shut. But this is a patient piece of paper I can talk to, and which will transmit to you, how everyone in old P.W. Company #2 felt and still feels about you.
When we arrived at Fannin back in 1943, we were full of distrust and suspicion, thanks to the so-called, candid propaganda of our then leaders. We expected everything - but not the kind understanding, deep interest in us as individuals, and excellent and just treatment with which we met. Everyone in Co. #2 became rather rapidly aware of the amazing fact that you, an American, an enemy, did more for us, cared more warmheartedly for us, than our ow Co. leaders used to do, when were (the so justly termed) arrogant members of the German Army. You see, that was the moment, when our unshakable belief in what our military and political leaders were saying, received its first crack. Every word they said turned out be the contrary of what you really were and are. And when so many Germans of your old Co. #2 turned away from Nazism long before the war ended, it was entirely due to the fact, that you showed us, perhaps unconsciously, the better and only way of life, the democratic way. You taught us critical thinking, and brought us back into the road to real humanism.
Well, Sir, to cut my flow speech short, I wish to thank you sincerely for everything you did for us. We are paying tribute to a perfect gentleman and American. Be assured, that we shall never forget you.
Hoping that your family and you are keeping well and wishing you the very best of luck and health, Yours respectfully, /s/ Fritz Haberland.
Thank you America!"
