Throughout midday Saturday, May 2, the World War II German Prisoner of War (POW) Camp Concordia will ring in its new history-filled season with a Victory in Europe Day celebration, which commemorates the end of World War II in Europe.
Even though the holiday signifies the end of the European battles in 1945, the celebration marks the beginning of the POW camp touring season more than 80 years later, and the local folks behind it make sure to party.
“Even if you have been here before, come back again, because there are always new things,” said POW Camp Concordia docent Barbara Shunn.
One of those new things is a brand-new exhibit modeled directly from the sketch of a prisoner housed at the camp during its operating years of 1943 to 1945. Along with this new exhibit, there will be other exhibits that have changed over time, historical presentations and military reenactors who will provide a glimpse into WWII combat practices on both the Allied and Axis sides.
Marlesa Roney, an emeritus for the University of Kansas (KU), will be returning to Concordia to talk about her work in recovering information from various prisoners’ diaries about the University of Kansas’ role at the camp.
According to “Camp Concordia, German POWs in the Midwest” by Lowell May, prisoners had access to five different college language courses and numerous areas of study, ranging from physics to civics.
The professors at KU also had a hand in translating German diaries, since there are two different dialects, high and low German. According to Shunn, she initially knew someone who spoke German and took a few diaries she found to that individual, but it was in the other dialect that the person didn’t know.
“Franz Kuester’s son found his dad’s diary and his sketchbook, and he emailed us and asked if we’d like his dad’s diary and sketchbook, and we said, ‘Of course!’” Shunn said. “When they arrived, guess what? Written in German, of course, and of course it was, but you don’t think about those things until it arrives.”
Those journals helped shape much of the museum today and continue educating visitors of the POW Camp Concordia’s T-9 building. The event will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m at 1557 Union Road, Concordia.
