The Afrika Post was an Allied propaganda newspaper dropped behind enemy lines in North Africa to convince German troops that continued resistance was useless. The Camp Hearne POW camp in Hearne, Texas held over 3,000 German POWs captured in North Africa in 1943. The POWs were generally well-treated and had access to leisure activities according to the Geneva Convention. By 1945, most of the POWs originally from Rommel's Afrika Corps had been repatriated to Europe while a few hundred Japanese POWs passed through the camp in 1945 before it closed later that year. In 2010, the site of the former Camp Hearne was opened as a museum to preserve the history of the camp.

1. Cheryl LeJune
Main Source Cited:
Lone Star Stalag by Dr. Michael Waters
Department of Anthropology
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX

2. Afrika Post - Successful Allied Propaganda Newspaper
The Afrika Post was an American generated newspaper that was
dropped by Allied planes behind enemy lines during the North
African campaign. Its primary purpose was to convince
Rommel’s troops the uselessness of their continued efforts.
Occasionally, “Surrender Leaflets” were dropped stating:
Colonel General von Arnim [Fifth Panzer Army, Tunisia] tells you:
“Before us -- the enemy! Behind us -- the sea! There is no way
back!” Your mind tells you differently: “Behind the enemy, the
detention camp. Behind the detention camp, the prisoner of war
camp in England or America. Behind the prisoner of war camp,
HOME! THERE IS A WAY BACK! The dead do not go home. But the
prisoner who remains alive will see home again.”
(The Reluctant Warrior, Heino R. Erichsen)

3. The last week [May 5-12, 1943] of the
campaign alone yielded an estimated
125,000 German prisoners-of-war. Most of
what was left of Rommel’s elite Afrika Korps
were headed for the South…
Many ended up at Camp Hearne.

9. Why Hearne, Texas?
Mail center for all POW camps
Population
Work
Leisure
Interaction with town
Escapes
Change in 1945
Return to Europe
Return to States for some

10. Why Hearne, Texas?
• POW camp selection criteria:
Located in rural setting far from critical war industries
Not within coastal blackout zone (170 miles inland)
Was over 150 miles from Mexican border
Warm climate
• Hearne lobbied for the camp to bring economic
prosperity to town
Hearne CofC requested camp on March 10, 1942
Preliminary site inspection April, 1942
Site selection in June, 1942
Land acquired in July, 1942
Plans approved and construction began in Sept, 1942
First prisoners arrived in June, 1943

11. POWs first impressions
• Showers
• Food
• Felt far removed from war
• Welcome refuge
• Texas heat and humidity
Japanese arrival Sept 1945
• Gone by Dec 1945
• Numbers ranged from 250-500

12. The situation of the prisoners in the United
States was substantially different of all the
others.
• They lived in a country without needs
• In addition, the United States was not immediately
affected by the war.
The prisoners can be divided into two large
groups: the soldiers of the "Africa korps"
which were captured in Tunisia in 1943 and
the prisoners of the western front after the
invasion in 1944.

13. Camp site – 720 acres purchased, 58 used
Capacity – 4800 prisoners and 500 US personnel
Buildings – 250 in 3 areas; prisoners, hospital and
American sector
Prisoner compounds:
• 3 compounds – 8 acres each
Each compound contained admin building, infirmary, PX and 2
recreation buildings
• 4 company areas in each compound
• Each company contained:
8 barracks
Mess hall
Lavatory
Company office
2 open areas

14. Security
• 2-10’ tall fences with barbed wire
• Lights located every 150’ along the fence
• 7 guard towers outside the fence
• Road around entire compound for perimeter patrol
Barracks
• “War mobilization” specs designed to last 20 years
• Wood floors on pier and beam
• Walls of wooden beams covered in black tar paper

15. Strict adherence to Geneva Convention
• Caused controversy among US citizens
According to Chaplain Zoch:
• Well-fed prisoners are content and happy, easier
to control
• U.S. wanted to demonstrate that the democratic
way of life was superior to dictatorships
• U.S. feared retaliation and reprisals of U.S.
prisoners if America violated Geneva Convention

16. Officers and NCOs did not have to work
• Less than 20% were enlisted men
Much time for leisure activities:
• Orchestra
• Sports
• Drawing/painting
• Theater
• Raising pets
• Gardening
• Classes – from English to Engineering

17. Postal Unit
• Headquarters of the German Postal Unit
• All mail from Germany to POWs was sent to
Hearne for processing and dispatch.
• Mail sorted 6 days a week
• POWs worked in 3 – 8 hour shifts
• Volume, for example
Sept, 1944 – 1,007K letters
Feb, 1945 – 889K letters
• POWs began to abuse the system
• Shut down in July, 1945 for security reasons

18. Alcohol Distillation
Theft
Intercompound communication
Escapes
German Patriotism
Shortwave Radios and Transmitters
Misuse of Post Office
Nazism and Intimidation

19. Mood of POWs
• At time of capture, sure Germany would win
• At the end, just hoped families were alive
• New prisoners were old men and boys
• Collected money to give to Red Cross for
children in German, Austria, and other POWs

20. American Propaganda
• U.S. encouraged camp newspapers promoting
democracy and free speech
• Provided literature that had been banned in
Germany
• Provided books and film on American history
and government
• Required to watch film of concentration camps

21. On VE Day – May 8, 1945
• 371,000 German POWs in US - 3,855 in Hearne
• Prisoners’ return was delayed due to critical
labor shortage in US
• Last prisoners left Hearne in Dec, 1945 and
camp closed soon after
• By June, 1946, only a few hundred left in US
• After leaving US, POWs provided service in
France, England, Belgium and Holland
Japanese in Hearne – Sep-Nov, 1945
• Only a few hundred targeted for re-education

22. Camp Closure
• Everything put up for bid after declared surplus
Contents, buildings, land
• Went to local churches, towns, school districts
and businesses
By Summer 1947 – vacant lot
Robertson County Fairground and
Hearne Steel Company occupy a little of
the camp area
Mostly remnants undisturbed and covered
with vegetation, including poison ivy

23. A German prisoner left a letter on his type machine in "Camp Swift“ (Bastrop):
Goodbye, big country, rich country, after 1,000
days I'm leaving you forever. Goodbye you level
farm land, you cotton raising state, you proudest
soil under the sun: "My Texas." Goodbye especially
to you, Fortress Swift with your barracks and
training grounds; you took it from me, finally,
this consciousness of mine to belong to mankind.
Goodbye busy office at the post, Goodbye dear desks
and copies and typewriters. Goodbye folks, all you
clerk-typists and levelly [lovely] stenographers,
with silk stockings, powdered faces and rouged
lips. I was amazed seeing you sitting leisurely at
hard work with "Cokes" at hand. Goodbye America:
I'm going to England now as a young slave and then
to Russia as an old one. Goodbye - You swell life.

24. Dr. Waters, Texas A&M University Camp Hearne - Roll Call

25. Camp Theater - 1943
Camp Theater - 1995

26. Eagle photo/Stuart Villanueva
Former German POW Heino
Erichsen will be among those
in attendance for the opening
of Camp Hearne.

27. October 23, 2010
Photo by Stuart Villanueva
Museum Opening Video

28. About $300,000 in grant money helped transform the
forgotten land into what organizers hope will be a
destination for school children and history lovers from
across the state.
Starting Nov. 1, 2010, the
museum will be open from
11am until 4pm Wednesday
through Saturday and also
by appointment.