There were many German and Italian prisoners of war brought to the United States to remain until the end of World War Two. Two camps for Germans were set up in Arizona. There was the Papago Camp (East Phoenix) that held 4,000 officers and men at one time. The other camp for Germans was in Yuma. There were temporary camps around the state for Germans farmed out to work forests, on irrigation projects or in cotton fields. The one big Italian POW colony was near Florence, Arizona.

The POWs at Papago were mainly captured sailors and submarine personnel. They were shipped to the desert in Arizona so they would not be near familiar seaport surroundings. For the most part, the Papago POWs were young and the best of the German men. They were also hardcore Nazis. The worst ones were not even moved by the horror films of German concentration camps. These films were shown to break their morale. Some of the POWs made anti-Semitic pro-German propaganda leaflets. They tossed the leaflets out of the trucks which carried them to their work details.

Phoenix school children started a fad of painting POW letters on their clothes. This was shortlived as the teachers explained to the students that anyone close to adult size could be mistaken for an escaped prisoner and shot on site.

Many men escaped from the Papago prison camp. The "great escape" came on Christmas eve, 1944. Sixty men out of the compound through a tunnel that took months to dig. Soon after arriving at the camp the POWs discovered a blind spot. They strung clothesline over the blind area and kept in full cups, and screwdrivers the POWs dug a hole 20 feet deep. Then a 400-foot tunnel was excavated under the Salt River Project's Crosscut Canal. Dirt was hauled out in a little wooden cart and flushed down toilets or scattered carefully around the camp.

The escape night was cold and rainy. Three men quickly gave themselves up to get out of the weather. Two surrendered to a Tempe housewife and one to a pumping attendant on the Salt River. The next day Civil Air Patrol planes searched the desert for the POWs. Bloodhounds were brought in from the state prison. Gradually most of the prisoners were caught trying to reach the Mexican border. Two crossed into Mexico and were captured in Nogales, Sonora. A famous German captain, Jurgen Wattenberg was the last escapee to be picked up. He hid out in a cave located north of Phoenix for 35 days. When he ventured into downtown Phoenix on January 28 and asked for directions, his accent gave him away. A policeman returned Wattenberg back to Papago. About 3 months later on May 8, 1945, Germany surrendered.

We walked through Papago Park last year, it is a beautiful place. The entire area has been redeveloped and the last of the POW camp housing units were destroyed in 2005.