WW2 German POW Norton Camp Artwork

[chesterpiglet]

I've had these ages but rediscovered them recently so I thought I'd share with you. I found an interesting article here about the camp- Norton POW Camp | From the Inside Out The last POW's in the UK finally went home in 1948. The 2nd one is I think by a French soldier held as a POW in Hamburg in 1915- I like the expressions on the faces of the stretcher bearers.

[BlackCat1982]

Very nice pieces of POW artwork.

[chesterpiglet]

Thanks.

This is from the article above "In 1946, Moltmann was transferred to Norton Camp in Nottinghamshire, England, which the YMCA helped to run. Though still prisoners, the men were allowed to study education or theology.

Moltmann chose the latter, anxious to understand more of his newfound Christian faith. He took advantage of the large library and proffered lectures. He learned Hebrew and Greek.

Frank and Nellie Baker, a young pastor and his wife, served several small churches in the area. God gave them the desire to minister to the POWs of Norton Camp. With the commander’s permission, the couple took a prisoner home for dinner each Sunday after worship".

The 1st sketch is titled Kopf Hoch which means heads up & die letzten paar jahre which means the last few years.


The 2nd sketch is titled Fide non armis which means by faith, not by arms..........

I had just assumed that they were all sent home quickly but the article says "The war ended in April of 1945 but at least 400,000 German prisoners were kept in the British camps, to be repatriated to their homeland one boatload at a time. Germany had been decimated; there weren’t enough places to live nor enough food to eat if all the prisoners were returned en masse".

We can understand their frustration 2 or 3 years after the War had ended still being held.

[BlackCat1982]

For a great many any frustration later changed as they had little to go home to, made new lives and found wives in the UK. My Father used to work alongside a former German Fallschirmjäger who stayed in the UK after being released from a working camp in 1947. Over the years I met quite a few former German PWs who made their homes on our side of the Channel.

Can only add that becoming a Prisoner of war made Jurgen Moltmann into the man he was and the World is a richer place for it.