German POW Camps in Pennsylvania

A reader of Guests Behind the Barbed Wire e-mailed last week to say that he has been a WWII history buff for many years. Although his interest centers on the European Theater, he would like more information about two German POW camps in the United States during WWII. One of them was in Hanover, PA, and the other in Stewartstown, a small town south of York, PA.

If anyone has information about either of these camps, please let me know. I will be happy to put you in touch with this reader.

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5 Responses to German POW Camps in Pennsylvania

  1. jamijenny says:

    ich habe keine information,aber ich kenne camp reynolds im transfer,pennsylvania von 1942 bis 1945…google camp reynolds.

  2. hibby237 says:

    My uncle Lloyd Diefenderfer owned the farm that the Army used for expanding the Camp Reynolds base into a POW camp. There was 1800 german prisoners at the camp from 1942-1945. When the war ended the Army sold the POW barracks (about 12 by 24 housing 16 prisoners) to the local people for $25 each. My grandfather bought 3 or 4 to use as storage sheds.Many of ther prisoners who earned the trust of the jailers were loaned to the local farmers and nusinessmen as day laborers.There was only one escape of prisoners that I know of. Two of them escaped to the town of Sharpsville, about 10 miles away, and were captured after a homeowner heard them on the roof or her house trying to break a window and enter.

  3. Ellie Rhodes says:

    My parents’ house was built using those barracks. We had soldier ghosts and the sound of sonar heard throughout the house.

  4. Ruth Cook says:

    I do not always check older blog entries for comments, so I apologize for missing this information that was posted about Camp Reynolds. I appreciate the information you have shared and will use it in an upcoming blog entry soon.

  5. The Sutter Family says:

    I live in York, PA and have done research on the Stewartstown, PA POW camp. I would be delighted to talk to someone who is interested in the Stewartstown Camp.

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