World War II Tombstones With Swastikas Removed From Texas Cemetery

New York Post ^ | December 26, 2020 | Elizabeth Elizalde

[nickcarraway]

Two German WWII tombstones at a Texas veterans cemetery — each bearing Nazi swastikas — have been removed and replaced with new ones that do not use the symbol.

The 1943 gravestones belonging to German prisoners of war Alfred Kafka and Georg Forst at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery featured an Iron Cross with a swastika in the middle, and the phrase, “He died far from his home for the Leader (Führer), people and fatherland.”

Cemetary workers removed the stones on Wednesday.

[nickcarraway]

Why would these have been allowed in 1943, when the U.S. was at war with Nazi Germany?

And why were these POWs in Texas? Were they captured in North Africa?

[Dagnabitt]

Seems like whomever was in charge of this burial in 1943 was a little too accommodating to German wishes.

[Fedora]

Three more camps were authorized in 1943: Fort Sam Houston (San Antonio), which was little more than a tent-city with 170 six-man tents for both POWs and their American guards; Camp Howze (Gainesville); and Camp Hood North (Killeen). : "When the Afrika Korps Came to Texas": World War II POWs in the Lone Star State

[stormer]

Probably. POWs were supposed to be kept in an environment similar to the one they were captured in; many were sent to the southwest. I knew an Afrika Korp guy who ended up in Arizona and never did go back to Germany.

[nickcarraway]

I knew an Afrika Korp guy who ended up in Arizona and never did go back to Germany.

Id there a path to citizenship from shooting at a countries soldiers and being a POW?

[Fedora]

On a related note: This is Your FBI: Escaped POWs (04/27/1945 broadcast)

[BradyLS]

I would have guessed they were buried in accordance with some sort of regulation.

[DoughtyOne]

You know folks, I’m not sold on the idea, this was a swell
thing to do in 1943.

It still bothers me that we are in the midst of a anal
cleansing of this nation that hasn’t nearly peaked yet if
I’m reading things accurately.

There is literally no stopping the people who are now going
around looking for any reason whatsoever to purge something
from our national conscience.

I don’t think we should be buying into this nonsense.

Each of you know we’re the ultimate target of these people
and the demands are going to get more outlandish as the
months go by.

We need to be thinking about slowing this nonsense down,
rather than trying to find some reasoning behind the purge.

This isn’t going to end well.

[garandgal]

There was a large group of German POW’s in a camp in Northern Iowa. The camp has been turned into a museum which also houses a beautiful life-sized Nativity display that some of the prisoners carved.

https://www.pwcampalgona.org/nativity

I don’t know if there are any gravesites at the local cemetery.

[Reno89519]

It seems immoral to replace tombstones because they are politically incorrect today. We should respect the dead where they lay, else return them to Germany for burial in their military cemetary.

[jmacusa]

There are parts of Texas that had large German populations.

[nickcarraway]

Did those POWs end up as U.S. citizens?

[nickcarraway]

I’m not sure what you mean?

[Tacrolimus1mg]

I couldn’t have said it better myself .

Seriously, I’m not sure how to elaborate beyond that.

It’s disappointing to see history literally be erased, one small piece of stone at a time. While I know that Nazism was evil, obviously, we showed considerable bigness by giving them gravestones which reflected their beliefs. We damn well would not have been given the same courtesy if Germany had won the war.

[jmacusa]

Most of the German POWs captured by American force in North Africa and Italy were sent to the US. They were sent to places like Wisconsin, Georgia, Utah and Texas.

They were often used to work on farms. America GI’s who were black resented the fact that because of Jim Crow Laws in the South German POWs who were not deemed to be a security risk could go to movie theaters and restaurants they themselves weren't permitted to enter.

[Gene Eric]

Stop the removal of the historical artifacts. It’s juvenile.

[Reverend Wright]

I agree, this is PC woke crap. This is grave desecration, just leave them be.

I would say the same for Korea War Vietnam war communist prisoners with a hammer and sickle. Just leave them be.

[jmacusa]

Yes. A lot of them did. I worked with a guy years ago, he had been a Luftwaffe bombardier and was shot down over Italy in 1943. He was sent here. He stayed. “I was one of the lucky ones’’ he told me.

[krizzy]

Winston Smith worked for the mini truth. his job was re writing history. Notes would arrive at his desk, he would re-write whatever story was necessary, then all the scraps of paper and any notes were put into the memory hole where they would be carried by warm currents of air to a furnace deep in the center of the building.
You see, Big Brother understood that he who controls the past controls the present. And he who controls the present controls the future. And Oceania was always at war with East Asia.

[nickcarraway]

Most of the German POWs captured by American force in North Africa and Italy were sent to the US. They were sent to places like Wisconsin, Georgia, Utah and Texas. Why was that considered a good idea?

America GI’s who were black resented the fact that because of Jim Crow Laws in the South German POWs who were not deemed to be a security risk could go to movie theaters and restaurants they themselves weren't permitted to enter.

I'm not black, and I agree with them. Why should enemies of the country be given more rights than U.S. citizens?