Attitude toward German Prisoner of War Camps in America

This research studied the attitude of having a prisoner of war camp located within the United States between the years of 1944 and 1946 in the towns of Stark, New Hampshire and Spencer Lake, Maine. The main research question was “what effect did having a prisoner of war camp have on the town.” To measure this effect, this paper looked at individual attitudes within the town of Stark, New Hampshire and the town of Jackman, Maine using a written survey to determine how or if those individuals are influenced or affected today. This research studies the attitude of individuals in relation to a historical event to determine what effect it may cause today. This allows us to better understand how history may influence our attitudes though the actual physical event may have happened years before. In this case, 56 years have passed since we last had prisoners of war located within the continental United States. My primary method of data collection was a self-developed fourteen-question attitude survey administrated to 36 residents of both towns. Surprisingly, the other method used within this study was constructed from unstructured interviews that were conducted at the same time the questionnaire was being presented. In each case, the towns had an overall positive attitude in relation to the prisoner of war camps that they once held. This paper concludes with points of interest; relevance; and insight to how individuals view the history of the prisoner of war camp having once been located within their town.