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DDO Prisoners of War Collection

 Collection
Identifier: MS-284

Abstract

The DDO Prisoner of War Collection was created from materials gathered for the POW exhibit created by Special Collections in the Stewart Library in 2006. It is broken up into two main series, POW Collection and POW Exhibit and OHI.

The POW Collection series were items gathered after the exhibit that deal specifically with the camp. There are correspondence in the form of letters and postcards with a few translations included. There are photographs, an Italy patch, and embossed cigarette case. There are also newsletters which were created by the prisoners. Unser Leben was the German prisoner’s newsletters, and Domini was the Italian Newsletter put together by Guiseppe Baltisi.

The POW Exhibit and OHI contains material collected for the exhibit, this includes photographs, exhibit captions, news articles, oral history interviews and items contained from the interviewees.

Dates

  • Creation: 1940 - 2007

Biographical / Historical

The Prisoners of War at Defense Depot Ogden oral history project is the documentation of the lives of the Italian and German prisoners that were held at DDO during World War II. The Ogden Defense Depot, designated as a POW camp on October 11, 1942, was one of the first ten camps in the country. An estimated 5,000 Italian prisoners and approximately 4,000 German prisoners were sent to the facility. The prisoners worked in local warehouses, farms, and orchards. After Italy surrendered in 1943, Italian Service Units were created which allowed the Italians greater freedom than the Germans, including visits to downtown Ogden. The camp closed during the summer of 1946 after the 10,000 prisoners were shipped home.

This project contains interviews from people who had interaction with the Italian and German POWs, including the community of Weber County and POW widows. They discuss the daily lives of the prisoners which includes conditions at the camp, work related issues, and the feelings of the community surrounding the POW camp.

Extent

4 Boxes

Language of Materials

English

Arrangement

Box 1



POW Collection





FD 1 Artifacts- Cigarette Case





FD 2 Correspondence- Letters sent form camp



FD 3 Correspondence- Postcards sent from camp with some translations



FD 4 Microfilm- Population Lists, June 1942-June 1945



FD 5 News Articles





Newsletters



FD 6 Domani, N. 5 9-10- 44



FD 7 Domani, N. 17 15 Genn. 1945



FD 8 Domani, N. 18 1 Feb. 1945



FD 9 Domani, N. 19 5 Feb. 1945



FD 10 Domani, N. 20 1 Mar. 1945



FD 11 Domani, N. 21 15 Mar. 1945



FD 12 Domani, N. 22 1 Aprile 1945



FD 13 Domani, N. 23 15 Aprile 1945



FD 14 Domani, Unknown Date



FD 15 Domani, Miscellaneous



FD 16 Unser Leben, April 1945



FD 17 Unser Leben, Mai 1945



FD 18 Unser Leben, Juli 1945



FD 19 Unser Leben, August 1945



FD 20 Unser Leben, 1 Hälfte Sept. 1945



FD 21 Unser Leben, 2 Hälfte Sept. 1945



FD 22 Unser Leben, Oktober 1945



FD 23 Unser Leben, 2 Ausgabe November 1945



FD 24 Unser Leben, 1 Ausgabe Dezember 1945



Box 2



POW Collection



Newsletters



FD 1 Unser Leben, 2 Ausgabe Dezember 1945





FD 2 Unser Leben, 1 Ausgabe Januar 1946



FD 3 Unser Leben, 2 Ausgabe Januar 1946



FD 4 Photographs



P1 Escorts of WWII Dead



P2 Italian Prisoners



P3-8 World War II Prison Camps, Ogden Internment Camp



P9-10 Two copies of photographs from Boyd L. Rasmussen



FD 5 Miscellaneous- Italy Patch, Musical Show program, Goodbye Card from Italians



POW Exhibit and OHI



FD 6 Exhibit, Audio Visual



FD 7 Exhibit, Captions 1 of 6



FD 8 Exhibit, Captions 2 of 6



FD 9 Exhibit, Captions 3 of 6



Box 3



POW Exhibit and OHI



FD 1 Exhibit, Captions 4 of 6



FD 2 Exhibit, Captions 5 of 6



FD 3 Exhibit, Captions 6 of 6



FD 4 Exhibit, News Articles



FD 5 Exhibit, Notes



FD 6 Exhibit, Opening Photo



FD 7 Exhibit, Photos



Box 4



POW Exhibit and OHI



FD 1 Baker, Mae and Walter



FD 2 Baltisi, Cleone and Guiseppe





FD 3 Busico, Robert



FD 4 Elliott, Bud



FD 5 Fallows, Madelon Besso



FD 6 Fernelius Carl



FD 7 Giordano, Beth and Guisseppe



FD 8 Gillman, Glade and Dean



FD 9 Grant, Bergetta and Benjamin



FD 10 Kososik, Eleanor and Erich



FD 11 Larsson, Gary



FD 12 Lawler, Gene and Allie



FD 13 McFarland, Charles



FD 14 Meacham, Jack



FD 15 Nebeker, Lucille



FD 16 Painter, Eleanor



Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the WSU Stewart Library Special Collections Repository

Contact:
3921 Central Campus Drive Dept 2901
Ogden UT 84408