About this site
Camp Hearne, World War II Prisoner of War Camp is a historical marker in Hearne, Robertson County, dedicated in 2003. It is one of 64 historical markers documented in Robertson County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 124 historic sites cataloged across the county.
The site sits at 30.8857, -96.6197 near Hearne. The nearest cataloged historic site is Camp Hearne Museum (museum), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Hearne Railroad Museum Depot, City of Hearne, and Allen, Robert C., House.
This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5507014755. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.
History
Camp Hearne, a World War II prisoner-of-war camp near Hearne in Robertson County, received the first of nearly 5,000 prisoners in June 1943, most of them German non-commissioned officers captured with the Afrika Korps in Tunisia. Because the Geneva Convention exempted NCOs from labor, many prisoners filled their days with recreation and study while the camp's enlisted men did most of the work. In 1944 the camp became the central mail distribution point for German POWs across the United States, until a clandestine group of Nazi sympathizers who intimidated prisoners and their families was uncovered and shut down in 1945. The camp closed in January 1946 and is now interpreted by a museum and historic site.
Sources: hmdb.orgen.wikipedia.orgcamphearne.com
