German POWs in southwest Michigan is the topic of a free lecture Wednesday at the Museum at Southwestern Michigan College.
“German Prisoners on Southwest Michigan Farms,” presented by Howard Poole of Sister Lakes, is 6:30 p.m. in the Upton Educational Center at the museum. Light refreshments will be served after the hour-long presentation.
Poole, formerly with Western Michigan University, will discuss the farm labor shortages during World War II that created a unique local experience, when German prisoners of war began working on area farms and in local farm-related businesses. This presentation will cover the efforts by the U.S. government to place German prisoners on farms in southwest Michigan and discuss aspects of their confinement, work conditions and later release. Recently uncovered information about a Japanese internment camp in Decatur will also be shared.
The Museum at SMC, located on the college’s Dowagiac campus, is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. Admission to the museum is free. For more information, call (269) 782-1374.