World War II - POW Camps
1942-1945 Prisoner of War Camps in Oklahoma

It was called Nazilager (Nazi Camp)

"The First 100 Years of Alva, Oklahoma" states that the Prisoner of War (POW) camp during WWII was best known to POW's in other camps as, 'Devil's Island' or the 'Alcatraz' of prisoner of war systems in the United States.

It was built to hold only Nazi's and hard-core sympathizers. It stood south of Alva (Oklahoma, USA), westside of highway 281 and is in the area now used by the Airport on the east and the Woods County Fairgrounds on the west.

Alva's POW Camp (WWII) Details Corrected... "I enjoyed reading your page WWII-POW Camps. I just would like to correct one or two little details... My father Werner Wolf was POW in Camp Alva after having surrendered as officer of the Afrika Korps (10. Panzerdivision) in Tunesia 1943. Indeed he managed to escape, as is mentioned in your article, but he was not recaptured in Kansas City but in a little town just before he attempted to cross the border towards Mexico (he had the idea to reach Argentine in order to search for a possibility to get back to Germany). My father reentered the german army in postwar 1955 as Major and ended his military career as Colonel at the NATO Headquarter in Brussels 1971(were I used to go to school), he died 1973. I would like to add that as far as I know the POWs of Camp Alva, weren´t all 'Nazi´s and hard core sympathizers'. Instead, it might be true that the camp exclusively contained officers of the Wehrmacht." -- Contact Michael Michael Wolf

Cpt. Miles W. Kelly's Year in Alva - September, 1944-September, 1945... "After service in North Africa and Italy during World War II, my father, Dr. Miles William Kelly, was stationed at the prisoner-of-war camp in Alva, Oklahoma from September 28, 1944 to September 17, 1945. He was one of the medical officers at the facility. For the most part, this account is based on the letters that he wrote home to my mother..."

Oklahoma POW Camps (1942-1945)

WWII POW Camps Across Oklahoma
Japanese Balloon Bombings
More WWII POW Info
WWII POW Camp Stories
WWII POW Map of Camps
Basic Facilities of WWII POW Camps
The Battle of Alva
German POW Murals Discovered
Kiowa, KS Man's WWII POW Experience