POW Oral History Project: World War Two
The POW Oral History Project, based at Concordia University, St Paul, exists to collect, transcribe, and permanently preserve individual prisoner of war experiences from the period of US involvement in the Second World War (1941-45). We document the experiences of service personnel who were held as prisoners in Europe (by the Germans or their allies) or the Pacific (by the Japanese).
The primary focus of this project is ex-POWs with a connection to Minnesota. "Minnesotan" is broadly defined to include those who were born and/or raised in the state, or have resided here for a meaningful period of time; the term is designed to be inclusive, and not exclusive.
We conduct audio interviews, and we transcribe our work. Together, audio recording and transcript form a permanent record that will be of value to students, historians, policy makers, those interested in this country?s World War Two experience, and to anyone seeking to understand the situations and stresses faced by prisoners of war. Copies of interview transcripts will be archived at Concordia University, St. Paul, the Minnesota Historical Society, St Paul, and additional locations as they are identified. Organizations interested in housing the transcribed interviews should contact the director about transcripts and/or a photograph and document collection.
The POW Oral History Project has developed out of the successful Oral History Project of the World War Two Years. Also based at Concordia University, St Paul, this project collected the oral testimonies of Minnesota civilians and veterans discussing their experiences during the Second World War era. More than 130 Minnesota men and women, from all service branches and civilian walks of life, were interviewed from March 2001 - October 2003. The book based on these interviews, Remembering the Good War, was published in May 2005 by the Minnesota Historical Society Press.
The work of this project, and of the Oral History Project of the World War Two Years, has been generously supported by:
The Minnesota Historical Society and Concordia University, St Paul
Additional financial support has been provided by:
The State Historical Society of North Dakota
The Archie D. and Bertha H. Walker Foundation
The Elizabeth C. Quinlan Foundation of Crystal, MN
Archibald Bush Foundation (Bush Student Learning Grant program)
more than a dozen individual contributions
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