Background of German Labor Camp
German Labor Camp had roots dating back to 1933 when President Roosevelt organized the Civilian Conservation Corporation as a part of his New Deal legislation. The Civilian Conservation Corporation was formed during the Great Depression to put young unemployed men to work to enhance the quality of America’s forests and environments. Originally, Glassboro’s Labor Camp was built to house the men who worked for the CCC bill but the facilities were then closed in 1942 since most of the young men had to fight in the war. During World War II the United States had a labor shortage which made producing and harvesting food difficult. At the same time, German POW camps in Britain started to become overcrowded. In order to solve both of these problems the United States transported German prisons to labor camps throughout our country to work on farms and in small industries. The German prisons were not ideological Nazis but rather from Germany’s navy, regular army entitled the Wehrmacht or the air force named the Luftwaffe. Some of the German laborers are thought to have come from General Rommel’s Afrika Corps who the Allies had mutual respect for since Rommel’s army fought humanely.
In Glassboro the German prisoners worked mainly on farms but also worked in canning factories and in packing or vinegar plants. Most of the German laborers would spend their nights resting at the Glassboro Labor Camp and then be transported by their employers each morning. Several of the farmers brought trucks or wagons to transport the Germans while other German laborers would have to walk to their employment with a one guard escort. All the German labors would be assigned to the same farm or business each day. On average ten to twelve German laborers were assigned to each farm along with one-guard. Payment of around eighty cents a day was made to the German laborers in accordance with the rules set forth by the Geneva Convention. The American guards of the camp mostly were soldiers who had been wounded and could not have returned to combat positions. After the Germans left Glassboro the labor camp stayed dormant for five to seven years passed before the labor camp would be used to house farm laborers from Puerto Rico and Jamaica. In the early 2000’s Glassboro Township bought the property and converted the land into a park.