[78-L] YMCA War Prisoners Aid American Radio Series for U.S. POWs in Germ any

[Steve Shapiro]

The labels state "American Radio Series" and the beginning of the programs state that these were intended for broadcast to American prisoners in German POW camps.  There were times that the Germans allowed American POWs limited access to radio.  E.g., see:

http://b24.net/pow/stalag1.htm

I suspect that the programs were domestic U.S. radio programs licensed to the YMCA.  

For general POW conditions, see:

http://www.moosburg.org/info/stalag/hatteng.html

The YMCA was very active.  Since I don't use realplayer because of its invasiveness on computers, I can't open this video about the role of the YMCA:

http://b24.net/pow/stalag3.htm
or here:
http://b24.net/pow/stalag3.htm   etc

But it is stated here that the YMCA War Prisoners Aid provided recreational materials for POWs:

http://www.prisonersamongus.com/StudyGuide.pdf

including record players:

http://www.crossdenominationalmission.org.uk/ymca.html

At Stalag 17b, prisoners were allowed to set up their own camp radio station:

http://b24.net/pow/stalag17.htm

The record labels state, "Produced for the exclusive use of war prisoners."

If someone can direct me to an online AFRS discography, I can check the YMCA titles against the AFRS titles.

I have heard that about 1/2 of U.S. airmen in the WWII European theater were killed.  Most U.S. POWs in Germany were apparently airmen who had been shot down and captured.  For more bracing accounts, see:

http://b24.net/pow/march.htm

steve
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