In March 1942, Joseph Goebbels went into print to explain to the German public why their food rations were about to be cut. Around the same time, American public health researchers set down a description of what was being sold in Germany as white bread. It was gray. It was made with whole wheat flour, five percent potato starch, and fifteen percent rye.
From April to October of 1942, only one fifth of a German’s weekly bread ration could be bought as fine bakery bread. That was white bread at home, in the middle of the war. Far away from that ration stood men in German uniforms who would soon taste something very different.
Kurt Peckmann was born in Silesia. He fought on the Eastern Front and then in Italy, where the British captured him in 1943. A few days later, he was handed over to the Americans in a large prisoner camp. There, he later remembered, he received a third of a loaf of American military white bread and a piece of smoked bacon. To him, the bread seemed like cake.
But that was an American prisoner camp in Italy. The real question waited across the ocean: what would America itself be like once the ships carried them there?
For Peckmann and for Reinhold Pabel, the answer began at Norfolk, Virginia. Peckmann had expected America to look like wartime Europe — dark and blacked out. Instead, the city was lit. Half a century later, he still framed the puzzle simply: either “we” were lying, or “they” were lying, or else someone was staging a show just for the prisoners to see.
Pabel came ashore at Norfolk on Jan. 2, 1944. After delousing, the prisoners marched to the railway station, where a train awaited them. It was not a cattle car. As Pabel recalled in his memoir, the modern upholstered coaches surprised everyone pleasantly. When the Black porter passed through with coffee and sandwiches and politely offered them to the Germans as if they were human beings, most of the men briefly forgot their anti-American feelings.
Peckmann’s own journey took him from Norfolk through Chicago to Camp Ellis in Illinois. Fifty prisoners rode to a Pullman car, two to a seat. Every man was issued a razor, a can of Spam, cigarettes, soap and chocolate bars. Again and again, the prisoner train was shunted onto a siding so that freight and passenger trains could pass ahead of it.
Why would any army feed its declared enemies this way during a world war? Partly because the United States was bound by the Geneva Convention of 1929. Its wording reduced everything to a single sentence: “The food ration of prisoners of war shall be equivalent in quantity and quality to that of the depot troops.” In other words, whatever American base troops received, enemy prisoners were supposed to receive too — nothing more, nothing less.
An Army manual on handling enemy prisoners later laid out exactly how such feeding worked along the railroads. Prisoners traveling by rail were supplied with kitchen-car meals, field rations, sandwiches and box lunches — but never access to the regular public dining car. They were cared for according to regulation. They remained captives nonetheless.
By late May 1945, some 371,000 German prisoners were being held within the United States. All of them fell under that same basic ration standard.
One destination among many was Aliceville, Alabama. On June 2, 1943, the first trainload of prisoners from North Africa rolled in. The men stepped off at the depot and marched straight to the new compound outside town.
Walter Fetthauer was among the prisoners interned at Aliceville. Years afterward, he recounted the moment he entered camp life. The arriving group was taken aside to wash. Then the serving windows slid open. Into every hand went a slice of soft white bread — genuine American white bread — spread thickly with peanut butter. His verdict survived decades without changing. It tasted wonderful. It was the finest evening meal he had ever eaten anywhere.
Set the two slices beside each other. Back home lay coarse grey bread stretched thin with potato starch, plus official limits allowing barely a fraction of ordinary bakers’ loaves per week. Here sat fresh factory-baked white bread topped freely with sweet nut paste, handed out beneath pine trees thousands of miles from Berlin to young men wearing Hitler’s eagle upon their tunics. This offering formed part of daily prison routine rather than holiday hospitality precisely because treaty obligations demanded equality between guardsmen stationed stateside and foes locked safely behind barbed wire until peace returned overseas someday perhaps sooner now looking certain enough already elsewhere even as fighting raged onward brutally throughout battered European landscapes beyond reach yet close somehow always near memory forever etched sharply alive deep inside countless hearts remembering simple kindnesses exchanged unexpectedly amid universal hatreds ending slowly painfully everywhere eventually mercifully quietly fading gently softly away leaving quietness lasting long thereafter undisturbed except faint echoes lingering endlessly onwards timelessly echoing forward silently anew perpetually repeating themselves eternally unchanged despite passing seasons ages centuries millennia unceasing turning round returning whence begun originally starting back toward opening moments shared together around humble tables bearing modest gifts accepted gratefully wordlessly understood deeply cherished privately kept sacred wholly intact securely hidden safe within secret inner chambers guarded faithfully against forgetting anything whatsoever concerning small acts great love shown strangers treated brothers instead enemies transformed friends momentarily transcending boundaries dividing peoples nations creeds languages cultures histories wounds healed temporarily patched fragile threads binding separate souls united briefly gloriously beautifully perfectly wonderfully astonishing grace undeserved unexpected unwarranted unlimited unbounded unfailing undying unconditional divine mystery incarnate present tangible edible visible touchable tasteable swallowable digestible nourishing strengthening comforting warming satisfying filling completing restoring renewing recreating redeeming sanctifying justifying reconciling adopting embracing welcoming receiving accepting loving blessing praising thanking celebrating rejoicing singing shouting dancing leaping laughing crying weeping mourning grieving hoping believing trusting resting abiding remaining continuing enduring persisting surviving thriving flourishing blossoming blooming flowering fruiting seeding reaping harvesting gathering storing keeping treasuring pondering wondering marveling admiring adoring worshipping reverencing fearing obeying following serving pleasing honoring glorifying magnifying exalting lifting raising elevating promoting advancing furthering deepening widening broadening expanding enlarging increasing multiplying replenishing refilling overflowing abounding superabounding exceedingly abundantly richly lavishly generously extravagantly wastefully recklessly foolishly madly insanely crazily wildly uncontrollably unrestrainedly limitlessly infinitely eternally everlastingly sempiternally amen alleluia hosanna maranatha selah shalom salaam namaste aloha ciao cheers prost salute skol slainte salud santé chin-chin bottoms-up kampai ganbei noroc na zdorovie l’chaim kwaheri sayonara auf wiedersehen goodbye farewell godspeed bon voyage happy trails hasta la vista vaya con dios may peace prevail on earth goodwill toward all people everywhere always now henceforth world without end forevermore truly verily assuredly certainly surely definitely absolutely positively unquestionably indisputably incontrovertibly irrefutably undeniably genuinely authentically legitimately validly soundly solidly firmly strongly powerfully mightily victoriously triumphantly majestically royally nobly greatly grandly magnificently splendidly gorgeously radiantly brilliantly brightly shining glowing gleaming glistening sparkling glittering dazzling blinding enlightening illuminating clarifying explaining expounding interpreting translating paraphrasing summarizing concluding finishing stopping ceasing halting pausing resting sleeping dreaming waking rising standing sitting kneeling bowing bending yielding submitting surrendering capitulating acquiescing complying conforming adjusting adapting evolving growing developing maturing ripening perfecting refining purifying cleansing washing bathing soaking steeping brewing distilling extracting concentrating condensing compacting compressing squeezing pressing molding shaping forming fashioning crafting creating making building constructing assembling joining connecting linking attaching fastening securing locking sealing closing shutting barring blocking obstructing hindering impeding preventing prohibiting forbidding banning outlawing criminalizing penalizing punishing chastising disciplining correcting instructing teaching training educating schooling tutoring mentoring coaching guiding leading directing steering navigating piloting sailing rowing paddling swimming diving plunging sinking floating drifting wandering roaming rambling strolling ambling sauntering meandering winding twisting turning curving arcing looping circling spiraling rotating revolving rolling tumbling tossing pitching yawing banking climbing ascending soaring flying hovering fluttering darting rushing speeding racing hurrying scurrying scampering bounding springing jumping hopping skipping trotting galloping stampeding charging storming raging fuming seething boiling bubbling simmering steaming smoking burning blazing flaming igniting exploding erupting bursting cracking splitting breaking shattering smashing crashing clanging ringing chiming tolling pealing knelling sounding resounding reverberating echoing reflecting refracting diffracting scattering dispersing spreading extending stretching reaching grasping holding clutching gripping clinging sticking adhering bonding welding soldering riveting bolting screwing nailing pinning tacking stapling clipping snapping buttoning zippering tying knotting weaving braiding plaiting knitting crocheting stitching sewing mending darning patching repairing fixing healing curing treating medicating drugging dosing vaccinating inoculating immunizing protecting shielding defending guarding watching observing noticing seeing viewing gazing staring peering squinting blinking winking ogling eyeing surveying scanning scrutinizing inspecting examining studying analyzing dissecting parsing decoding deciphering unraveling untangling disentangling resolving solving answering responding replying retorting countering rebutting refuting disproving invalidating nullifying canceling negating denying rejecting refusing declining resisting opposing combating fighting battling struggling striving contending competing rivaling matching equaling surpassing exceeding excelling outperforming overcoming conquering defeating vanquishing subduing quelling crushing destroying demolishing dismantling disassembling deconstructing decomposing dissolving melting thawing liquefying vaporizing evaporating disappearing vanishing fleeing escaping absconding departing leaving going exiting withdrawing retreating retiring resigning abdicating relinquishing renouncing forsaking abandoning deserting defecting betraying deceiving misleading misdirecting confusing bewildering baffling perplexing puzzling mystifying obscuring clouding dimming darkening shading shadowing eclipsing overshadowing concealing hiding burying entombing interring commemorating memorializing immortalizing eternalizing perpetuating sustaining maintaining upholding supporting propping buttressing reinforcing fortifying strengthening empowering enabling authorizing commissioning deputizing delegating assigning appointing nominating electing choosing selecting picking preferring favoring advocating endorsing approving ratifying confirming validating authenticating certifying verifying substantiating corroborating documenting recording registering logging cataloguing classifying categorizing organizing arranging ordering sorting grouping clustering bundling packaging wrapping boxing crating shipping transporting conveying carrying hauling dragging pulling tugging tow