[4] At the same time, however, Der Ruf represented a new beginning for German literature after more than a decade of strictly enforced government censorship in Nazi Germany and its literary legacy accordingly continues to this day.

[5] Der Ruf was the brainchild of a military program called the prisoner of war special projects division.

[7]: 8 The Special Projects Division was led by Lt. Col. Edward Davison and was intended to promote American ideals among German POWs.

[7]: 46  Shoenstedt organized the production of Der Ruf, which was the foundation on which all of the division's attempts to reorient the worldview of the German prisoners relied.

[7]: 3  A War Department demonstrated an expectation that after the war the prisoners would "have a strong influence in future German affairs, and their conceptions of our form of government may determine to a great extent Germany’s postwar relations with the United States.”[7]: 8 One of the program's first objectives was to separate prisoners based on their level of adherence to Nazi ideals.

[2]: 4, 12, 55  Although it was fairly easy to identify the hard-core Nazi adherents, removing them from camps did little to reduce the internal cohesion and loyalties of the POWs.

[6] Davison and McKnight were somewhat hesitant to push for reeducation because they feared American POWs in Germany would be retaliated against, however the Geneva Convention, while prohibiting indoctrination, encouraged "intellectual diversions".

[6][8] Kearny had barracks suitable for prisoners and guards, a kitchen, administrative buildings, and the grounds were shielded from public view.

[6] POWs at Kearny were required to renounce their German military ranks[7]: 60  and sign a declaration that they owed no loyalty to the Nazi Party or to Hitler, believed in democracy, would refrain from activity that could be detrimental to the United States, and wouldn't try to escape.

They were primarily engaged in curating reading material to be provided to prisoners in other POW camps as part of the Special Projects Division's reeducation efforts.

[6][7]: 8  Particularly in demand among POWs were banned works of Exilliteratur by anti-Nazi refugees such as Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front, Thomas Mann's Zauberberg, and Franz Werfel's The Song of Bernadette.

In a later article for Der Ruf, POW literary critic Curt Vinz opined, "Had we only had the opportunity to read these books before, our introduction to life, to war, and the expanse of politics would have been different.

[7]: 60–61 In addition to their work producing Der Ruf and curating other reading and viewing material, they monitored newspapers published at other POW camps, looking for Nazi influence.

[6] This change of outlook was attributed to the combined effects reeducation efforts including Der Ruf, the realization that the war was lost, and prisoner interactions with Americans.

[6] The main "intellectual diversion" worked on by prisoners at Fort Kearny was a POW newspaper, Der Ruf.

"[2]: 56 The first issue featured an article about the paper's purpose proclaiming, The German prisoners of war in America now have their own newspaper!

It will demonstrate clearly the seriousness of our position and will not hide the hard and cold facts of world events behind high sounding words.

When “Der Ruf” reaches you, answer with a military “Present.” Make sure that not one of us who still has a spark of feeling left for home and family is absent.

[2]: 56–57 [7]: 75  It also featured articles about the progress of the war, news from Germany, excerpts from various camp newspapers, and pieces on American culture.

[2]: 57 The paper frequently ran articles encouraging prisoners to think about what they would do to rebuild Germany upon their return home at war's end.

Brigadier General Blackshear M. Bryan, Assistant Provost Marshal and head of the prisoner of war program, credited Der Ruf's accurate reporting of the progress of the war on the European front with preventing "serious demonstrations" by prisoners in the camps when the news of the German surrender broke.

Raymund Hörhager, a POW in Arizona, made a derogatory remark about Nazis, and in a mock trial was sentenced to death as a traitor on his return to Germany, but a German-born Jewish prison guard who had fled Germany in 1933 helped him get sent to another prison camp, where his anti-Nazi views were vetted before he was sent to Fort Kearney.

[6] Another prisoner, the artist Franz Wischnewski, was simply told to bring his belongings by guards who acted like they wanted to kill him.

[2]: ix  However, after the war their time writing for Der Ruf in the United States inspired them to promote a vision of Germany that included both democratic and socialist ideals.

[6] New editorial staff and writers were brought to Fort Kearny and began working on the paper in September 1945, remaining there until the final edition in March 1946.

Elmer Beck, a German POW who had been held at Fort Custer, Michigan, said: [T]he Americans also wanted us to think a certain way, to reject our traditional way of life and especially National Socialism.

[2]: 14 Despite the fact that many prisoners rejected the paper as propaganda, many others appreciated the availability of high-quality, well written articles on a diverse array of subjects such as news about the war and aspects of American culture.

[2]: 56  For example, Private Herbert Diedler, held at Camp Cooke, California, wrote: What I welcome in Der Ruf is the objective, reasonable, and unsparing judgement about the events of the last years, the frank description of the present situation, the wise preparation for the things which the physical and spiritual reconstruction of our homeland will demand of us and last, not least, the clearness and beauty of the German language which characterizes most articles.

[6] After returning to Germany Andersch and Richter, along with several others from Fort Kearny, founded a new newspaper, also called Der Ruf.

[6] The growing antagonism between the United States and Soviet Russia, along with their refusal to take sides led American military authorities to remove Andersch and Richter as editors of the paper in 1947, at which point they helped to found the hugely influential Group 47 literary movement.