Fort Oglethorpe (prisoner-of-war camp)
Facilities at the fort were used to detain some 4,000 enemy military personnel, prisoners of war, and civilian internees arrested under the Alien and Sedition Acts, between 1917 and 1920.
After it was deactivated in 1947, the Camp's facilities formed the basis for the present day town of Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia.
"The War Prison Camp of Fort Oglethorpe consisted of a huge, somewhat hilly plot of land approximately a mile square.
The civilian internees included businessmen denounced by their American commercial rivals, and individuals of German, Czech, Polish and other nationalities charged with a variety of offenses under the Espionage Act of 1917.
Prominent prisoners included Count Albrecht von Montgelas, Dr. Karl Muck, conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Dr. Ernst Kunwald, conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Professor Richard Benedict Goldschmidt, biologist Dr. Isaac Strauss, and Professor Zenneck.
Dr. Karl Muck was falsely accused by unscrupulous newspaper editor John R. Rathom of having refused a request to perform "The Star-Spangled Banner" in an October 1917 concert.
[2] Despite having been unaware of the request at the time and always ending future concerts with America's national anthem, Theodore Roosevelt and many other US citizens believed the accusations and were furious with Muck, who was accordingly was arrested and interned at Fort Ogelthorpe until he agreed to be deported in the summer of 1919.
The intellectual and cultural elite remained interned at Fort Oglethorpe, while the rest were separated among other prisons.
[7] The courses of the camp "University" included lectures in Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese, Arabic, Hebrew, Malay as well as courses in biology (Professor Goldschmidt), physiology (Dr. Isaac Strauss), electronics (Professor Zenneck) and art (Count Montgelas).
[7] Prisoners were also allowed to publish the Orgelsdorfer Eulenspiegel, a literary and satirical newspaper,[9] which was often used to slip in comments about the internment camp conditions.
It appears that the one successful escape artist was one "Henckel" who made several unsuccessful attempts but at last succeeded, "and thus probably the only real spy the United States had interned at Oglethorpe disappeared for good.
Letters and cards were heavily censored, and, following the Armistice of November 11, 1918, the prisoners suffered "from the unbearable uncertainty as to the duration of our detention.
"[8] 2,000 German prisoners and 1,600 civilian internees who agreed to be deported were returned to Germany and the former Austria-Hungarian Empire in June and July 1919.
[13] The remaining prisoners who wished to stay in the United States, perhaps 400 or so, then began a letter writing campaign.
"[14] Erich Posselt was interviewed by a representative of the U.S. Justice Department who accused him of having been a passenger on various British vessels, including HMS Hampshire, on which Lord Kitchener died, and thereby aiding and abetting the sinking of Allied ships during the Imperial German Navy's U-boat campaign, charges that Posselt characterized as idiotic.
