Today in honor of Memorial Day we’re bringing you a special feature on Camp Opelika one of Alabama’s 24 POW camps built in 1942. In the years between 1942-45 Camp Opelika was home to some 3,000 German POWs, many of whom were captured in North Africa and brought to Alabama after landing in Boston. Life in the Alabama POW camps didn’t resemble the normal prison experience. In fact, one of the German POWs called it a “golden cage.” Today we bring you a tour of Camp Opelika with Colonel Albert Killian who has written a book detailing its history and also served as a consultant for the exhibit housed at the Museum of East Alabama.
Producer Kyle Gassiott toured what remains of the camp by car with Colonel Killian and produced this story which aired on Troy Public Radio’s Community Focus on May 28, 2012. Above we have an audio slide show with historical images and additional audio from the interview.
You can stream or download today’s broadcast below:
Special thanks today to: The Museum of East Alabama, The Encyclopedia of Alabama, and Katie Lamar Jackson.
