THE CAMP SALINA MASSACRE

German POWs exercising aboard ship on their way to America

During World War II, approximately 425,000 captured German and Italian military personnel were incarcerated in 500 POW camps located within 44 different states in the USA. 

Now, one may wonder why the Allies would go to the trouble of shipping POWs all the way from Europe to America when the prisoners could have been housed in the United Kingdom. Actually, many of them were lodged in Britain. However, the Brits were hard-pressed to keep their own people fed, and the close proximity of the British-held captives to the European continent provided a constant temptation for them to escape. On the other hand, the crossing of the Atlantic Ocean and the subsequent train ride for the prisoners from the eastern seaboard to camps in places like Kansas or Minnesota were usually enough to overwhelm the captives with sense of futility with respect to attempting to overcome the huge distances which would be involved in executing an effective departure. In addition, there were plenty of Liberty ships returning empty from Europe back to America anyway, and it thus made sense to use the available space for some POWs.

The majority of the prisoners adjusted very well to camp life in the United States, and most of them were happy to be loaned out to work in American farms, mills, and other industries. It was certainly a more comfortable gig than their compatriots had fighting on the Russian front. Many of the captives became friends with their American employers ("employers" is a correct term, as the prisoners were paid wages), and quite a few returned to the USA after repatriation to become American citizens.

Die-hard Nazis who thought that it was treason to cooperate with their American captors in any fashion (and who would administer harsh sanctions against fellow POWs who did so) were transferred to special camps.

Most of the time, the Americans abided by the 1929 Geneva Convention and treated their charges humanely. However, on July 8, 1945, at the POW camp in Salina, Utah, nine sleeping German prisoners were murdered by 23-year-old Pvt. Clarence V. Bertucci of the US Army and another 19 were wounded. One captive was almost cut in half when Bertucci raked the tents of the prisoners with a M1917 .30 caliber machine gun, firing almost 250 rounds within 15 seconds. Bertucci then screamed for more ammunition, but his request was denied. The survivors of the shooting were taken to the Salina hospital, and witnesses indicate that blood was flowing outside from beneath the hospital door.

Bertucci had had some prior disciplinary problems but had displayed no signs that he was going to go on a murderous rampage. Afterwards, he was unrepentant, expressed disappointment that he had not been in combat, and declared that he did not like Germans. He was pronounced insane by a military panel and was transferred to a New York mental hospital. How long he remained there has been lost in the vagaries of history. He died in 1969. Cynics maintain that Bertucci was not actually medically or legally bonkers but that the Army, obviously embarrassed by the massacre (especially one occurring two months after Germany had surrendered), needed to "justify" how it happened.

The slain Germans were buried with full military honors in American uniforms at the Fort Douglas Cemetary in Salt Lake City. However, contrary to tradition, their coffins were not draped with their country's flag, as the US Army refused to use the Nazi ensign and no other flag had yet been adopted for post-war Germany. The survivors were sent back to Germany after their recovery.

For additional information on the Camp Salina massacre, click here.