October 21, 2010

During World War II, in an attempt to alleviate the overcrowding of prisoner-of-war camps in Great Britain, more than 400,000 German and Italian prisoners were sent to 500 camps located in the southern and southwestern parts of the United States. Approximately 23,000 prisoners were sent to Arkansas, housed in three main camps located in Pulaski, Sebastian, and Chicot counties. An additional thirty branch camps, such as this one near Murfreesboro (Pike County), were operated in the state. By the summer of 1946, the camps were dismantled and the prisoners released and sent home.

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