This is the cover of Hardy A. Mitchener, Jr.'s diary during his incarceration as a prisoner of war at the Stalag Luft III camp in Zagan, Poland, during World War II.
This page is a poem, "Bars, Inc." written by "Coyle" and dedicated to "Ivan - POW El Grande." The poem or song is about having a bar in every room of the house. Mitchener has drawn a small picture of a bar with a sign "Home Sweet Home" next to it....
This page features a list of signatures from the "Brass," the POWs who were military officers at Stalag Luft III along with Mitchener. The previous page includes autographs of the other men who were in the POW camp.
This is another page of the Christmas program that was given to the POWs at Stalag Luft III in 1944. It includes the lyrics to "O Little Town of Bethlehem" and "O Come All Ye Faithful." The program lists carols performed by the "troubador group" on...
This is another page of the Christmas program that was given to the POWs at Stalag Luft III in 1944. It includes a dedication page that reads, "The Senior American Officer extends very cordial season's greetings to all officers and men under his...
This page in Mitchener's POW diary from World War II shows a short poem called "Comrade to Freedom." The poem observes that men who have never been in bondage do not truly understand the joys of freedom.
Hand-drawn ink & watercolor of Rock Island Prison by J. M. Breeding. Possibly created for Christian Buhler, who was in the prison for 17 months and 12 days in Barracks #5. Drawing shows barracks, stockade & parapets, horses, guards, a burial...
This page in Mitchener's diary shows the POWs departing the German prison camp. They have not been released, but rather, they are being relocated to another POW camp farther west because of the approaching Russians from the East. Mitchener has...
War casualties; Prisoners of war; Guards; Horses; Cavalry; Horse artillery; War; World War, 1914-1918
Pictured are German military personnel who are prisoners of war following the American drive on the Hindenburg Line. These German POW's are walking along while carrying stretchers containing their wounded. Their guards are riding on horseback.
This page in Mitchener's POW diary from World War II shows two different images. The first is an eagle with a ball and chain on its feet. A banner, "Kriege Klarion," is pictured below the eagle, and the words, "To preserve the democratic, its...
This page (and the following three pages) features a poem or song called "Kriege's Lament," written by Willie Munger. The poem has an a-b-a-b rhyme scheme and is seventeen stanzas long. The subject is the return home of the American POWs to their...
This page is the continuation of a poem or song called "Kriege's Lament," written by Willie Munger. The poem has an a-b-a-b rhyme scheme and is seventeen stanzas long. The subject is the return of the American POWs to their mothers and families....
This page is the continuation of a poem or song called "Kriege's Lament" written by Willie Munger. The poem has an a-b-a-b rhyme scheme and is seventeen stanzas long. The subject is the return of the American POWs to their mothers and families....
This page includes a drawing of a newsroom. Mitchener has drawn a world map that is posted on a blackboard. Underneath the title, "News Room," he has listed three categories: "Latest News," "From the Front," and "Kriege Rules." The "Latest News"...
Mitchener wrote this poem in his diary during his stay at a German POW camp. The poem,"Our Creed," explores his ideas and feelings about being a prisoner of war.
This page is a poem,"Prisoner's Prayer." Mitchener notes that it was memorized by a POW from scratchings on the wall in a Vienna transition camp. The poem asks for God's protection for airmen facing "shell, flak, fire, and foe." He writes, in part,...
Double-sided, handwritten, one-page document lists those prisoners being held by Federal authorities. Those incarcerated include citizens, soldiers who have committed disciplinary infractions, and soldiers being held for possible court-martial.
Barbed wire; Torches; Sculpture; Heads (Anatomy); Reflections; Crowns; Fantasy
This page in Mitchener's POW diary from World War II includes a drawing of the Statue of Liberty. On the top of the page he has written,"Maybe not in reality - but in every dream - "Underneath this heading, he has drawn a picture of a man dreaming...
Barbed wire; Ships; Military personnel; Prisoners; Public speaking
This page in Mitchener's diary includes a drawing of an old ship, the "Santa Maria," on which he has written, "Promise of the Future." Underneath, he has drawn a picture of a prisoner on stage, Colonel Darr H. Alkire, C.O. Stalag Luft III, West...
