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POWs were held here during WWII When I was a small boy, I remember seeing German POWs in a compound at Camp White, but I don't recall the exact date. Can you tell me when German prisoners were housed at Camp White and when they were repatriated to Germany? -- Karl A., Westlake Village, Calif. You must have been in the Rogue Valley during World War II, Karl. The first German prisoners of war arrived at Camp White, now the Department of Veterans Affairs Domiciliary, on April 16, 1944. They were repatriated immediately following the war. About 2,000 German POWs were held at the prison at Camp White at any one time. Up to 40,000 American GIs trained at the base completed three year after Uncle Sam got into the war. But some former POWs, like the late Heinz Bertram, returned to the Rogue Valley to live. A former German Air Force flight engineer captured by British forces in North Africa, Bertram returned to Medford from Germany in 1958 to be with friends he made during his POW status. During a 1993 interview with the Mail Tribune, Bertram, then 72, said the guards at Camp White treated the POWs well. "We knew they were doing their job and we were doing our job," he said. "That's the way it was, just doing our jobs." The POW camp was surrounded by two parallel fences of barbed wire and patrolled by guard dogs, he recalled. "Yeah, and they were German shepherds," he said. ("Since You Asked'' is a daily feature in the Mail Tribune that answers questions from readers on virtually any topic of general interest. To submit a question, e-mail us at [email protected] Please include your name, address and phone number for verification. If you have specific questions about our Web site or other questions about the Mail Tribune, please send them to [email protected] ) Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA