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HISTORY Mystery surrounds German POW art now in hands of Rogue Valley residents German POWs who left art behind remain unknown Comment By Vickie Aldous Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Vickie Aldous Mail Tribune Posted Apr. 28, 2015 at 2:00 AM Updated Apr 28, 2015 at 12:41 PM By Vickie Aldous Mail Tribune Posted Apr. 28, 2015 at 2:00 AM Updated Apr 28, 2015 at 12:41 PM » RELATED CONTENT Hunt is on for POW art --> The Southern Oregon Historical Society is asking local residents with WWII German POW art to step forward. Residents can show off their artwork, share any information they have and learn more... » Read more X Hunt is on for POW art The Southern Oregon Historical Society is asking local residents with WWII German POW art to step forward. Residents can show off their artwork, share any information they have and learn more about German prisoners of war who were held at Camp White north of Medford during the 1940s from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, May 16, at SOHS, 106 N. Central Ave., Medford. The society's library will be open afterward from noon to 2 p.m. for members of the public who want to do more research. In April, historian Joe Peterson gave a presentation to a standing room-only crowd at the Medford library about German POWs held at Camp White. He said many people came up to him after the talk with stories about Camp White and life in the Rogue Valley during WWII. Some disappeared back into the crowd before he could get their names and contact information. The May 16 event at the historical society is a chance for people to show artwork and share any other information about Camp White, said Billie Taylor, Southern Oregon Historical Society interim library manager. Some residents had family members who served in the military and trained at Camp White, or who worked there as guards, translators or in other jobs. "It's open to anybody, not just people with art," Taylor said. "It's about people's memories."   • Mysteries Surround Paintings » Social News The signature "M. Linzbach" and a 1944 date are the only clues Medford resident Jean Work has about the identity of a German prisoner of war who was held in the Rogue Valley and left behind a painting of a European church. The painting was originally owned by Work's relative, Henry Orth, a Catholic priest in Portland who was called to Camp White north of Medford to minister to German POWs held there during WWII. It's not clear whether Orth bought the church painting or was given the artwork as a gift by Linzbach. Orth passed away in the 1950s, taking information about the history of the painting and its maker to his grave. Orth also left to his relatives a large painting of Jesus Christ wearing a crown of thorns. The signature on that painting is illegible, said Work, whose niece in Arizona has the Christ painting. Work said she and her niece hope they can somehow track down Linzbach's family in Germany so they can send the church painting to them. As it's been more than 70 years since he painted the architectural scene, they doubt he is still alive. Work recently watched the movie "Woman in Gold," about a Jewish woman's fight to recover a shimmering Gustav Klimt painting that was stolen by Nazis from her family, then kept for decades by the Austrian government. "It really brought home to me how important it is to return things to their rightful owner," Work said. Other local residents who own German POW paintings have even less to go on to identify the artists. Brother and sister Martin Heitkamp and Rose Marie Leever own three landscape paintings made by German POWs. Their parents once owned a large ranch on the banks of Bear Creek in south Medford, where the city's sports park now sits. German POWs were sent around the Rogue Valley and into Northern California to help pick crops such as apples and potatoes, and to do general labor for local farmers and orchardists. While some POWs held at Camp White were violent, hardcore Nazis prone to beating up other prisoners, many were young men who had been drafted into WWII, according to Camp White historians. "The POWs got along well with the farmers around here — because that's what they were," said Camp White Military Museum Curator Al Inlow. At her family's ranch, Leever remembers one POW was thrilled to drive a hay wagon for her birthday party when she was a girl of about 12 or 13. While the POWs did a variety of chores at the ranch, Leever said, her father would also let them create art. "My dad felt guilty about letting them paint," Leever said. Her parents acquired paintings from the POWs, including one showing Leever's and Heitkamp's childhood home along Bear Creek. A second painting appears to be of the Rogue River, which flowed near the POW section of Camp White — known mainly for being a massive training site for U.S. troops being sent to war. A third, more skillfully done painting depicts dappled sunlight falling in a forest of tall trees. The thick paint and quick brushstrokes hint at a more experienced painter. The indecipherable signatures on the three paintings are little more than scratches in the paint. A surprising number of POWs at Camp White painted. Many were taught by famed Berlin street painter Georg Sorg, who had served in the German government's art ministry before being sent to Camp White. The Camp White Military Museum has a black-and-white photograph of Sorg sitting at a large painting he created depicting dancers. The museum also has two unsigned, Picasso-like sketches of women. During one Christmas at Camp White, POW artists exhibited 97 paintings and several hundred sketches. The exhibit was open to the public and attended by Medford residents, according to a memoir published by former U.S. military officer John Fahey in the 1992-1993 winter edition of the Oregon Historical Quarterly. Fahey remembered one Medford woman was not impressed, stating, "Oh, they'd probably as soon kill you as paint." "The artist, standing by to translate titles, overheard. I saw him shrug and shake his head," Fahey continued. German POWs who worked in the camp carpentry repair shop sometimes did woodworking on the side. Georg Eppel, a furniture maker, and Georg Hartmann, an organ maker, crafted a table inlaid with light and dark wood in the pattern of an elaborate mariner's compass, according to Fahey. Woodworking pieces were generally sold or given to American guards, he said. Heitkamp said his father worked as a civilian interpreter and tradesman at Camp White. With no clear signatures on the three landscape paintings he and his sister own, Heitkamp said there is little chance they could find family members of the German painters. "How would you know? If it was a well recognized name, you could backtrack it. But we have no idea who did the paintings," he said. "My wife always wondered. She would say, 'Let's track them down. Let's go to one of these (antiques) roadshow things and see if anyone knows anything about them.' " Heitkamp, who was about 6 years old when German POWs came to his family's ranch, said the paintings bring back memories. The family's home along Bear Creek is long gone, and a towering tree depicted in the painting of the little house has died. "It's wonderful to look at them and imagine what it was like back then," he said. Staff reporter Vickie Aldous can be reached at 541-776-4486 or [email protected] . Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/VickieAldous . By Vickie Aldous Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Vickie Aldous Mail Tribune Posted Apr. 28, 2015 at 2:00 AM Updated Apr 28, 2015 at 12:41 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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