• Nine members of the stringed orchestra at Ohrdruf pose for this photograph. The American YMCA shipped musical instruments to prison camps as part of the Association's social program. Access to instruments permitted musicians the opportunity to maintain their talent in preparation for post-war employment and the music performed by the orchestras and bands in prison concerts helped boost the morale of the prison population in general. Source: Hoffman, In the Prison Camps of Germany, 1920, 168A.

Source: Hoffman, In the Prison Camps of Germany, 1920, 168A.

From Pursuit of an "unparalleled opportunity": American YMCA and prisoner of war diplomacy among the Central Power nations during World War I, 1914-1923 by Kenneth Steuer

Subjects
  • American: 1900-present
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