Journey Out of Darkness: American Heroes in Hitler's POW Camps
(This exhibition was originally on display at the National Heritage Museum from
May 20, 2006 to January 7, 2007)

They fought a double war, over sixty years ago, first in combat and then in captivity as prisoners of war. How can we know them and what they have endured? The answer, surely, is story by story, soldier by soldier.

More than 100,000 American servicemen were held in Nazi Germany during World War II. In the prison camps, they faced an unrelenting battle against abuse, overwork, dysentery, and starvation. Many POWs lost up to half their body weight, soon resembling concentration camp survivors. Contrary to today's popular mythology, escape was but a pipe dream for nearly all POWs. And yet they adapted to adversity, triumphed over humiliation, and survived the war's chaotic end in 1945.

When they returned home, former POWs were not honored by their countrymen. They struggled with chronic injuries and feelings of shame for having been captured, for simply surviving. The U.S. military, in fact, ordered many of them to remain silent about their experiences. So they buried their anguish and got on with life. They bravely endured. 

Today, fewer than 20,000 World War II POWs are still alive, and ten more die each day. Starting in the 1980s, the twenty former POWs featured in this exhibition banded together through support groups run by the Veterans Administration. They have found, in each other's company, healing solace and the freedom to tell their stories. These photographs by Jörg Meyer and stories by Hal LaCroix reveal the heroic spirit of tenacious survivors.  Listen to a recent interview with some of the veterans on WBUR's "On Point." 
Please click on the names below to read these men's stories:

Don Simpson

Armando DeVito 

Emanuel Rempelakis  

Frank Molinari

Joe Canavan

Joe Ciccarello

John Lupone

Louis Tarantino

Marcel Boisvert

Roger Hughes

Sam Palter

Vit Krushas

Gabe Paiva

Hyman Fine