German Prisoners of War

During World War I several thousand German sailor Prisoners of War were transferred from Ellis Island, New York to a detention center in Hot Springs, North Carolina. Eighteen of those sailors died during a typhoid epidemic and are buried in Riverside Cemetery. In 1932 the Asheville American Legion post decided to recognize those who had died. In a spirit of forgiveness from feelings of hatred and anger over German atrocities during World War I the planned monument created enthusiasm in Asheville and support from Washington, DC. Events began at 2:30 PM with a procession from the cemetery gates led by uniformed Kiffin Rockwell Legion Post members carrying the American flag, their post flag and a German flag. They were followed by five members of Der Stahlhelm, a German veteran’s organization, carrying their flags and an American flag. G.O. Shepard opened the program in English describing the purpose of the ceremony followed by Kurt Sell from German radio doing the same in German. After an invocation a quartet sang “The Star Spangled Banner” and then the German national anthem “Deutschland Uber Alles”. Thomas Black, commander of the Kiffin Rockwell post, presented the monument to Dr. F.W. Von Pritzwitz, German Ambassador to the United States. During his address, the ambassador accepted this symbol of reconciliation on behalf of the German people.