Most People In Rhode Island Don’t Know About Our Old German POW Camp

Rhode Island’s past could fill pages and pages of history books. So it comes as no surprise that our former World War II POW camp, Fort Kearny, tends to stay under the radar. And while its physical location no longer exists, the fort remains an essential part of our history. Did you know Fort Kearny once housed German prisoners?

Wikipedia

The fort was named for Major General Philip Kearny, who was killed in the American Civil War.

Fort Wiki

The fort was most active from 1908 - 1945.

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Fort Wiki

The property was the headquarters of a program to re-educate the German prisoners with democratic values. This was one of several camps that were used in attempts to reeducate German prisoners away from their recent Nazi-dominated pasts and to prepare them for rebuilding a new and what was hoped for democratic society from what was left of war-torn Germany.

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Narragansett, Rhode Island / Google

It hasn't been used as a military fort in decades, although its history is preserved around the campus.

Dan DeLuca / Google

Rhode Island played a seemingly small role in World War II, but clearly, we were not unaffected by it.

Did you know that the Narragansett Bay Campus of the University of Rhode Island was once used for these purposes? Our state is definitely full of mystery.