The Clarke County Historical Society will turn its attention to a lesser-known chapter of local World War II history this weekend, with a program on a German prisoner-of-war camp once located in Jackson.
Guest speaker Walter Davis will present on the camp’s history during the historical society’s monthly meeting, scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Grove Hill Town Hall. The meeting is free and open to the public.
During World War II, the United States established hundreds of prisoner-of-war camps across the country to hold enemy combatants captured overseas, including thousands of German soldiers taken prisoner in the European and North African campaigns. Camps of this kind were built in many states, including Alabama, and their stories have since become subjects of interest for local historians and genealogists piecing together the wartime past of their communities.
Sunday’s program gives area residents a chance to hear directly from Davis about the camp that once stood in Jackson, as part of the historical society’s ongoing series of monthly meetings exploring Clarke County’s history.