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Tonkawa POW Camp, Pioneer Woman Museum
May 14, 2016, 10 a.m.–11 p.m.
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Join us Saturday, May 14, for a presentation about the history of the World War II prisoner of war camp in Tonkawa, Oklahoma. Speaker Rex Ackerson will discuss the development of the camp, why it was in Tonkawa, and the history of the camp. Ackerson will also touch on the repatriation of the prisoners to Germany. The program begins at 10am and is free and open to the public.
More than thirty World War II Prisoner of War camps were located in Oklahoma. The Tonkawa camp was an economic boon to both Tonkawa and the surrounding area. Prisoners who returned to the site in later years remarked about how well they were treated in the camp. The Tonkawa camp was noted for the murder of a prisoner by his fellow prisoners and the subsequent trial and hanging of five German POWs.
