World War II POW Camp
category : Military History
A World War II POW Camp was located just south of Alva in the 1940s. More than 5,000 prisoners were interned at a time when the population of Alva itself was only 3,500.Items retained from the camp are on display in the Cherokee Strip Museum including a remarkable sculpture of an eagle that was hand carved by German Prisoners of War while at the camp.POW Sculpture
In nearby Waynoka, in the southern part of Woods County, German POWs were also interned in a church basement. In the 1980s a cache of paintings was discovered in the walls of the church. The paintings now hang in the Congregational Church Museum.
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