Seeking to abide by the Convention, the War Department provided the prisoners with not only comfortable accommodations and medical care but also with recreational and educational opportunities. These “intellectual diversions” as required by the Geneva treaty became popular pastimes in the camps. The Army broadly interpreted this requirement to fit its secret reeducation program to “denazify” Hitler’s legionnaires. As authorized by the Geneva Convention, enlisted men were used to fill labor positions left vacant on Army posts by wartime demands. By 1944, the recruitment of American men into the armed forces was causing severe labor shortages in the private sector as well. Despite concerns from organized labor, the Army contracted out much of its prisoner workforce in areas where free labor was unavailable, or was certified in short supply.
There were problems in the camps, to be sure. Nazi groups intimidated fellow prisoners not to work too willingly for their captors and encouraged work stoppages. Other discipline problems included the occasional slacker, the making of moonshine, and