Stribling Brock Collection unveiling tells story of loving one's enemy
Kim Chaudoin | 615.966.6494 |
Sometimes friendships are forged in the unlikeliest of circumstances.
Beaman Library’s new Stribling Brock Collection tells an unusual tale of wartime encounters that created lasting friendships. It tells the story of friendships made between World War II German prisoners of war and those held them captive. On Sept. 10, a portion of the collection was unveiled to the public at an event celebrating the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.
The donation of a unique collection of letters to Beaman Library sparked new national interest in a forgotten chapter of Tennessee’s and America’s history this summer.
During World War II, from April 1944 to March 1946, a German prisoner of war camp was located in the Middle Tennessee town of Lawrenceburg, Tenn. The 300 or so prisoners housed there were contracted out to local farms as day laborers, and many of them got to know the locals quite well. When the war ended and the POWs went home to Germany, they wrote letters to their American friends.
One Lawrenceburg family, the Brocks, kept the letters, and in the 1980s, one of their descendants found more than 350 letters stuffed in a Corn Flakes box. Curtis Peters, an in-law in the Brock family and president of the Lawrenceburg Historical Society, kept the letters and made presentations on them for many years.
Then last year, Peters learned of Lipscomb University through a personal connection with one of Lipscomb’s history professors and decided to donate the letters to the Beaman Library archives. The family wanted the Stribling Brock Letters Collection to be housed at a faith-based university and to be available for the public to enjoy and for researchers to advance knowledge of this aspect of Tennessee history.
This summer, Charlie McVey, professor of German, and student and native German Inez Konschewitz, translated the letters. Beaman Library archivists Marie Byers and Elizabeth Rivera led the effort to catalog and digitize the collection.
“War tends to be dehumanizing. There is little about a battlefield that is humane,” said Tim Johnson, professor of history, at the ceremony. “ In this case, though, the generosity of the host country, the hospitality of the people of Lawrenceburg, made a lasting impression on these German soldiers. Not only were Tennesseans able to see that these soldiers were actually human beings, but the Germans also could see that Tennesseans were honest, civil and human, and that Americans in fact were human, too.
“These friendships that were formed lasted for decades. The letters that were written by the Germans soldiers were a testament to that. Buried within these letters is a story—actually many stories—just waiting for someone to draw them out.”
The donation of the letters to Lipscomb resulted in nationwide media coverage as well as media stories in Europe. The collection was featured on NBC Nightly News on Sunday, Aug. 9.
Linda Sue Andress Peña was at home in San Antonio, Texas, where she has lived for 60 years, when she heard the story on NBC. The reporter’s mention of her hometown, Lawrenceburg, Tenn., caught her attention. When she saw the story she said she was stunned. Her father, Jesse Andress, was the commanding officer of the German POW camp in Lawrenceburg. Peña’s parents and sister, Barbara, moved to the camp on Oct. 1, 1944. Peña was born on July 25, 1945, while the family lived at the camp. They remained there until Feb. 15, 1946.
For years, Peña said she has wanted to go back to her hometown, a place she hadn’t visited in decades. When she heard about the Stribling Brock Collection, Peña said she decided to come to Tennessee to be a part of the unveiling and to make her pilgrimage home.
“My stories come from my parents and the pictures and letters handed down to me,” said Peña. “What I know is that the prisoners of war adored my dad. When I was born, the prisoners made and offered a heart shaped locket stamped with the initials LA that I still wear even today. I have held this dear for 70 years.”
Peña brought letters and pictures to add to Lipscomb’s collection. She recalled stories her parents told her of the prisoners singing lullabies to their young daughters in the evenings and of the garden they planted.
“These scattered memories have always been in a shoebox with black and white pictures and stained letters until recent years,” said Peña, who moved to San Antonio with her family at age 10. “The letters talk about my father’s gentleness and fairness to all. I’m honored to return to Tennessee on this special occasion and to share the story along with letters and photos from the German POWs.”
Peters said the official unveiling of the letter collection signaled the end of a journey for him.
“This has been a long journey for me getting involved with the POW letters and the history of Lawrenceburg,” said Peters, as he described life in Lawrenceburg and the POW camp at that time. “This collection contains letters that were written over a 30 year period of time following the end of the POW camp. It has taken on a life of its own now, and I think it’s definitely for the good of the stories these tell.”
McVey read portions of several of the translated letters at the event.
“The relationships that underlie the words in these letters are precious, especially in a time of war and hate and death,” he said “We see American kindness, Southern Lawrenceburg kindness and Christian compassion. Then we see that reflected in the attitudes and feelings of these young German boys in these letters.”
Konschewitz, a sophomore from Grafenberg, Germany, and a member of the women’s golf team, played a key role in the translation process as many of letters were written in old style German and she transliterated them into modern German for McVey to translate into English. She also represented her country at the unveiling event and read a letter from Thomas Wolfling, deputy counsulate at the German consulate in Atlanta that was sent for the occasion.
“The Stribling Brock Collection is another milestone in the relations between the U.S. and Germany after the horrors of World War II,” she read. “We as Germans deeply appreciate the help, support and protection we received from our American friends after the war. Without the U.S., our democracy, economic success and the overall peaceful environment that we enjoy in Europe today would not have been possible.”
She also reflected on her experience with the project.
“It is my privilege to be here tonight to commemorate this wonderful collection of letters, letters that were written by my fellow Germans who lived through World War II expecting hate and animosity when they were brought to America, but who experienced kindness, generosity and Southern hospitality,” said Konschewitz.
After studying the letters, Konschewitz said she learned two important lessons.
“Through the letters I learned not to take so many things for granted any more. Things like clothes, shoes, food, even soap,” she reflected. “I learned to be thankful. The letters also made me think about the commandment of Jesus to love your enemies. I underestimated the power that this love that Jesus has shown us and given us has and the fruit that it can produce. The fruit of love and of joy and of hope in a time of hardships and of war. Tonight, as a German, I want to thank you, Americans, for the kindness and the love that you’ve shown us.”