Prisoner of the Swiss: A World War II Airman's Story

Description

During World War II, 1,517 members of US aircrews were forced to seek asylum in Switzerland. Most neutral countries found reason to release US airmen from internment, but Switzerland took its obligations under the Hague Convention more seriously than most. The airmen were often incarcerated in local jails, and later transferred to prison camps. The worst of these camps was Wauwilermoos, where at least 161 U.S. airmen were sent for the honorable offense of escaping. To this hellhole came Dan Culler, the author of this incredible account of suffering and survival. Not only did the prisoners sleep on lice-infested straw, were malnourished and had virtually no hygiene facilities or access to medical care but worse, the commandant of Wauwilermoos was a diehard Swiss Nazi. He allowed the mainly criminal occupants of the camp to torture and rape Dan Culler with impunity. After many months of such treatment, starving and ravaged by disease, he was finally aided by a British officer. Betrayal dominated his cruel fate - by the American authorities, by the Swiss, and in a last twist in a second planned escape that turned out to be a trap. But Dan Culler’s courage and determination kept him alive. Finally making it back home, he found he had been abandoned again. Political expediency meant there was no such place as Wauwilermoos. He has never been there, so he has never been a POW and didn't qualify for any POW benefits or medical or mental treatment for his many physical and emotional wounds. His struggle to make his peace with his past forms the final part of the story. Rob Morris’s introduction and notes provide historical background and context, including recent efforts to recognize the suffering of those incarcerated in Switzerland and afford them full POW status. Table of Contents Foreword: The Historical and Legal Origins id Swiss Neutrality Final Notes on Swiss Neutrality Editor's Note to the 2017 Revised Edition Part I: The Black Hole of Wauwilermoos 1. Beginnings 2, Combat 3. Missions 4. Shot Down and Internment Camp 5. Interned at Adelboden 6. The First Escape 7. Entering the Gates of Hell 8. The Depths of Despair 9. Hospital 10. The Second Escape 11. Out of the Depths 12. The Return to England 13. Interrogation in London 14. Home Again 15. Endings 16. The Black Hole of Wauwilermoos Returns 17. Appendix to the Original 1995 Edition of "The Black Hole of Wauwilermoos" Part II: Aftermath 18. Moving On 19. Andre Beguin and General Barnwell Rhett Legge 20. Recognition at Last Selected Bibliography and Sources