Monday, Nov. 23, 2020 Page 3The Chronicle-News Trinidad, Colorado

Trinidad HisTory

Time Capsule

Cosette Henritze The Chronicle-News

Camp Trinidad, a facility built nine miles east of the city, housed German POWs during World War II and initially there were just a few successful es-capes from the camp. That was due mainly to its isolated loca-tion. Getting out didn’t seem to be the hard part, but for a pris-oner to find his way successfully across country to find where he could leave the U.S. wasn’t so easy. The language barrier was one challenge. Deciding which direction to go and locating available transportation was even harder. Most escapees dur-ing the early months didn’t last more than 24 hours outside.

The situation started to change in late 1943, however, although most problems were hidden from the public. It wasn’t until many years after the war when U.S. Army records were opened for public review that the true number of men who had escaped was shown to be higher.

Inadequate supervision of the prisoners by U.S. Army staff at the camp was apparently the cause and there didn’t seem to be much effort made by camp administrators to solve the problem. Eventually, the situa-tion even drew the attention of F.B.I. Director J. Edgar Hoover who wrote about Camp Trini-dad in the following letter to the U.S. Attorney General in Octo-ber 1943: “An extremely danger-ous condition is being permitted to exist there.”

The event that focused Hoover’s attention on Camp Trinidad was an escape that

took place on the evening of Oct. 17, 1943 when six German prisoners got out of camp. None of them were even missed until the following day. A search was then initiated and two of the men – Heinrich Haider and Her-mann Loescher were arrested near Wagon Mound, NM. They claimed to have no knowledge of the whereabouts of the other four men and said those prison-ers had, in fact, likely escaped at

least a week earlier. (The camp commander admitted it was a possibility, an admission that no doubt contributed to Hoover’s comments above.)

The real bombshell was yet to be dropped, though. When a local sheriff searched Haider he found several photographs that showed he and Loescher

with three women at a farm (haystacks in background). They were all dressed casually, perhaps in work clothes. In one photo there was an affection-ate hug and another showed the women who appeared to be Japanese.

They were. Toots, Flo, and Billie Shitara were sisters. They were among the Japanese-Americans living at the Amache Internment camp Near Grena-

da, CO that during WWII housed 7,000 American citizens because they were of Japanese descent.

Initially, the photos were of little interest to the men who captured Haider and Loescher and returned them to Camp Trinidad. They didn’t even take the photos back. But when the sheriff began showing them

around to friends and a news-paper editor got hold of one, he recognized there might be some-thing worth looking into about the women and the German sol-diers.

Once the photos appeared in print the nature of this lat-est escape from Camp Trinidad became national news. When Heinrich Haider was questioned he denied knowing the women and was surprised to see the photos (it was later revealed that one of the women had slipped an envelope with the photos inside Haider’s jacket pocket as a sur-prise parting gift).

As the story was slowly being investigated there was a major development that changed the entire nature of the case. An-other recaptured prisoner who had been among the additional four men to escape on October 17 told authorities that he would give them all the information they sought about Loescher and Haider and the Japanese women in exchange for being immediately moved to another POW camp and a promise by U.S. government officials that he wouldn’t be returned to Ger-many while the war continued and the Nazis were in power. He’d been a political prisoner and had been forced to join the German army upon his release from jail at the start of WWII.

He got his deal and he spilled what he knew of the friendship and aid given to the German officers. It would lead the three Shitara sisters to a courtroom in Denver to stand trial for treason.

NEXT WEEK: Were the sisters truly guilty of treason?

Camp Trinidad’s notorious escape draws notice of F.B.I. top guy

On This Day November 16

112 Years Ago - 1908A variegated bunch of bemoaners

were corked in the city’s tank this a.m. Hon. Judge Bowers is filing in during the absence of Judge Finch and he is handing out punishments with his two fists.

All together, side by each, there were eight mournful Willies in soak at the city medicine station. First and foremost among them was one Buddy Moore, a young man of dandy clothes and a most appealing mug. He was working hard on the sympathy racket but Club Swinger Brighton would have none of it and fastened the hooks into him and sent him to the feed stalls for vagrancy. Ike Albertson and E.B. Mer-rick were caged last night for nasal tapping near the Commercial Street Bridge. Five others, one, me-takey-too-much and four vags were sewed up during the night. The fellow with the bun on couldn’t come up with an un-derstandable name and was logged in simply as Mr. Irishman, which wasn’t fair to the nationality considering it from a Mickey’s standpoint. Neverthe-less he was one of the clay pipe variety.

87 Years Ago – 1933A potted orchid, proud aristocrat of

the floral family, is seen at the Fairmont Floral Company at 427 N. Commercial St. The appearance of the potted orchid, reported as the first full plant ever to be exhibited in Trinidad, is herald of the improvements made at the floral store operated for some years by Gabe Sacco and John Cardinale. While cut orchids have been seen before in Trinidad, Mr. Cardinale explained that this one is a full growing plant with blossoms and buds and so is a most unusual sight.

The lovely new show rooms of the Fairmont Floral Company are now open for inspection. At considerable ex-pense this enterprising firm has com-pletely remodeled and redecorated the place, giving added attractiveness to the store where many varieties of flow-ers are displayed for sale.

The store carries the appearance of the up-to-date floral stores of larger cit-ies and invites the public to come take a look. The showroom has been rear-ranged. The walls, floors and entire in-terior now fairly glisten. Into this new setting is being arranged the wealth of varied-hued flowers, making it a literal bower of beauty and fragrance. And the grand orchid reigns supreme as king or queen of the flower display.

65 Years Ago - 1955Basketball fans will get their first

glimpse of the Trinidad Jr. College Tro-jans in action tonight when Coach Har-ry Wise divides his squad into teams for the annual intrasquad game, which is set to get underway at 7:30 p.m.

Tonight’s game will be a fine exhibi-tion and preview for this year’s regular season for the Trojans, who open their 1955-56 campaign on the hardwood of Scott Gymnasium Saturday night in a non-conference game against Garden City Jr. College.

The starting lineup will be selected from among Eloy Mares, Glen Haney, Bob Ferguson, Leroy Lopez, Don Finney, Phil Vigil, Don Vallejos, Wil-liam Richardson and Joe Chiarelli.

It wasn’t until many years after the war when U.S. Army records were opened for public review that the true number of men who had escaped

was shown to be higher.

Photo collage by Cosette HenritzeFlo, Bev and Toots Shitara were three sisters sent away from their homes in California to live at the Amache Relocation Center in 1942. They were among 7,000 Japanese-American citizens who spent WWII at the facility on the barren plains of eastern Colorado. In 1943 the sisters were released on daily work details to a farm near Trinidad to pick onions. It was there that they met and worked alongside two German POWs from Camp Trinidad. They would later help the men escape from the camp one night in October 1943.