When German Prisoners of War Passed Through Paoli on the PRR - Video

During World War 2, the Pennsylvania Railroad transported over 150,000 German prisoners between the port of New York City and camps in the country’s interior. These movements were shrouded in secrecy; their true nature was sometimes unknown to the train crews that handled them. Even today, written histories of WW2 POW transportation are scarce. By interviewing PRR fireman Gene Steffy and seeking original records, historian Roger Thorne has retraced the steps of one such movement which passed through Paoli, PA on a fateful day: April 12th, 1945.

Those interested only in the railroad specifics of the story can skip to 16:50 and then to 37:59.

This presentation was recorded live at the November 21, 2010 meeting of the Tredyffrin Easttown Historical Society held at Easttown Library in Berwyn, PA. The video is posted here with the presenter’s permission.

Tredyffrin Easttown Historical Society: https://www.tehistory.org/
News article about this presentation: https://www.mainlinemedianews.com/2010/11/28/local-historian-traces-pow-trains-through-paoli/

00:00 Introduction
03:54 December 7, 1941
06:23 Where German POWs came from
08:23 Allied convoy system
11:24 New York City port of embarkation
15:04 Rules for POW trains
16:50 PRR POW trains
20:12 March 1945 POW passage example
31:11 NYC disembarkation
37:59 Gene Steffy
49:42 POWs board the train at Jersey City
1:01:01 Unexpected stop at North Philadelphia
1:05:49 Paoli
1:09:45 Harrisburg
1:10:36 Final destinations
1:16:25 Epilogue
1:19:00 Q&A with Gene Steffy and Carl Landeck
1:24:42 Closing credits