Axis Diplomats in American Custody

The Housing of Enemy Representatives and Their Exchange for American Counterparts, 1941–1945

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About the Book

After Pearl Harbor, German, Italian and Japanese diplomats, along with their staffs and families, were relocated to two lavish but isolated resorts in Appalachia, where the State Department insisted they be treated as distinguished guests. As the war progressed, other Axis envoys were similarly detained. (The Japanese ambassador to Germany was captured by U.S. soldiers in Europe and held in a small hotel in rural Pennsylvania, while the War Department argued for treating him as a war criminal and the local population decried his luxurious accommodations.)
Informants were recruited, attempts at espionage and escape were foiled, diplomats complained and squabbled endlessly, babies were born and townspeople made threats, while newspapers published outlandish exposés of wild parties.
Based on government documents, the recollections of detainees and hotel staff and contemporary newspaper accounts, this book is the first to focus on the day-to-day lives of the nearly 1,000 detainees during their six-month confinement.

About the Author(s)

Attorney Landon Alfriend Dunn lives in Matthews, North Carolina.
Retired accountant Timothy J. Ryan lives in Matthews, North Carolina.

Bibliographic Details

Landon Alfriend Dunn and Timothy J. Ryan
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 208
Bibliographic Info: notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2016
pISBN: 978-1-4766-6486-6
eISBN: 978-1-4766-2539-3
Imprint: McFarland

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Preface 1

Introduction 6

One—The Hotels Are Selected 17

Two—The ­Round-Up 28

Three—Daily Routine 41

Four—Musical Chairs 54

Five—Negotiations for Exchange 66

Six—Be Careful What You Wish For 80

Seven—The Actual Exchange 95

Eight—End Games 107

Nine—Vichy French at the Hotel Hershey 121

Ten—Diplomats Captured in North Africa During the War 131

Eleven—Japanese Captured in Europe Near the End of the War 144

Conclusion 153

Chapter Notes 157

Bibliography 177

Index 199