SAHUARITA, Ariz. (KGUN) — The Santa Cruz Valley Historical Society recently unveiled a new historical marker commemorating Camp Continental, a German prisoner-of-war (POW) camp that played a significant role in Arizona’s World War II history.
The ceremony took place on February 12 at Quail Creek Veterans Municipal Park, just a mile from the original campsite.
Camp Continental, which housed between 250 and 300 German POWs, was one of several smaller camps spread across Arizona. These camps were strategically placed near agricultural areas to help address the severe labor shortage caused by the war. Prisoners were paid for their work and made substantial contributions, picking nearly 90% of Arizona’s cotton crop by the war’s end.
The project to recognize Camp Continental’s history began two decades ago when Staff Sergeant Joe Martinez, a former guard at the camp, casually mentioned its existence to his family.
His granddaughter, Tricia Torres, recalled how this offhand comment sparked a years-long effort to preserve its history.
“My grandpa, when we were passing from taking him from a doctor’s appointment, he just mentioned it to my grandma,” Torres said. “And I was nosey and I said, ‘Wait a minute, what are you talking about?’ I said, ‘Grandpa, that’s history that we need to know.’”
With help from Eagle Scout Travis Garcia, who took on the marker as a project seven years ago, and local historians, the long-awaited tribute became a reality.
Author Steve Hoza, who has extensively researched Arizona’s WWII POW camps, spoke at Joyner-Green Valley Library before the unveiling.
His work includes interviews with former German prisoners, many of whom expressed gratitude for their treatment in the U.S. One veteran even told Hoza, “Thank God we were captured by Americans,” in contrast to the harsh conditions of Russian POW camps, which had a staggering 58% death rate. In American camps, the fatality rate was only 0.1%.
German prisoners in Arizona also developed a deep appreciation for the state, with some returning years later.
One such former POW, Johnny Gierhardt, came back to Florence to pick cotton, while others reunited at old camp locations to relive memories of their time in captivity.
Torres says that her father remembered the German captors fondly.
“My grandfather said that the second set of prisoners were wonderful people,” she said. “He said they were very good, to the point where they took their rations and made a wedding cake. Even one prisoner that came back and made contact with my grandpa asked if he could take him back to the site.”
Arizona’s POW camps, including the larger Papago Park camp in Phoenix, also gained historical notoriety. In December 1944, a group of German prisoners staged a daring escape from Papago Park, walking for ten days to the Mexican border in a bid for freedom.
Many German POWs were fascinated by the American West, influenced by the books of German author Karl May, who romanticized cowboys and frontier life.
This admiration added to their connection with Arizona, making their experience in the state unique.
For the descendants of those involved, the unveiling of Camp Continental’s historical marker was a meaningful moment.
“We’re very happy that this is actually getting done,” Torres said. “We’re from Sahuarita, our whole family is from Sahuarita, so we’re very proud.”
For the Santa Cruz Valley Historical Society, the site provides a chance to counter misinformation about the camp and educate the surrounding communities about the area’s contributions to World War 2.
“People just hear rumors here and there that we had a POW camp but nobody knows a lot about it,” said Amy Millet, Secretary for the Santa Cruz Historical Society. “We wanted to displace some of those rumors and get the facts out there.”
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Joel Foster is a multimedia journalist at KGUN 9 who previously worked as an English teacher in both Boston and the Tucson area. Joel has experience working with web, print and video in the tech, finance, nonprofit and the public sectors. In his off-time, you might catch Joel taking part in Tucson's local comedy scene. Share your story ideas with Joel at joel.foster@kgun9.com, or by connecting on Facebook, Instagram or X.
