Fort Oglethorpe ( prisoner - of - war camp ) Fort Oglethorpe , Georgia was a military facility near the town of Fort Oglethorpe , Georgia , which housed some 4 , 000 enemy military personnel as prisoners of war and civilian detainees , during the World War I period , roughly 1917 to 1920 . Camp Description . " The War Prison Camp of Fort Oglethorpe consisted of a huge , somewhat hilly plot of land approximately a mile square . The entire area was surrounded by two barbed - wire fences , about ten feet high . " Tripod watch towers were located outside the barbed wire perimeter . Each tower was equipped with a search light , telephone and machine - gun . The camp was divided into two component parts . Camp A , the " millionaire ' s camp , " housed wealthy prisoners in private rooms who paid for their own food , and also retained cooks and servants recruited from the stewards and sailors of the German maritime fleet . Camp B consisted of some thirty barracks which housed the majority of the 4 , 000 prisoners . It was dominated by an immense mess - hall . Prisoners , Military and Civilian . The military prisoners included the sailors from the German raiders SS Prinz Eitel Friedrich , SS Kronprinz Wilhelm and the vessel " Appam " . The civilian internees included businessmen denounced by their American commercial rivals , and individuals of German , Czech , Polish and other nationalities charged with a variety of offenses under the Espionage Act of 1917 . Prominent prisoners included Count Albrecht von Montgelas , Dr . Karl Muck , conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra , Dr . Ernst Kunwald , conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra , Professor Richard Benedict Goldschmidt , the biologist , Dr . Isaac Strauss , and Professor Zenneck . Daily Life and Activities . Daily life was strictly regulated . The bugle sounded at 5 : 30 AM , roll call took place at 6 : 30 , followed by breakfast . The bugle sounded again at twelve noon for mess while the period from 1PM to 3PM was declared a rest period . Another roll call followed at 5 : 30 and after dinner the prisoners were free to pursue their own activities . The courses of the camp " University " included lectures in Spanish , Portuguese , Russian , Chinese , Arabic , Hebrew , Malay as well as courses in biology ( Professor Goldschmidt ) , physiology ( Dr . Isaac Strauss ) , electronics ( Professor Zenneck ) and art ( Count Montgelas ) . Musical events were a prominent part of camp life . On one memorable occasion , Dr . Karl Muck conducted a performance of Beethoven ’ s Eroica symphony . ( " Dr . Muck had sworn he would never conduct again in America , but we convinced him that Fort Oglethorpe was really Germany , and so he gave in " ) . Other activities included chess , pinochle , football , handball , reading , carpentry , walking , and writing letters and cards to family members , members of Congress and the Department of Justice . Illnesses , Deaths and Escapes . The illnesses included tuberculosis , instances of insanity , and influenza . Tuberculosis patients were isolated in a tent and put on what was described as an unpalatable diet . The cases of insanity in a population of 4 , 000 included " dozens and dozens of men " who were transferred to St . Elizabeth ' s Asylum for the Insane in Washington . The postwar influenza pandemic was " perhaps the most ghastly of them all ; day and night ambulances rushed through the camp ; day and night patient after patient was transported to the hospital . . . More than half of the inmates became ill . " The total number of dead is not provided . The usual escape attempts took place but , as in most such cases , most of the escapees were recaptured . It appears that the one successful escape artist was one " Henckel " who made several unsuccessful attempts but at last succeeded , " and thus probably the only real spy the United States had interned at Oglethorpe disappeared for good . " Legal Aspects of Imprisonment . The Swiss Embassy represented the German interests and the Swedish Embassy represented those of the Austrians . Some of the prisoners performed hard labor on the roads and in the quarry . They were ordered to sign a document that they were doing so " of their own free will " . Many refused to sign and were locked in a separate camp behind barbed wire . Protests to the Swiss Consul , Dr . Huebscher , were ineffectual ; but the Swedish Count Rosen , who represented the Austrian prisoners , was able to reverse the decision , “ and the prisoners were returned to the main camp and put back on full rations . ” Otherwise , the treatment of the prisoners was generally fair ( " not that we were badly treated " ) but the prisoners suffered from two major irritants . Letters and cards were heavily censored and the prisoners suffered " from the unbearable uncertainty as to the duration of our detention . " However , 2 , 000 German prisoners and 1 , 600 civilian internees who opted for repatriation were returned to Germany and Europe in June or July 1919 . The remaining prisoners , perhaps 400 or so , then began a letter writing campaign . " We wrote to the Senators and Congressmen representing the sections of the country we came from . We wrote to all of them , collectively and individually . We wrote to judges , lawyers and hundreds of times to the Department of Justice . Never once did we receive an answer from a Congressman . The Swedish and Swiss Legations stopped answering our letters . The Department of Justice invariably replied that it regretted exceedingly not to be able to release us ' in the immediate future . ' How we came to loathe that phrase . " Erich Posselt himself was interviewed by a representative of the Justice Department who accused him of being a passenger on various British vessels , including HMS New Hampshire , on which Lord Kitchener died , and thereby aiding and abetting German submarines , charges that Posselt characterized as idiotic . Posselt himself was released on parole on January 12 , 1920 .