More Stories from Camp Frederick: The Art of Erich Pahlow

In September, I was interviewed in Frederick Magazine ("Talking History with Amelia Cotter") about German World War II POWs in Maryland, a subject I've written about on and off for the last two decades ("Stories from Camp Frederick: German World War II POWs in Frederick, Maryland"). Once in a while, I get an email or contact form with stories, questions, and other insights into prison camps, POWs, and internment camps across U.S. history.

Some of the collection of 18 paintings
by Erich and Johanna Pahlow.

This winter, I was contacted by an artist and art collector from England, Kev, who was interested in my research on one German POW, Erich Pahlow, a commercial artist from Berlin. Pahlow was conscripted in 1940 at the age of 30 and left his wife Johanna, also a painter, and their three children behind in war-torn Berlin. He was captured in 1943 in Lyon, France, and then sent to Camp Frederick in Frederick, Maryland. Upon his release in 1945, he was reunited with his family, and he and Johanna spent the better part of their lives painting and exploring the world together. Pahlow was born in Berlin in 1911 and died in Bad Nauheim in 2006. Johanna passed away in 2012.

Pahlow's story is one of the most well-known among the German POWs. Like many POWs in the United States, he was sent to work at a local farm in Buckeystown. There he formed a lifelong bond with the Thomas family, even painting a mural on their kitchen wall. Pahlow corresponded regularly with Charles Thomas, who was only ten years old when they met, and returned to Frederick in 1980 to visit the family and farm again. Pahlow spoke about his experience as a German POW in articles printed by the Frederick News-Post and Frederick Magazine.

More of the collection of 18 paintings
by Erich and Johanna Pahlow.

Kev reached out to me because, in his travels as an artist and art collector, he had acquired 15 original paintings by Pahlow and three by Johanna. We formed a friendship over the course of a few months, emailing back and forth about Pahlow as well as our own personal lives and experiences. Kev offered to email me photos of the paintings, and even send me some prints of them. He went so far as mentioning leaving the collection to me one day, which seemed unfathomable. What an honor. We talked it over and after some thought, Kev came back and said he was just going to send me the entire collection now. So, this April, I received a large package from England with all 18 original paintings.

The paintings include linocut, watercolor, and other media. The oldest painting in the collection is a watercolor Pahlow painted in 1941 on the Dniester River in modern Ukraine (bottom photo, far right). This would have been just prior to Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union. Kev joked, "It appears that Erich was much more interested in painting than invasion."

The rest of the collection of 18 paintings
by Erich and Johanna Pahlow.

Pahlow himself said, "I never had to use [my] gun. People don't realize how much listless sitting and waiting there is on the battlefield. The only way to keep sane is to stay occupied, so I drew a lot and painted." As we observe the global resurgence of fascism and witness it taking hold around us, it becomes easier to understand that Pahlow, like many Germans, was in no way a Nazi sympathizer. Pahlow said, "I had a lot of American friends and personally had no reason to be against the U.S. But when political powers go to war, the rest of us are forced to follow."

Receiving this collection of paintings was, in a word, overwhelming. Holding each one of them in my hands bordered on surreal. I am so grateful to be the steward of these paintings, with special thanks, of course, to Kev for being so gracious and supportive, and trusting me and Jonathan with this beautiful collection.

Jonathan and I are planning to frame at least one by Pahlow and one by Johanna, with further plans to display them all in the future. What an interesting journey I've had over the years with this strange and often dark piece of world history. But what a beautiful footnote, or perhaps prelude, to a decades-long relationship with the life story of this remarkable POW. Read more about Erich Pahlow here.