Hyphenated American
by Mathew Greenlee
John and Lois Foellmer, 1965. (Courtesy of Gary Johnson, John Otto Foellmer’s great nephew.)
German American POW John Otto Foellmer
April 21, 1922 – December 5, 1981
Born in 1922 in Cheyenne Wyoming,[1] John lived in Denver with his parents and two brothers until his twenties. John’s father was born in the United States, though his mother was born in Germany[2], making him one of many German Americans to live in the Midwest at the time. During and after the first World War, there was a severe backlash against German Americans. President Woodrow Wilson spoke disparagingly of “hyphenated” Americans, who he saw as threats to the United States due to a fear of mixed loyalties. In a 1919 speech in support of the League of Nations, Wilson claimed; “Any man who carries a hyphen about with him carries a dagger that he is ready to plunge into the vitals of this Republic whenever he gets ready.” [3] This kind of distrust fostered widespread anti-German sentiment, leading to harassment of peoples of German ancestry, the shutting down of German-language newspapers, and the cancellation of German language classes in public schools.
John was raised in this context and, as his mother was German, it is highly likely that he learned and spoke German around the house with her. While many Americans could claim German heritage through distant bloodlines, it became increasingly difficult to hold German cultural ties, especially when it came to speaking the language. These German ties would come to haunt many, as thousands of peoples of German ancestry were detained in the United States during World War II.[4] As John grew up, he worked as a mechanic,[5] and while many of the German Americans around him changed their last name in order to assimilate and seem more American, his family did not. This choice would later come to save his life.
At the age of 20, upon the outset of America’s entrance to World War II, John was drafted into the U.S. Army.[6] The nation that had spent so much energy in attempting to assimilate and change German Americans would then call upon them to fight the homeland they feared “hyphenated Americans” would still hold loyalty to. John fought in Europe, where he would remain until July of 1945. As a soldier, John was captured by the Germans in January of 1945, during the last German offensive of the war, the Battle of the Bulge.[7] At the battle, he and many of his unit surrendered and were put in a German prisoner of war camp.
POW camps were bleak and dreary places, and American soldiers undoubtedly feared the possibility of capture. While the Germans were slowly running out of time as the Soviets moved in towards Berlin and the Allies continued to retake the West, they also were running out of critical supplies that would otherwise have fed their soldiers and supported their populace.[8] As they ran out of supplies for their own people, supplies began to dwindle also in the POW camps. Captured during the most desperate months of the war, John would certainly have experienced this slow decline in available food stuffs.
The decline in resources that stifled the Germans would also nearly take John’s life. Struck down with dysentery, with few supplies and little care, his life hung by a thread. By a lucky accident, it was discovered that he was actually the cousin of several of the camp guards.[9] Upon finding this, his cousins managed to sneak him precious food and blankets that brought him through the sickness that otherwise might likely have killed him.[10]
John was eventually released by the Germans on July 27,1945, two months after the official German surrender.[11] He returned to the United States and remained in Colorado for the rest of his life, marrying his sweetheart Lois and raising four children, John, Steven, Thomas, and Dianna.[12]John’s unlikely story shows that that which made him unworthy of trust in America, likely saved his life in Germany.
Footnotes ↓
[1] “1930 United States Federal Census,” entry for John O. Foellmer, database, accessed July 27, 2018, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Woodrow Wilson, “The Pueblo Speech,” September 25, 1919, accessed July 27 2018, https://voicesofdemocracy.umd.edu/wilson-the-pueblo-speech-speech-text/.
[4] Alan Rosenfeld, “German and Italian Detainees,” Densho Encyclopedia, accessed October 2, 2019, https://encyclopedia.densho.org/German_and_Italian_detainees/.
[5] “U.S., World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946,” entry for John O. Foellmer, database, accessed July 27, 2018, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com.
[6] Ibid.
[7] History.com editors, “Battle of the Bulge,” HISTORY, accessed October 2, 2019, https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-the-bulge.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Gary Johnson, interview by Morgan Zeigler, August 2, 2018, DU VLP.
[10] Ibid.
[11] “World War II Prisoners of War, 1941-1946,” database, accessed July 27, 2018, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com.
[12] “Obituaries,” entry for Lois L. Foellmer, The Denver Post, March 4, 2009.
More Stories
