Site of P.O.W Camp - Attica, New York - WWII Prisoner of War Camps on Waymarking.com

Located along Route 98 near Attica, New York - this plaque states:

"Site of U.S. CCC Camp #1285 1935-1940

World War II P.O.W. Camp 1942-1945

Attica Landmark Preservation Society"

There was not a great deal of information about this specific location, but according to the History or Letchworth State Park website (http://www.letchworthparkhistory.com/powglimpse.html) which also housed P.O.W. camps during the time of this camp:

The story of Letchworth's prisoner of war camp goes back to the middle of World War II. The successful Allied offensive in North Africa had led to the need to house the thousands of German soldiers captured during the campaign. The War Department decided the best approach would be to build POW camps within the United States, resulting in almost every state in the Union having at least one prisoner or war camp by 1945. New York State would have several, including the one in Letchworth State Park.

The first POW camp in New York was set up at Pine Camp (now Fort Drum) in northern New York in 1943. The camp first held Italian prisoners, but soon German POWs began to arrive. To handle the rising numbers, many prisoners were sent to branch camps, some of which were in Western New York. The long distances between the base and branch camps led to the establishment of a second base camp at Fort Niagara by June of 1944. The military personal at Fort Niagara oversaw the establishment of a number of additional branch camps throughout the area, including Attica, Geneseo, Rochester, Hamlin Beach, Oakfield, Medina, and Letchworth State Park.

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