European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 18, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The Symbol of the third Reich survives in the old officers club at Camp King. Camp a Cavern with a past in Wii thousands of captured Allied fliers passed through the pow Camp by Randy Pruitt staff writer every week or so Franz Ca Dosch walks the few blocks from his apartment in Ober Ursel Germany to Camp King to sip a Beer at the no club. It s an old haunt for him. Very old and very precious. For 40 years he stood in the other Side of the bar in his red bartender s Vest mixing drinks for thirsty americans. He also blended in some history of Camp King for those willing to imbibe. Ca Dosch 72, retired his Jigger in 1986, but he s still serving up shots of history. Today Ca Dosch reigns As one of the leading authorities on this piece of property known during world War ii As the gulag Luft. It was Here that thousands of Allied airmen shot Down in the european theatre were interrogated. A nobody knows Why this place was chosen Quot said Ca Dosch a native of Slovakia who was a tank commander in the Waffen is and a former pow in America. Ca Dosch became interested in Camp King after he discovered it was similar to the interrogation Camp at fort Hunt in Alexandria va.,t where he stayed following his capture in France in 1944. Camp King has since developed into a passion for Ca Dosch one that culminated with his donation to the City of Ober Ursal of a collection of Camp King mementos. Over the years he s compiled accounts of his visits with not Only germans who ran the Camp but also former Allied prisoners of War. He s sifted through fact fiction and exaggeration to come to know the real Camp King. What is now Camp King had the humblest of beginnings Ca Dosch explained it started in 1936 As an experimental farm and agriculture school connected with the University of Frankfurt. Students raised chickens and rabbits Learned gardening and kept bees. Then in 1939, War erupted altering forever the character of this Village in the Taurus Mountain Range. Initially the first pilots were interrogated at a Camp in Spangenberg in North Hessen Ca Dosch said but it soon proved to be too  Luftwaffe command commandeered the farm and Ober Ursal s Hospital Klinick Floh Emark and prisoners began to flow in. They were English French and eventually americans. The Camp was capable Ober Ursel 455 Frankfurt of holding 200 prisoners in individual cells. Generally they stayed less than a week before being sent to stalag in Eastern Germany. Contrary to the image created in Hollywood prisoners weren t tortured Here Ca Dosch said. Quot it was a big lie Quot he said. Quot the germans wanted to prove what they already  cells had furniture lampshades colourful tablecloths. Pinups Hung on Many of the Walls. Liquor and. Champagne looted from France were dispensed at birthday parties and other celebrations. Prisoners were not continually locked up. German interrogation methods were More Subtle and often involved acts of kindness he said. German officers took the prisoners on frequent Quot parole walks Quot engaging them in seemingly harmless conversation. Often the end result was the men told them much More than they realized. Pos were allowed to walk to Church on sunday morning and on tuesdays the town swimming Pool was set aside exclusively for prisoners. Enterprising prisoners used these escorted outings to collect information a like railway timetables a to be used in escape attempts. Valuable titbits of information also were cloaked in letters Home. A staff of 60 operated the Camp. Newspapers from great Britain were Analysed and filed while radio communications were monitored by specialists. It was t unusual for a downed Pilot to learn that the germans already had records on him. Ca Dosch said important information was obtained from the escape kit sewn into British pilots uniforms. Each kit consisted of a silk map european currency a miniature Hacksaw a Button size Compass and a photo of the aviator in civilian clothes Quot germans could use this photo and Tell by the clothes where they were stationed in England Quot he said. For photo purposes pilots often wore the same suit and tie and were photographed against the same backdrop. The clues were giveaways to the identity of the unit. The thought of escape did t weigh heavily on the German mind Ca Dosch said. At first germans presumed a code of Honor still lingered from world War i. A flying was More of a sport in the first War Quot he said. In that spirit no German Security Section was attached to the Camp Only Basic detention measures of fencing floodlights and armed guards. The germans were slow to learn that the Allied officers training we it a v la pm called for them to escape. Or try to. Each escape a one attempt involved an elaborate Tunnel a was Short lived however Ca Dosch said. As the War Drew to a close gulag Luft fell into Allied hands. Americans used it to Grill Well known German prisoners of War such As or. Karl Brandt Hitler s personal surgeon Hermann Goring marshal of the Reich chief of the German air corps and Albert Speer Reich minister. When Ca Dosch was returned to Germany Camp King was his first Stop. Ca Dosch smiles As he recalls his precise arrival at Camp King. Quot july 21, 1946, at 5 a.m.,�?� he said two weeks later he became bartender a Talent he Learned while at fort Hunt. It gave him a front Row seat to history Quot in those Days everyone was discussing the future of Germany Quot he said. He was there on sept. 19, 1946, when gulag Luft was renamed in Honor of cot. Charles b. King a it Point graduate killed in action in Normandy on june 1944. King was accompanying a patrol to bring in Enen prisoners for interrogation. He was 38 years old. With the draw Down in Europe Ca Dosch is Contemp about the future of Camp King and Hopes that its i i 5 Franz Ca Dosch left is the expert on Camp King. At right is the Camp s namesake  col. Charles b. King. Above third Reich dignitaries gather at gulag Luft. N history will be preserved should it be returned to German control. Still standing Are three half timbered buildings first erected at the Frankfurt Fairgrounds in 1938 and reassembled in Ober Ursel before the War. Quot they were part of an exhibit to show proposed Iodel Homes for labourers under the third Reich Quot said Ca Dosch. Quot the idea was to give labourers a Chance to build their own House with a Small amount of  they now function As Barracks for . Soldiers. A larger Structure also put up at the Frankfurt Fairgrounds serves As Headquarters for the 22nd signal brigade which shares the grounds with the 4th transportation come and 1st transportation movement Central Agency sitting atop a Grassy Knoll it was originally meant to be the Community Center for the experimental Farmers Village. At one time it housed not Only the bar but bartender Ca Dosch he lived there for one year. Just inside the Entrance keen eyed visitors can still spot the nazi swastikas stamped into Metal bands that hug the massive wooden support timbers. For Many years Camp King lived up to its original purpose a intelligence. From 1953 to 1968 it was Headquarters for the 513th military intelligence croup Ca Dosch thinks it s important to keep Camp King alive. Quot i m talking loud but nobody is interested Quot he said. A the germans Are not interested because it is connected with the third  he paused then added a they re not interested right of but . Laundry worker Dicey France works in what Wax once the interrogation building. \ it it German interrogators knew just where to look for the tiny Hacks ivs above carried by British fliers. The building at left now a Barracks for single soldiers was moved to the site from Frankfurt. A Glt a account of gulag Luft in the Loose Leaf history books of Camp King an american lieutenant identified As a Frey gives an account of his arrival at gulag Luft Quot was turned Over to the guards. They brought me to a room where they ordered me to empty my pockets. They confiscated All american military items. Then i was taken to the so called Quot cooler Quot a building with individual cells. The cooler had Small cells with iced up windows and a mattress. I was exhausted and Lay Down right away As the guard closed the door. Quot in the cell was a Button to ring for the guard. I used it and the door soon opened. I said i was freezing. He left and i fell asleep. I woke up and it was so hot in the cell i thought i would be Fried. I rang. Again and said i m too hot and i m hungry. First thing the next mopping i got breakfast. In the afternoon an interrogation officer Hans Scharff came to room 47, Quot i did t know what to expect. He stood behind a table and greeted me politely asked me to sit and offered me a cigarette. I was astonished because i had believed that i would be yelled at threatened and perhaps torturer. He questioned me but i did t answer. Nevertheless he knew everything even the Maiden name of my Mother. Then i went Back to my cell again. Finally i recognized that it was Clever of Hans Scharff to leave me in my cell to  prominent downed fliers were Given privileged treatment at Camp King. Scharff known by the prisoners As a poker face Scharff Quot once arranged for Quot Thunderbolt Quot Pilot Einar Ayel Malmstrom to make a five minute flight in an me-109. Malmstrom reportedly told Scharff Quot thanks for treating me like a  a amps Susan Harris a amps photos by Jim Derheim the stars and stripes monday 1993 the stars and 5tripe5