The POW Diary of John Teune: At the Prison Camp

The Teune brothers in their Army Air Corps uniforms. John is second from right.

July 15, 1944

We were taken from the hospital without notice and we were on our way to Brasov. We didn't have time to say goodbye to all our friends. John and Yappy felt bad about our departing and many of our friends were sorry to see us leave. I took along some of John's clothes, the pants I received from Miss DuQue, and socks and shirts which we received from the royal family. We rode to Brasov in a 1940 Ford Delivery truck, arriving at 5 P.M. and checked in. I was assigned to room with Capt. Ferguson and Major Yaeger. We had a fair ride thru some very nice country, a stream runs nearby. The buildling was used as a rest hotel. The enlisted men are in another building nearby. Russian prisoners prepare and serve our food, clean our rooms, and make the beds. We sleep on mattresses on sheets. The food is good for a prison camp. Time is taken up by reading, walking, card playing, bull sessions, playing volley ball and a little basketball. A wire volley ball net was constructed because of the violent hard fought games which are, according to the rules, "off the beaten path." Several tunnels have been dug; however, they were discovered by the Romanian guards. The last attempt by the officers was let out by a Russian. A tunnel dug by the enlisted man caved in after heavy rains.

The boys usually had plenty of money from selling some of the cigarettes sent from home for 2000-2500 Lei a package. With this money, things such as jewelry, clothing, eggs, pastries, liquor, butter, etc. were purchased thru the barber and the guards. We also purchased things by credit, our pay, such as toilet articles, sugar, etc. We made fudge and cake when we had the ingredients.

In camp were two Englishmen interms, an Admiral doorman and a Baron Van Lynden who were Dutch. All had escaped from Germany. All but the Admiral played volleyball. The Admiral was a help to us. We also had an RAF officer and a Serb Captain. In the enlisted men's camp were other Serbs and Russians, also an English sergeant who was captured at Dunkirk and escaped Germany. He had 13 escapes to his credit. The Russians are treated badly. Our boys have been beaten on several attempted escapes. The weather during July was poor but improved during August and I let the sun put a good tan on me. I exercised daily trying to restore my leg to normal and also to add weight. We had parallel bars to work on. I managed to reach 33 push ups.

On Sundays, some boys went to the Catholic Church 100 yards away, and every other Sunday I attended a Protestant service led by a good English speaking Romanian of German ancestry.