Da Lacht der Pikes Peak. Ein Lustiges Buechlein

Camp Carson, Co: Die PW-Woche, 1944. Very good.. Fifty-two leaves, all but the title page printed rectos only, with the half title page printed in red and blue. Oblong octavo. Original tan paper-covered boards, gray cloth backstrip, front cover decorated with block-printed illustration and the printed title, "Da Lacht der Pikes Peak." Minor staining, foxing, and edge wear to covers, corners worn. Original censorship stamp on rear flyleaf, minimal foxing to fore-edge of text block, otherwise clean internally. A very rare collection of comic strips produced by the German prisoners of war incarcerated at Camp Carson, Colorado during World War II. The title translates roughly to "Laughs of Pikes Peak: A Funny Little Book." According to the website for Camp Carson (now Fort Carson): "Camp Carson was also home to nearly 9,000 Axis prisoners of war - mostly Italians and Germans. The internment camp at Camp Carson opened on the first day of 1943. These POWs alleviated the manpower shortage in Colorado by doing general farm work, canning tomatoes, cutting corn, and aiding in logging operations on Colorado's Western Slope." Apparently the inmates also had time for a bit a levity, evidenced by the present collection of comics. After the introductory text which describes the daily routine for the internees, the remainder of the work is comprised of one, two, three, or four-panel woodcut comic strips with explanatory text printed beneath, describing and illustrating life inside the prison camp. The work was published by Die PW Woche, the camp's newspaper, produced by the German POWs from 1943 to 1945. OCLC records just a single copy, at the Pikes Peak Library District.