There were German soldiers in the Coulee Region during World War II —prisoners of war.

During World War II, the Midwest was home to approximately 250 prisoner of war camps.

These camps held the 380,000 German POWs who were imprisoned in more than 660 POW camps in almost all of the then-48 United States and the territory of Alaska.

Area residents are invited to learn more about this piece of Midwestern history by visiting “Held in the Heartland: German POWs in the Midwest, 1943-46,” in the Viroqua American Legion parking lot, 120 N. Rusk Ave., Viroqua, on Thursday, June 18, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The traveling TRACES exhibit is housed in BUS-eum 3, a bus converted into a mobile museum. The exhibit, which seats up to 21 visitors, includes 15 narrative display panels filled with photographs and documents, audio and DVD documentaries, artifacts and more.

The exhibit is sponsored by the Viroqua American Legion and VFW, with the Vernon County Historical Society. A lunch of hot beef, potatoes, gravy and vegetable, will be available on site for a charge.

The exhibit is free for all ages. Donations will be accepted for the Vernon County Historical Society.

One of the camps was at Sparta’s Camp McCoy, now known as Fort McCoy.

According to traces.org, the German POWs at the U.S.-Army operated camps harvested or processed crops, built roads and waterways, felled trees, roofed barns, raised silos, worked in light non-military industry, laid city sewers and constructed tract housing. They also washed U.S. Army laundry and did other practical wartime tasks.

During their captivity, some German prisoners made friends with those who worked with them. A number of former POWs immigrated to the United States of America following the war.

According to its website, “TRACES is a non-profit educational organization created to gather, preserve and present stories of people from the Midwest and Germany or Austria who encountered each other during World War II.”

TRACES is based in St. Paul, Minn., and operated TRACES Museum Center for History and Culture in St. Paul’s Landmark Center from Oct. 16, 2005 to Nov. 9, 2008.