Following a viewing of the PBS Documentary, Held in Minnesota: Untold WWII POW Stories, Simmons will speak about the camps in Minnesota and South Dakota during World War Two. Held in Minnesota: Untold WWII POW Stories, a recent documentary by Pioneer Public Television in Minnesota, earned a Midwest Emmy as the best documentary in 2025.
PBS States: “World War II left a severe labor shortage on Minnesota’s farms – threatening the state and nation’s food supply at a critical time. Men who usually worked the fields left to fight overseas, [which] paradoxically created a void that was filled by over 4,000 German and Italian POWs from overseas. Held in Minnesota: Untold WWII POW Stories is a Pioneer PBS documentary film about the forgotten history of twenty-one POW labor camps in Minnesota during WWII by way of a major POW camp in Algona, Iowa.
“The POWs and community members were inexplicably drawn to one another. In some cases, the prisoners formed tight bonds with Minnesotans, attended church together, drinking at bars together and working side by side. Held in Minnesota explores the stories of these communities coming to bumpy terms with the enemy not only on their soil but tilling it, during an extraordinary time in Minnesota’s history and the world’s.”
About Dean:
Dean Simmons is the author of Swords into Plowshares: Minnesota’s POW Camps During World War Two. Simmons has researched and written about multiple aspects of Minnesota history, in particular stories related to World War Two. He has been a featured speaker at the Minnesota World War Two History Roundtable Series held at the Minnesota History Center in St. Paul. He was born and raised in Olivia, Minnesota, the site of Minnesota’s first POW camp.
Simmons holds bachelor’s degrees in German and Economics from the University of Saint Thomas, and did postgraduate work for a year and a half at the University of Trier, Germany. Much of the material for his book was gathered there. Simmons received his master’s degree in International Business in 1995. He is currently an Economics instructor at Saint Thomas Academy in Mendota Heights, Minnesota.