Georg Gärtner

Georg Gärtner

(Georg’s Prisoner-Of-War Registration in the US in 1944.)

Georg Gärtner was born on December 18, 1920 in Schweidnitz, Lower Silesia, Germany (Present Day: Świdnica, Poland.)

His Father, Paul, worked for the German Government on the Railroad and his Mother was Emma.

He had a Sister, Lotte, and a Brother, Paul Jr.

When he was 19 years old in 1940 he enlisted in the Wehrmacht and fought in the North African Campaign in the Afrika Corps.

In 1943 he was captured by the British in Tunis, French Tunisia (Present Day: Tunis, Tunisia) and sent to the United States as a Prisoner-Of-War.

He was sent to a POW Camp in Deming, New Mexico.

He was processed as Prisoner-Of-War Number. 81-G80392.

At the end of the War in May 1945 the German POWs were incorrectly told that they would be repatriated back to their Hometowns.

Georg didn’t want to return to his Hometown because it was now part of Soviet-Occupied Communist Poland.

On September 22, 1945 Georg escaped from the POW Camp by crawling under two Gates and jumping on-board a Freight Train.

The Train took him to California.

Georg changed his name to Dennis Whiles, received a Social Security Number and created a new backstory that he had been raised in an Orphanage after his Parents were killed in a Traffic Accident.

He spoke English well since he had learned in back in Germany while studying to be an Officer Candidate.

After moving between different Towns along the West Coast and working as a Lumberjack, a Dishwasher and a Laborer Georg settled in Norden, California.

He worked as a Ski Instructor in Tahoe during the Winter and as a Construction Consultant during the Summer.

In 1964 he married Jean Clarke and adopted her two Children from a previous Marriage.

They started a Tennis Club and Tennis Shop in Santa Cruz, California.

They later settled in Hawaii where Georg worked on various Construction Projects for the US Military and his Wife worked for the Hawaiian Refugee Resettlement Program, providing Job Training and Health Services to Refugees coming to the Islands.

For Decades Georg had kept his secret from his Wife and made excuses as to why they could never travel outside the United States (since he couldn’t legally get a US Passport.)

(Georg in 2009.)

In 1984, when Jean was about to leave him Georg told her everything.

In 1985 Georg went public to Bryant Gumbel on the “Today Show.”

The US Federal Government was at a loss of what to charge Georg with.

He wasn’t an Illegal Immigrant as he was brought to the US against his will as a Prisoner-Of-War.

He hadn’t escaped from Prison and so wasn’t a Runaway Criminal.

Since he had escaped after World War 2 ended there was debate as to whether he was even still a Prisoner-Of-War.

In the end the US Federal Government did not charge Georg with any crime.

In 1985 he travelled to West Germany and saw his Sister, Lotte, for the first time since the 1940s.

Jean and Georg divorced, but remained Friends.

He was allowed to remain in the United States where he became a US Citizen in November 2009.

Georg Gärtner died on January 30, 2013 in Longmont, Colorado.

He was 92 years old.

Georg had no contact with his Family back in Germany throughout Decades in hiding.

His Family had fled their Hometown after Nazi Germany’s defeat and the Communist Takeover and moved to West Germany.

His Parents were still alive in the 1960s.

They kept a picture of him in their Kitchen in the hopes that Georg would one day return.

He never did.

There were 371,000 German Prisoners-Of-War held in the United States during and shortly after World War 2.

Georg is known as the Last German Prisoner-Of-War.

The US Army searched for Georg from 1945 until 1963.

For 40 years Georg was on the FBI’s Most Wanted List with his Wanted Posters in most US Post Offices.

He was not designated as “Dangerous” so the search for him was passive for Decades.