During World War II, captured German soldiers quartered Camp Ayers in Chino, California. The German prisoner of war was not tortured or forced into labor. In accordance with the Geneva Convention, POWs had the right to consent to labor. As the war was coming to an end in 1944, two hundred fifty German prisoners of war consented to a contractual agreement with the Southern California Independent Grape Association.[1] German prisoners picked grape vines in San Bernardino County under supervision of the 9th Army Service Command.

          Camp Ayers supplied a large labor demand for fruit growers. German prisoners picked fruit six days a week for an 80 cent coupon each day. Coupons bought prisoners toothpaste and soap from the military. Together with Camp Ayers, prison camps in Southern California totaled more than a million dollars in prison labor. As the war closed, so had to Camp Ayers, but the Los Angeles Times reported that the US government had logistical problems deporting POWs, and that a labor problem would ensue after closing POW camps. E.P. Jochimsen, manager of La Verne Fruit Exchange and representative of 28 grower associations, favored keeping the German POWs, fearing a labor shortage and free union oriented workers. “They not only turn out good and reliable work, but we can also control them,” argued Jochimsen for POW’s stay.[2] The German POWs stayed longer in stockades to witness the 1946 Los Angeles County Fair, where their produce was sold.
 

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