Man retraces WWII ‘Black Hunger March’ to honor great-grandfather

Man retraces WWII ‘Black Hunger March’

Max LaPointe has retraced the 500-mile “Black Hunger March” done by prisoners of war in WWII as part of an honor to the sacrifices made by his great-grandfather. FOX 9’s Karen Scullin has the story.

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Max LaPointe has embarked on a journey to honor his great-grandfather's WWII experiences.

Max LaPointe's journey of remembrance

What we know:

In October, LaPointe, 24, began retracing the 500-mile trek his great-grandfather, Adam Kozlowski, endured as a WWII POW. Kozlowski was a gunner in the Air Force when his plane was shot down over Germany.

LaPointe shared that his great-grandfather spent 202 days as a POW, a relatively short time compared to others who were held for years before the march began.

The "Black Hunger March" was ordered by the Nazis to evacuate POW camps as the Soviets advanced.

The harsh realities of the march

What they're saying:

"Instead of using rye, they would mix it with sawdust because there just wasn't enough grain to feed these thousands of prisoners," said LaPointe, describing the dire conditions the POWs faced.

The POWs faced extreme cold, starvation and disease. Many were locked in barns at night, while others slept in the snow, suffering from frostbite and hypothermia. LaPointe recounted how the Nazis killed some prisoners, while others succumbed to diseases like typhus, dysentery and tuberculosis.

Nearing the end and fearing the worst, Kozlowski was one of six believed to have escaped the march. He and another man walked 75 miles before running into British soldiers who saved them.