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SALINA — It doesn't matter how many times Dee Olsen walks through the old buildings, he can still feel the history.
"Salina folks know nothing about it, had no idea what these buildings represented," Olsen said.
In this small part of Sevier County, Camp Selena was once home to German prisoners during World War II. It’s a big reason why Olsen and others restored the place into a museum.
On Saturday, it was the museum’s grand opening.
"Thank you for coming and especially for your support,” Olsen told the crowd attending the opening.
Stepping into the buildings is like stepping back in time to when World War II was all Americans were thinking about.
"A lot of good happened here, and then of course, there's the sad part," Olsen said.
One July night in 1945, a U.S. soldier started shooting German prisoners.
Salina resident Rodney Rasmussen lived across the street, and he said he'll never forget that sound.
"When this happened, it was just a tragic thing we had seen and heard," Rasmussen said. "We came out on the front porch and we could still see the flame from the gun."
Nine Germans were killed, making it the worst massacre at a POW camp in U.S. history.
"It was quite an ordeal after you get to think about it for a small town like Salina,” Rasmussen said.
It has taken two years and a lot of hard work to get to this point to make items and places look like they did at that time.
But for those involved, it was important to get it right because museums should be real, and it’s history that should never be forgotten.
"It is history, it's real and it's not fabricated,” Olsen said. "We hope it'll be enjoyed by many and they will understand this part of history as it really was.”
Contributing: Xoel Cardenas
