Bill Faill holds the brilliantly-hued parrot painting, one that was likely rendered by a German prisoner of war being held at the camp on Moscow Road in Hamlin. Photo by Robbi Hess.

Faill points to the area of duct work in his basement that was home for more than 50 years to the prisoner of war painting. Photo by Robbi Hess.

Information sought
on POW artwork

For more than 50 years, a painting by former German prisoner of war Kurt Schmale remained tucked away in the duct work of a Hamlin home.

Two years ago, homeowner Bill Faill saw something up in the duct work in his basement so he set about discovering what it was. What he unearthed was a painting of a brightly hued parrot perched on a branch. It is believed the painting was rendered by a prisoner of war who had been housed at the POW camp on Moscow Road from 1944 to 1945. "Once I got the painting out of the pipe I had to have it restored," Faill said. "No one that I have talked to seems to know how this painting could have ended up in the duct work."

Following the restoration, Faill had the painting framed and it now hangs on a wall in his home. The painting is signed by Kurt Schmale and is dated October 6, 1944.

Faill said he had made several attempts to locate records from the POW camp that would have hopefully shed some light on the painter's identity. "I wasn't able to find out very much, even on the Internet," he said.

Town of Hamlin Historian Mary Smith said there are other paintings by other prisoners of war in the area. "There have been a few unearthed," she said. There is also a website that has information and images of other works of art done during that era. The website is: www.rochester.lib.ny.us/rochimag then search for Hamlin.

Smith said the Moscow Road POW camp was one of several that cropped up during the mid-1940s. "The main one was in Fort Niagara and Hamlin just happened to be home to one of the others," she said. "The German prisoners of war were here from about June of 1944 to 1946. They were used to compensate for the lack of manpower in this area due to our men being away and serving in the war."

In mid-July, Faill once again became interested in tracking down the artist behind the painting. "I went to the Internet and searched for individuals in Germany with the same last name and I wrote letters to them to see if they can shed any light on the painter's identity," he said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Faill at 964-8781.