as a list of especially dangerous men to be kept under surveillance [after the war], General Ramcke ought to qualify as one of the first candidates". While at Trent Park, Ramcke boasted about destroying Brest in a conversation with Dietrich von Choltitz, the last commander of German-occupied Paris. Von Choltitz believed that Ramcke's actions constituted a war crime. Ramcke was later moved to the United States as a prisoner of war. On 1 January 1946 he briefly escaped from Camp Clinton, Mississippi to post letters protesting about American propaganda campaigns and the withdrawal of tobacco and other luxury items from the POWs to Byron Price, the director of the Office for Censorship, and Senator James Eastland. After the camp authorities learned of Ramcke's escape, he was transferred to Camp Shelby in Mississippi and held in solitary confinement on a diet of bread and water for four days. Ramcke was returned to Europe in March 1946. After a brief period in Belgium, he was transferred to the London Cage. Historian Helen Fry has written that he was considered at this time to be a "bombastic nasty man who sought to blame others for the crimes of the regime". During his interrogation at the London Cage Ramcke retracted claims that New Zealand soldiers, including Māori personnel, had committed atrocities during the fighting on Crete which were contained in the book of memoirs he had written while in American custody. Ramcke was later transferred to a camp at Lüneburg and gave evidence in Student's war crimes trial. He was greatly angered when Student was convicted. From 1946 Ramcke was held in French custody awaiting trial for war crimes relating to the fighting at Brest. The crimes he was charged with included the execution of French civilians, the looting of civilian property and the intentional destruction of civilian houses. After being held in custody for 57 months he escaped to Germany to see his family, but surrendered himself soon afterwards. Following a trial, he was found guilty on 21 March 1951, and sentenced to five years and six months' imprisonment. He was released after three months' imprisonment either on account of his age or due to having already been held in French captivity for five years before the verdict. Following his release from nearly seven years captivity, Ramcke, through his public actions, became seen as a dedicated nationalist by his fellow generals and supported