http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3993600/Nazi-solider-leaves-six-figure-life-savings-tiny-Scottish-village-experienced-kindness-generosity-prisoner-war.html
Nazi SS soldier leaves his life-savings of £400,000 to the tiny Scottish village where he experienced 'kindness and generosity' as a prisoner of war over seventy years ago
- Heinrich Steinmeyer pledged money to residents in Comrie, Perthshire
- 90-year-old was held captive at Steinmeyer camp there during WWII
- Taken to camp housing ardent Nazis after being captured in Normandy
- He died in 2014 and £386,000 donation has been received by village
A
Nazi prisoner of war has given his home and life savings of £400,000 to
a British village where he experienced ‘kindness and generosity’ during
his imprisonment.
Heinrich
Steinmeyer, 90, pledged the money to elderly residents in the village
of Comrie, Perthshire, where he was held captive during the Second World
War.
He
was grateful for being treated with humanity by both the troops who
captured him and the guards at the camp where he was kept until the end
of the war.
POW:
Heinrich Steinmeyer (pictured), 85, has given his home and life savings
of £400,000 to a British village where he experienced ‘kindness and
generosity’ during his imprisonment
Under gruard: Mr Steinmeyer pledged
the money to elderly residents in Comrie, Perthshire, where he was held
captive at Cultybraggan camp (above) during the Second World War
Now,
following his death in 2014, the money donated by Steinmeyer - who
served in a Waffen-SS combat division – has finally reached the village.
The
Comrie Development Trust which bought Cultybraggan camp for £350,000 in
2007, has now received a donation of €457,180 (£386,086).
Andrew
Reid from the trust said: 'This story is about Heinrich Steinmeyer's
gratitude for how he was treated and welcomed in this village and other
parts of Scotland.
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'His gratitude will live on in the way that it will support older people in Comrie.'
Mr
Steinmeyer was taken to the camp housing ardent Nazis after being
captured in Normandy in August 1944. His SS Panzer division had been
savaged by the Allies.
But
he said both the guards and villagers treated him so well that he
decided to remain in Scotland for seven years after the war.
Appreciative: He was grateful for
being treated with humanity by both the troops who captured him and the
guards at the camp (pictured) where he was kept until the end of the war
Friendships: Letters from Mr Steinmeyer sent to George Carson, an elderly resident of Comrie
In
2009, Mr Steinmeyer said: 'I always wanted to repay the generosity they
showed me. They deserve everything I have to give them.
‘And
it is far better they have it than anyone else. Cultybraggan was a
holiday camp compared to the fighting. The whole place was so beautiful.
‘It
went straight to my heart, and I thought "why have I been fighting this
bloody war?". They were tough, but always fair. I didn't expect to find
this attitude.
‘I
was not just the enemy, but a Nazi. Such friendliness was a surprise,
but it is in the British nature. It was so much better than being told
to lie in a filthy foxhole - and to die there.'
After
the war he decided to stay in Comrie after learning that his home town
had become a part of Poland and was stunned by the kindness of
villagers.
They
even sent parcels to his mother in Germany after learning she had
fallen ill. Elderly residents of Comrie knew Mr Steinbermeyer by his
nickname 'Heinz'.
Cultybraggan camp - which once held
Hitler's deputy Rudolf Hess - became notorious after the inmates hanged
one of their number in 1944 after accusing him of leaking an escape plot
Housing: Mr Steinmeyer was taken to
the camp housing ardent Nazis after being captured in Normandy. His SS
Panzer division had been savaged by the Allies
He
returned to the village - which has a population of around 1,800 -
regularly, and became 'Uncle Heinz' to five families, to whom he sent
gifts every year.
His
will read: ‘I would like to express my gratitude to the people of
Scotland for the kindness and generosity that I have experienced in
Scotland during my imprisonment of war and hereafter.’
It specifically stated that the proceeds from the sale of his house and other possessions was to be used for ‘elderly people’.
Mr
Reid said executing the will and the sale of property to release the
funds for transfer to Britain had involved a complex and very lengthy
process.
The
trust is still working with the German solicitors to settle outstanding
debts incurred by Mr Steinmeyer appointing legal advisors.
Mr
Reid added: ‘Heinrich Steinmeyer wanted to express his deep gratitude
for the way he was treated as a prisoner and for his time working in
Scotland after the war.
Mr
Steinmeyer (left, as a young member of the SS) said both the guards at
the camp (right) and villagers treated him so well that he remained in
Scotland for seven years after the war
German home: In his later life Mr Steinmeyer lived in this house in Delmenhorst, near Bremen
‘He wanted to give thanks for his welcome back as a visitor to Comrie and Scotland.
‘Heinrich's
personal history is an amazing story of friendship and appreciation,
and people in Comrie will both honour and benefit from his legacy.’
The
money has been transferred to a special Heinrich Steinmeyer Legacy
Fund, set up by Comrie Development Trust as a separate account.
The money will be 'used exclusively to provide for local developments for older people, suggested by older people'.
Cultybraggan
- which once held Hitler's deputy Rudolf Hess - was where the inmates
hanged one of their number in 1944 after accusing him of leaking an
escape plot.
Mr Steinmeyer was born in 1924 and grew up in Silesia - now part of Poland - with only basic education.
Letters: Mr Steinmeyer joined the
Nazis in 1941 at the age of 17, and joined the Hitler Youth SS 12th
Panzer Division - which has been linked to war crimes
Cultybraggan: Mr Steinmeyer, as an SS
soldier, was expected to die defending the Fuhrer, but was captured in
the fight for a bridge in Caen and taken to the camp (pictured)
He
came from a ‘very poor’ family and worked as an apprentice butcher on a
pitiful wage before joining the SS aged 17 and fighting on the Western
Front.
He
joined the Hitler Youth SS 12th Panzer Division - which has been linked
to war crimes, notably the execution of 140 Canadian prisoners in 1944.
It
was recruited from the ranks of the Hitler Youth and, with 20,000 men,
first saw action in June 1944 in the Normandy campaign. It emerged with
only 12,500 men.
After
fighting the Americans in the Battle of the Bulge in 1944 and later the
Red Army, it withdrew to Austria and the 10,000 survivors surrendered
in May 1945.
Mr Steinmeyer was expected to die defending the Fuhrer, but was captured in the fight for a bridge in Caen.
In the present day: After the war Mr
Steinmeyer decided to stay in Comrie after learning that his home town
had become a part of Poland and was stunned by the kindness of villagers
Popular man: He returned to Comrie -
which has a population of around 1,800 - regularly, and became 'uncle
Heinz' to five families, to whom he sent gifts every year
He
was classified as a category ‘C’ prisoner when he was dispatched to
Perthshire, which meant he was a hard-line Nazi, committed to the cause
and dangerous.
After being captured, Mr Steinmeyer was held at Cultybraggan from September 1944 to June 1945.
From
there he was sent to Watten, Caithness, another maximum security Nazi
camp. At the end of the war Steinmeyer was sent to a camp in Ladybank,
Fife.
He
stayed in Scotland after he was released from detention in 1948 and
settled in Stranraer where he found work on farms in the area.
He eventually returned to Germany in 1970, found work at the docks in Bremen, and settled in Delmenhorst.
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