I sent one of the earlier emails about the prisoners complaining about being fed "pig feed". I hope that I didn't imply that they were ungrateful. The story represented a cultural difference and the fact that sweet corn as human food was unknown in Germany at that time. The prisoners who worked for my father were terribly grateful and really enjoyed working for him. They were especially appreciative that he could speak German with them and explain a few of the local customs. My father usually spent every noon hour visiting with them. The prisoners consisted of two separate groups, the first being those captured in North Africa by the British and a second smaller group of pilots who were shot down over England. The two groups didn't interact since they came from two different levels of society in Germany. The pilots were better educated, usually with college training and were tall and very physically fit. They were the elite of the German forces, especially the fighter pilots. It seemed that we got pilots to work for us when the potatoes were being graded, bagged, weighed and loaded on a truck. I was so impressed with the pilots when they would carry a hundred pound bag of potatoes under each arm and throw them up on the bed of the truck. They worked much harder than expected. I think that it was a matter of pride with them. The prisoners didn't have to work when it rained or was too wet to work in the fields. They could do other jobs only if they wished and volunteered. One damp day my father decided to dig a trench 900 feet long to install a water line connecting two houses. The prisoners were so fond of my father that about 35 of them volunteered and they dug the water line about 5 feet deep in one day and stayed until appx. 8 in the evening until it was finished, even though my father offered to take them back to camp at 5:00. That water line is still in use today. Incidentally, my father came to the U.S. from Schultz, Russia in 1903 at the age of 9. My fondest childhood memories are of him telling stories of life back in Russia and the trip to the U.S. Ward Richter -----Original Message----- From: ger-volga-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:ger-volga-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Carla Wills-Brandon Sent: Tuesday, July 10, 2007 10:24 AM To: rick.d.anderson@exgate.tek.com; ger-volga@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [GV] POW's I couldn't agree with you more Rick. The only information I really had about POW stories came from a few children of Nazis. Hearing about how GRs had contact with POWs in the states has been a real education. Thank-you everyone. Carla rick.d.anderson@exgate.tek.com wrote: Thank you to all who are sharing their personal or hand-down POW stories. They are GREAT! As someone who came after this era, these stories are priceless. --------------- Rick D. Anderson (rick.d.anderson@tektronix.com) Tektronix, Inc. Beaverton, OR 503-627-2630 ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to GER-VOLGA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message Carla Wills-Brandon, Ph.D. www.carlawillsbrandon.com Death is just a bus stop before the next trip! ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to GER-VOLGA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

We had prisoners in Keenesburg, Colorado also. Our family struck up a nice relationship with one, and it has continued over the years with some members. The idea of corn as "pig feed" was not limited to German prisoners. My father was a dairyman and participated in an exchange program with dairyman from other countries. One exchange was with a french dairyman who also refused to eat sweet corn when we thought it would be a big treat. He also called it pig feed. Bob Robert G. Zimbelman 113 Piedmont Lane Georgetown,TX 78633 Phone 512-869-6202 e-mail: RGZ@zimbelman.com (note new zip code) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ward R Richter" <druquest@earthlink.net> To: "'Carla Wills-Brandon'" <drsbrandon@sbcglobal.net>; <rick.d.anderson@exgate.tek.com>; <ger-volga@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, July 10, 2007 12:26 PM Subject: Re: [GV] POW's >I sent one of the earlier emails about the prisoners complaining about >being > fed "pig feed". I hope that I didn't imply that they were ungrateful. > The > story represented a cultural difference and the fact that sweet corn as > human food was unknown in Germany at that time. > > The prisoners who worked for my father were terribly grateful and really > enjoyed working for him. They were especially appreciative that he could > speak German with them and explain a few of the local customs. My father > usually spent every noon hour visiting with them. The prisoners consisted > of > two separate groups, the first being those captured in North Africa by the > British and a second smaller group of pilots who were shot down over > England. The two groups didn't interact since they came from two > different > levels of society in Germany. The pilots were better educated, usually > with > college training and were tall and very physically fit. They were the > elite > of the German forces, especially the fighter pilots. It seemed that we > got > pilots to work for us when the potatoes were being graded, bagged, weighed > and loaded on a truck. I was so impressed with the pilots when they would > carry a hundred pound bag of potatoes under each arm and throw them up on > the bed of the truck. They worked much harder than expected. I think > that > it was a matter of pride with them. > > The prisoners didn't have to work when it rained or was too wet to work in > the fields. They could do other jobs only if they wished and volunteered. > One damp day my father decided to dig a trench 900 feet long to install a > water line connecting two houses. The prisoners were so fond of my father > that about 35 of them volunteered and they dug the water line about 5 feet > deep in one day and stayed until appx. 8 in the evening until it was > finished, even though my father offered to take them back to camp at 5:00. > That water line is still in use today. > > Incidentally, my father came to the U.S. from Schultz, Russia in 1903 at > the > age of 9. My fondest childhood memories are of him telling stories of > life > back in Russia and the trip to the U.S. > > Ward Richter > > -----Original Message----- > From: ger-volga-bounces@rootsweb.com > [mailto:ger-volga-bounces@rootsweb.com] > On Behalf Of Carla Wills-Brandon > Sent: Tuesday, July 10, 2007 10:24 AM > To: rick.d.anderson@exgate.tek.com; ger-volga@rootsweb.com > Subject: Re: [GV] POW's > > I couldn't agree with you more Rick. The only information I really had > about POW stories came from a few children of Nazis. Hearing about how > GRs > had contact with POWs in the states has been a real education. Thank-you > everyone. > > Carla > > rick.d.anderson@exgate.tek.com wrote: > Thank you to all who are sharing their personal or hand-down POW stories. > They are GREAT! As someone who came after this era, these stories are > priceless. > > --------------- > Rick D. Anderson (rick.d.anderson@tektronix.com) > Tektronix, Inc. Beaverton, OR 503-627-2630 > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > GER-VOLGA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > > > Carla Wills-Brandon, Ph.D. > www.carlawillsbrandon.com > Death is just a bus stop before the next trip! > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > GER-VOLGA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > GER-VOLGA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >