I remember working with the German prisoners near Gering, Neb. I was 12 years old and I knew enough German to communicate with them, and the guards allowed it. In fact I told one that he was "ein dumme Esel" and we had a snowball fight in the beet field. I asked my dad, who spoke fluent German, why he didn't speak with them. He told that they spoke a completely different dialect and he couldn't understand them. It wasn't until recent years that I realized he didn't want to be associated with them because of possible stigma. Many of the Volga German farmers in the Gering area prepared meals for the German prisoners. Near the end of the war, they weren't closely guarded. They didn't have any place to go even if they did escape. Marven Weitzel On Sun, 8 Jul 2007 11:34:42 -0700 (PDT) Charles Parcels <volgager4440@yahoo.com> writes: > I remember my mother stating to me that when > she visited her Volga German relatives in Colorado during the 2nd > world war, <she, visiting from n.y. > she observed German prisoners > working on the sugar beet farms. The Volga Germans would always try > to talk to them on the other side of the fence, but the Guards would > chase them away. I believe it was somewhere near Wiggins, > Colorado. > Thought I might share this with all of you > "Landsmann" out there. > > Charles Parcels < > Weibert aus Messer > > > > --------------------------------- > Ready for the edge of your seat? Check out tonight's top picks on > Yahoo! TV. > > ------------------------------- > 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 > >