He was a Nazi stormtrooper in one of the most fanatical divisions in Hitler's war machine.
So, Heinrich Steinmeyer expected little mercy as he surrendered to British troops towards the end of World War Two, after being relentlessly bombarded for days in his muddy Normandy foxhole by the RAF. George Carson, 80, says that the German has offered to pay a funeral director to scatter his ashes when he dies, but has pledged to do it himself, insisting it would be a 'an honour
But instead, he says he was treated with humanity by both the troops who captured him and the guards at the Scottish prison camp he was kept at until the end of the war.
Now 65 years on, the former SS officer has pledged to leave his home and life savings of £430,000 to elderly residents in the tiny village of Comrie, Perthshire, as a gesture of gratitude for his treatment there.
Mr Steinmeyer was held at Cultybraggan Prisoner of War camp - built specially to house ardent Nazis - after seeing his SS Panzer division decimated by the allies during the D-day landings.
And though he expected to be treated there as a hated enemy, he says both the guards and residents of the village treated him so well that he decided to remain in Scotland for seven years after the war.
Now 84 and living in Delmenhorst, near Bremen, 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 as well. Such friendliness was a surprise, but it is in the British nature.
'They fed us well and it was so much better than being told to lie in a filthy foxhole - and to die there.'
When Mr Steinmeyer dies, his ashes will be scattered at Cultybraggan and his estate passed to a special trust he has set up to help the elderly in the area.
After the war, he decided to stay in Comrie and work as a farmhand after learning that his home town had become a part of Poland.
He says that he was stunned at the kindness of local residents, despite making no secret of his Nazi past.
He added: 'I went to watch a local Highland games and stood on a hill so I could catch a glimpse.
'A lady came up to me and gave me a ticket to go in and watch. And not only that, but a ten shilling note as well to spend. I was utterly astonished that people could be so nice.'
Residents even sent parcels to his mother in Germany after learning she had fallen ill, before he found work building a river dam in Stranraer in the south-west of Scotland.
Elderly residents of Comrie, who knew Mr Steinmeyer by his nickname 'Heinz' say that they are delighted by his amazing gift to the village.
George Carson, 80, says that the German has offered to pay a funeral director to scatter his ashes when he dies, but has pledged to do it himself, insisting it would be a 'an honour.'
He has been back to the village - which has a population of around 1,800 - regularly, and has become 'uncle Heinz' to five families, who he sends gifts to every year.
Cultybraggan - which once held Hitler's deputy Rudolf Hess - gained notoriety after inmates hung anti-Nazi German PoW Wolfgang Rosterg in 1944 after accusing him of leaking an escape plot.
Mr Steinmeyer joined the Nazis in 1941 at the age of 17, and became part of the Hitler Youth SS 12th Panzer Division, which was linked to horrific war crimes such as the execution of 140 Canadian prisoners in 1944.
As an elite member of the SS, he was expected to die at his post in defence of the Fuhrer, but was captured in 1944 as he tried to defend a bridge in Caen, Normandy against the allied invasion. continues here
So, Heinrich Steinmeyer expected little mercy as he surrendered to British troops towards the end of World War Two, after being relentlessly bombarded for days in his muddy Normandy foxhole by the RAF. George Carson, 80, says that the German has offered to pay a funeral director to scatter his ashes when he dies, but has pledged to do it himself, insisting it would be a 'an honour
But instead, he says he was treated with humanity by both the troops who captured him and the guards at the Scottish prison camp he was kept at until the end of the war.
Now 65 years on, the former SS officer has pledged to leave his home and life savings of £430,000 to elderly residents in the tiny village of Comrie, Perthshire, as a gesture of gratitude for his treatment there.
Mr Steinmeyer was held at Cultybraggan Prisoner of War camp - built specially to house ardent Nazis - after seeing his SS Panzer division decimated by the allies during the D-day landings.
And though he expected to be treated there as a hated enemy, he says both the guards and residents of the village treated him so well that he decided to remain in Scotland for seven years after the war.
Now 84 and living in Delmenhorst, near Bremen, 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 as well. Such friendliness was a surprise, but it is in the British nature.
'They fed us well and it was so much better than being told to lie in a filthy foxhole - and to die there.'
When Mr Steinmeyer dies, his ashes will be scattered at Cultybraggan and his estate passed to a special trust he has set up to help the elderly in the area.
After the war, he decided to stay in Comrie and work as a farmhand after learning that his home town had become a part of Poland.
He says that he was stunned at the kindness of local residents, despite making no secret of his Nazi past.
He added: 'I went to watch a local Highland games and stood on a hill so I could catch a glimpse.
'A lady came up to me and gave me a ticket to go in and watch. And not only that, but a ten shilling note as well to spend. I was utterly astonished that people could be so nice.'
Residents even sent parcels to his mother in Germany after learning she had fallen ill, before he found work building a river dam in Stranraer in the south-west of Scotland.
Elderly residents of Comrie, who knew Mr Steinmeyer by his nickname 'Heinz' say that they are delighted by his amazing gift to the village.
George Carson, 80, says that the German has offered to pay a funeral director to scatter his ashes when he dies, but has pledged to do it himself, insisting it would be a 'an honour.'
He has been back to the village - which has a population of around 1,800 - regularly, and has become 'uncle Heinz' to five families, who he sends gifts to every year.
Cultybraggan - which once held Hitler's deputy Rudolf Hess - gained notoriety after inmates hung anti-Nazi German PoW Wolfgang Rosterg in 1944 after accusing him of leaking an escape plot.
Mr Steinmeyer joined the Nazis in 1941 at the age of 17, and became part of the Hitler Youth SS 12th Panzer Division, which was linked to horrific war crimes such as the execution of 140 Canadian prisoners in 1944.
As an elite member of the SS, he was expected to die at his post in defence of the Fuhrer, but was captured in 1944 as he tried to defend a bridge in Caen, Normandy against the allied invasion. continues here
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