COMMENT

The people of a Perthshire village will be asked next week to decide how a windfall left by a former Nazi storm trooper should be spent.

German soldier Heinrich Steinmeyer was held at the former Cultybraggan prisoner of war camp near Comrie during the Second World War.

The camp was built more than 75 years ago and between 1944 and 1947 housed around 4,000 German prisoners of war.

The 19-year-old soldier, who was captured in France, was eventually held in the camp where he was surprised by the reaction of local people.

Throughout his captivity there he was struck by the kindness shown to him, which he had not expected, and after the war ended he returned to Comrie and made lasting friendships with local people.

He repaid the debt by leaving nearly £400,000 to the community in his will after he died in 2013, aged 90.

In line with the wishes of the former Waffen SS soldier, the sum will be used to benefit local elderly people.

Details of the proposed legacy funded developments will be presented for discussion at

“When I was brought to Scotland I realised the Scots were no different from us. We should never have been fighting each other”

HEINRICH STEINMEYER