POW camp in Statesboro - Prisoners helped Bulloch farmers in World War II

Historical Society finds site after years of research

Naomi Neville, 101, recalls cooking for German prisoners of war who worked racking peanuts for her husband, the late Sam Neville Sr., on their farm in 1945. On the table in front of her is a copy of one of the postwar letters sent them by five of the men. - photo by AL HACKLE/Staff

Naomi Neville POW letter Web — Naomi Neville, 101, recalls cooking for German prisoners of war who worked racking peanuts for her husband, the late Sam Neville Sr., on their farm in 1945. On the table in front of her is a copy of one of the postwar letters sent them by five of the men. - photo by AL HACKLE/Staff

"If there is any time in my captivity I remember with pleasure, it is the time during that I worked at your farm with my comrades," former Wehrmacht warrior Bernhard Erbelding wrote from Kirkel-Neuhausel, Saar, Germany, to Sam Neville of Register, Georgia, in February 1947. "We often spoke of you and remembered your benevolence and kindness," Erbelding continued. Local testimony reveals that the kindness involved Southern cooking served up at a big table on a farmhouse porch.