German POW Camps in Wilmington, NC-- Part 2

Margaret Sampson was a student at Williston Primary School near the second camp. She remembers that occasionally the teachers let the students speak to the prisoners behind the fence, "We'd dash across the street and give them candy and gum and talk to them. A lot of times we couldn't understand them, but the gestures were friendly."

When Germany surrendered, there were 552 prisoners in Wilmington. On April 12, 1946, some Germans were sent home and by the end of May, all were gone.

The 8th and Ann site was turned over to the city. Some of the farmers who had the POWs working for them kept in touch.

From "A Sentimental Journey" about wartime Wilmington by Wilbur D. Jones, Jr..

Captured Germans Were Certainly Treated Better Here Than Captured Americans Were in Germany. --DaCoot