A group of Germans came to Minnesota looking for a connection to their family history &045; and have found a strong emotional bond with their kin and the stories of their lives.

About 60 years ago, many German prisoners of war captured by the United States in World War II were sent back home to work in factories and fields throughout Minnesota and Iowa. Since Sept. 23 a group of Germans, consisting of relatives of POWs held in this area, as well as one surviving prisoner, have been traveling the Midwest. Wednesday they visited the Freeborn County Historical Society in Albert Lea.

The POW, who was with the group earlier, went back to Germany on Tuesday.

&uot;My grandfather lives in the same town as I do,&uot; said Henning Schumacher, 22, of Hamburg, Germany. &uot;We speak and he often tells me stories about this area. But there are some stories he’s forgotten, some memories lost. I’m going to take a lot of pictures, get a lot of experiences and describe my trip to him. Hopefully it will help him to make a trip to the past. I don’t want his story to get lost.&uot;

Twenty towns in Minnesota and 11 in Iowa had POW camps in their towns. Locally Hollandale, Wells, Owatonna, New Ulm and Charles City, Iowa all had camps. The POWs slept at the camps and spent their days working at local farms and factories.

Schumacher’s grandfather worked for the Heinz factory in Muscatane, Iowa. He describes his grandfather’s experience as more memorable than painful. &uot;He was treated very well and always speaks well of this area,&uot; he said.

The visitors said the stories of their family members were all positive.

One of the people in attendance was Shirley Hamer of Hollandale. When she was three years old, some German POWs worked on her father’s farm. They helped with the sugar beet harvest in 1943. While one of the workers spent only a month working at the farm, it made a lasting impression on Hamer.

&uot;I remember picking him up each morning with my father,&uot; she said. &uot;Wilhelm was very nice and we treated him the same.&uot;

Hamer brought along a jewelry box that the POW had made for her mother. So much did Hamer’s interest in Wilhelm grow that she decided to get in touch with him, and in 1995 they began corresponding. Wilhelm died this past spring. Hamer says she is happy she made the connection before his death, and she hopes the group of relatives will be able to find the same kind of connection that she made.

The German group was brought in by Traces, a Midwest organization that focuses on the connections made between POWs, those who worked with the POWs and the families of each.

Kristine Schunert and her mother Sonja took the trip to make connections with Sonja’s father, who died in 1955.

&uot;We have only a diary and pictures that my father made of his time here,&uot; said Sonja, as translated by her daughter Kristine. &uot;In a way we are reliving part of his life.&uot;

Sonja said that from the stories her father told her in her youth, he was very much interested in America from his time here. &uot;He never had anything negative to say about his time here. He was very interested in the United States life and culture. He always said he was treated well,&uot; she said.

Traces founder Michael Luick-Thrams, an American, said so far the group has been warmly welcomed by those hosting them, but they’ve also had some negative experiences. American veterans have demonstrated against the group, neo-Nazis unnerved and offended them by coming to &uot;support&uot; them, and some members of the media have apparently felt the group is here for &uot;ulterior reasons&uot; like spreading Nazi doctrine.

Luick-Thrams said he has been very disappointed with that reaction. &uot;The POWs were enemies once, but that was 60 years ago,&uot; he said. &uot;This trip is being made to bring closure to that, and to make us aware of the scars that are left by war.&uot;

Sonja Schunert said that the trip has given her some closure, as well as insight on her father’s life. &uot;This trip has shown us that it takes a very long time until people can get a chance to heal from war,&uot; she said. &uot;It is very hard, but I think it is important to think about and talk about.&uot;