Letter: Bad memories

Sir: I want to confirm Jane McCarthy's article "German POWs suffered, too" (30 May). In May 1945, I found myself in Bavaria as a refugee from the Russian advance. I was told of a POW camp near Bad Aibling administered by the Americans where thousands of German prisoners were kept in in open field with no food. I made my way there with some bread which I had begged from local farmers.

It was true: there was hardly any standing room for the prisoners in this field. I managed to feed the crumbs through the barbed wire to some prisoners when I noticed some bodies on the ground. They had died of starvation and cold, I was told, and their bodies were not removed until darkness fell.

This was 50 years ago. I was a very young girl then but the memory of this event has never left me.

Yours faithfully,

HERTA ANNA STREET

Maidenhead, Berkshire