Nazi POW camp to become vacation spot in Scotland

Do any two words fit more awkwardly together than “Nazi” and “Holiday” (worst beach party ever)? Apparently not to the owners of Cultybraggan Camp in Perthshire, Scotland, who want to redevelop the former POW camp for Nazis into a vacation spot.

Constructed in 1939 with the expressed purpose of housing Nazi prisoners, the camp held up to 4,000 Germans and Italians throughout the war, many of them notorious in zeal for the cause, including the toughest of the SS troops and Afrika Korps, and even (by legend) Rudolph Hess.

“This is a really promising project,” says Emma Margrett, chairwoman of the Comrie Development Trust, which owns the site, says in an article in the Daily Mail, “and has only been possible due to the foresight of the community when they bought the camp." Historic Scotland, an agency of the Scottish government also supports the project, offering to contribute £257,500 towards the £600,000 project.

The goal is to transform several of the corrugated metal Nissan huts into 1940s-style self-catered and bunkhouse accommodation, allowing guests to sleep where notorious POWs once spent their time. Guided tours will also be run during the summer for the public.

Those feeling some amount of bad taste creeping into the mouth may want to at least mull over the potential benefit, primarily the preservation and upkeep of the camp, which otherwise might simply crumble away, or more likely, leveled for private development. The transformation should also provide a welcome boost to the local economy.

It’s a difficult conversation to be sure, as undoubtedly is the one after the first guest proposes this trip to his girlfriend.