It is both coincidental and ironic that these letters, written by my uncle Friedrich while he was serving in the German army, have made their way to the Internet at this date, which is marked by the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II.
One has only to glimpse at these letters to realize that while the events took place decades ago in a different country, Friedrich's plight was virtually identical to that of any soldier of yesterday, today or tomorrow, stationed anywhere in the world. Conditions were difficult both mentally and physically and emotions ran the gamut from to joy to disillusionment (usually more the latter than the former).
For this reason, among others, I believe it is important to ensure these letters are made avaliable to those who might learn something from them about the nature of war and its effects on individuals.
After the War, Friedrich's parents (my grandparents) wrote their own memoirs which give an idea of what life was like in Germany in the early 20th century.
--Kim Moser, 11 May 2005
Friedrich Moser
Letters from 1943 to 1945
Andreas Stuhlmann and Franziska Leuchtenberger produced the transcription into the modern German script from the original letters
Klaus T. Moser-Maync, with the help of his family, translated the German text into English
Table of Contents
Three Letters from Leißienen/District of Wehlau from the Landdienstlager [Camp for Field Workers]
Reicharbeitsdienst (RAD) from 18 May, 1943 to 11 August, 1943
Wehrmachtsdienst [Army Service] Starting 16 August, 1943
Jupiter, FL, March 21, 2005
Dear Kim, Nicolai, Lucia, Nina, Lucy:
Producing this translation of my oldest brother’s letters into English was not an easy task, either technically or emotionally. I had to overcome several hurdles. As my father wrote in his cover letter to me, he decided to omit numerous mundane repetitions of receipts of letters and packages, etc. I, however, decided not to do that because I felt it was not my place to cut and edit but rather I wanted to keep the collection in its entirety. So I was faced with the problem of finding someone who could not only read the old German script (Fraktur) that was used in Germany until the 1940s, but who was also able to deal with Friedel’s already matured (some people might call it plainly hard-to-read) handwriting. Through sheer luck I came upon Andreas Stuhlmann and Franziska Leuchtenberger. To say they did an excellent job is an understatement. They not only labored over every detail, particularly when they came up against deciphering illegible words, but they also gained an impression of Friedel’s nature and spirit. That coming from someone who had never met Friedel showed me that his letter-writing style was more than just plain reporting (excuse me, Lucia, no offense intended!).
Andreas and Franziska had traveled to New York City when they presented me with their final transcription and they talked with me at length about their impression of Friedel. If only I had taped their conversation, because it’s difficult to reproduce what they had to say. Their observations were very sensible and eloquent and I was very touched by them. Lots of what they said agreed with what I already had heard about Friedel from my parents, Jürgen, and later from other still-living relatives who knew Friedel as a young man. Well, I hope you will also be able to get a picture of Friedel, somebody you never met.
When my parents presented me with the transcript of the letters in 1959 in Germany I was the same age as Friedel was when he perished on January 14, 1945. But to tell you the truth I was not ready to read them, let alone deal with them. Yes, I glanced at them here and there, but nothing more than that. Meanwhile, a few years later, having immigrated to the U.S.A., I remember showing them to Eve in the early 1960s, trying to give her a quick impression of them, but I started to cry and was unable to continue. So back they went on the shelf and it wasn’t until 2002, 40 years later, that I finally took that difficult step to attack that touchy subject. The finalization of my parents’ memoirs – both the German and the English versions – helped me to get to this point. I viewed Friedel’s letters as another component of my family history, and I felt I owed it to Friedel’s memory to give the younger English-speaking generation, such as you, an English translation. You see, even if you were able to read German, there are lots of things that are hard to get and require explanation. I have retained the explanation my father included in the German version in this English translation and I, as well as Andreas and Franziska, have added numerous comments. They all appear in [brackets] throughout the text. Sometimes I had real problems with military and technical words, for which I enlisted the help of Jörg Hahn, a distant relative on my Mother’s side, who had been in the Bundeswehr [German Army] in West Germany; and also Harald Vogel, one of Grete Vogel’s sons, who, as a native East Prussian, helped me out with some East Prussian words. All that is not to say that Friedel’s writing style is complicated; it’s not, but very straightforward and engaging, simlar to that of my Mother’s.
Please also keep in mind that Friedel was often rushed and had little time to write. He also used colloquialisms and slang, which were difficult to translate and made it hard to retain the flavor of his style. We also decided to keep the salutations and closings in German. In the 1990s my Mother entrusted me with the originals and they are now in my possession, archivally kept.
Being the last survivor of my family, I feel I should say a few words to help you to understand the times and the views that were held by my family when I grew up and what I heard and learned about the time when Germany was under the grip of Nazism. As you might know from Jürgen and me, our parents were strongly opposed to the Nazis since 1933, as well as the Communist system after 1945. They had enough perspective to see “behind the mirror,” the lies disguised by clever propaganda of both systems. And these views were carried over to us children so that we grew up to see through the political bullshit without being carried away by it. Unfortunately many people weren’t politically savvy enough and were seduced by it. So we will likely ask ourselves now why Friedrich was so determined to become an officer in the Wehrmacht and, when that failed, he couldn’t wait to get to the front. It seemed to contradict the anti-Nazi stand my parents held. In the early 1970s I once asked my father* about this and his answer was that Friedel wanted to defend his country. After more questioning about why this was so imperative in light of the losing battle he answered something along the lines of: “to keep our Rasse [race] from dying out.” I may not remember the exact sentence but I sure do remember that he used the word Rasse. I was really shocked that my father would use that word in this context; had he used the word Volk in the sense of “nation” it would not have seemed nearly as extreme. Well, I didn’t go any further in my query; I was still too young to effectively discuss such matters any further with my authoritarian father. But I sure was disappointed that my father had gone down that road. About ten years ago I read Victor Klemperer’s book, LTI, which deals with the language of the Third Reich [Nazi Germany]. One of the essays in it ends with a sentence that keeps impressing me to this day: “None of them were Nazis but they were all poisoned.” “None of them” refers to the characters in the story who were ordinary Germans but who were subconsciously poisoned by the Nazi propaganda. Many times I have found this quote to be applicable when dealing with people in the past and, to my dismay, the present. In my father’s case I think this poisoning is not derived from the Nazi doctrines but rather the racist Zeitgeist of the 19th century, from which the Nazis developed their “theories” of race.
But going back to the above-mentioned contradiction between the State and the military, those two powerful forces: many people, my parents among them, felt that the German Wehrmacht was subverted by the Nazi regime for its despicable deeds. I see their point but I can’t agree with it, because that’s what governments always do when they use the military for aggression, as opposed to defense. Aggression is usually followed by a corruption of values, resulting in such things as war crimes and other atrocities, etc. It was in the 1950s, after the East German state was established, along with their armed forces, when my father and I observed a group of soldiers in public and he made disparaging remarks about their lack of dash and their rather aloof conduct. It didn’t go over well with him and I felt him express a sense of nostalgia when he said that our old army certainly didn’t look as shabby as them and wouldn’t have behaved that way in public. Well, no, he wasn’t referring to the Wehrmacht, but to the army he served under during World War I. It was a certain pride he had saved. These feelings were also likely coming into play during Friedel’s decision to become an officer. I always find it a bit strange that my parents’ nostalgia about the military never entirely went away, especially since they were the victims of two world wars; mind you, my parents hated war, though, particularly the second World War, because of the loss of Friedel, their home, and possessions, and their Heimat [homeland]. As you can figure out yourself, I was about five years old when I saw Friedel for the last time in October, 1944. My visual memory is “schemenhaft” [cloudy]. I remember him only as a silhouette standing in front of a window of our Königsberg apartment that faced the street. Everything else I know about him comes from pictures and stories told. But I still find it baffling how, after 60 years and having barely known him, I still have such strong feelings for him and vehemently resent being robbed of him. My mother*, whose feelings for Friedel were of course infinitely more painful than mine, tried everything in her power to find out about Friedel’s fate, even after 1989 as records about POWs in Russia became available. Somehow she kept open the possibility that Friedel had become a POW and had died in the gulags in the Soviet Union. But at the time of Friedel’s disappearance there was such chaos that the Russian troops simply didn’t bother to take prisoners, let alone bury the enemy’s dead.
In 1996 I went with Krzysztof Malczewski, a good friend of mine who lives in Warsaw, to the area where Friedel went missing in action, where we saw lots of dilapidated Soviet war memorials. We really got the impression of what a terrible carnage must have taken place there. Needless to say, no memorials to fallen German soldiers exist there. So these letters represent the only tangible remains of Friedel. And, yes, I have a gold ring with a broken stone.
Friedel was born on August 31, 1925, in Königsberg. According to our mother, Friedel was not named after any ancestors named Friedrich but after a character in a book (Familie Pfäffling) named Friedel (a diminutive of Friedrich). In addition, her brother, who died as a teenager, was named Fritz (another diminutive of Friedrich). Friedrich’s middle names were Robert, after our father’s (step)father, Robert Moser, and Ernst, after our mother’s father, Ernst Strehlke. Friedel perished on January 14, 1945, at the age of 19 years and 4 ½ months.
Klaus T. Moser-Maync
Stralsund, February 1st, 1959
Mein lieber Klaus!
Enclosed are the letters of your oldest brother, who loved you very much. Mutti collected and saved them all through the chaos of the war and our flight. There was one funny time when you were still very little and had an ear infection, which we treated and cured on our own. Friedel grew very worried about you and anxiously cried, “Go ahead, don’t call the doctor, but don't be surprised if he eventually dies!” Well, you didn’t die. He often asked about you in his letters, and he nearly aways told us to give you his love. Thus his last letter ends with your name.
The letters from his time in the Reichsarbeitsdienst [State Work Service] as well as his subsequent military service represent his legacy in a sense. They suffered during that time, which is why, with Mutti’s encouragement, I copied and excerpted them, skipping repetitive and mundane details, like his confirming the receipt of packages and things like that. You and Jürgen are each getting a copy. Besides the fact that you have probably forgotten by now how to read the old German script Friedel used, his writing is quite difficult to read. I am sure, then, that the typed version will make it easier or even possible for you to read and understand.
You probably have only a vague memory of Friedel since you were quite little when he was still at home. Therefore I want to tell you a few more things about him that might help you understand some of the excerpts.
Our dear oldest son was not chosen to be a particularly happy or lucky child; the good fairies obviously disagreed at his cradle. Opposing forces operated within his soul. While tender and sensitive, he had a blunt side. He was headstrong but also had a strong sense of fairness, which often caused conflicts with himself and the people around him. These tendencies were already evident at a young age. – He was a unique child but not always easy to handle, and became known for saying, “Fiedel kann nicht, Fiedel will nicht, Fiedel bauch auch nicht!” [Friedel can’t, Friedel won’t, and Friedel doesn't have to, either!”] His personality especially caused him trouble as an adolescent, both within himself and with others. At the same time, he was quite open-minded, full of humor, and well-liked by his friends. His sensitivity often caused him to behave severely but not always appropriately, though.
On top of everything else, he had the disadvantage of having been born during political conflict, which made things even worse for him.
First there was school, which was not really his cup of tea, although with Mutti’s unremitting help he always made it to the next grade. After grade school he went to a humanistisches Gymnasium [high school for humanities]. Under the Nazis, the curriculum constantly changed. Had he failed a class, which otherwise would not have been significant, it would have been difficult to make the transition to the next grade. When he had trouble, we put him in a private school, where he got his Obersekunda diploma, the former so-called Einjährige [diploma received in 10th grade or two years before high school diploma]. Unfortunately, the quality of his teachers and fellow students left something to be desired, which led to more problems. One teacher he was particularly fond of, for example, was disciplined, which, because of the Nazi brutality, ultimately led to his decapitation. [My parents mentioned that this teacher was found out to be gay]. Naturally that devastated Friedel.
Making matters worse, Friedel’s brother, three years his junior, achieved everything easily that he, the older one, had to work for so hard for. That may have led him to question himself all the more, but importantly, it never overshadowed the love between the two, and did not keep Friedel from being very proud of his younger brother.
The braune Nazizeit caused conflicts for Friedel early on. At first, they were everyday things. First, in 1933, there was the famous “hat incident.” Friedel had a cute little hat, similar to the uniform hats of the youngest group of the Hitlerpimpfe [derogatory name for Hitler Youth members]. Friedel was playing on the street when a pompous, dumb, fanatic bully knocked his hat right off his head, saying only members of the Hitler Youth were allowed to wear that kind of hat. As you can imagine we did not keep quiet about things like that, but such unfortunate things happened quite often to our dear Friedel. We actually got into a lot of trouble with the Hitler Youth because we lived on the street called the Vorderrossgarten where there were particularly ugly representatives of this organization. When Friedel had to join like everyone else, he saw a lot of crudeness, meanness, and obscenity that greatly offended him. All of this probably contributed to the imbalance and distress he suffered during adolescence.
His increasing aversion to Nazism that had infected even the Wehrmacht led to his greatest disappointment, namely his failure to be made an officer. He had always been quite critical, and soon detected the deceit and corruption of the “brown regime” as it permeated the military. Being as open, honest, and sincere as he was, he could not help but wear his heart on his sleeve.
After he finished high school, the question of which profession to go into came up, and Friedel was not at all sure what he wanted to do. Things like choosing a career were even more difficult back then than they are now because of the war. Furthermore, he was about to be called up by the RAD because he was 17 years old. Thus we decided to send him to Schönwalde for the time being. While at the RAD he got the idea to apply to be an officer. This idea seemed to come more from some kind of embarrassment or insecurity than a real desire to be a soldier. [In his lettters, “O.B.” stands for”Offiziersbewerber” (officer applicant).] We were not fond of the idea from the beginning, but naturally we let him do what he wanted because he was going to be drafted by the Wehrmacht soon anyway. – Unfortunately, though, he fell and hurt his knee in Schönwalde. He tore a ligament, and even though it healed, it continued to bother him during training. He decided to have an operation so he could stay in the army. A good friend of ours, Professor Müeller, performed the operation. He was the director of the orthopedic hospital in Königsberg. I am sure you have heard us mention his name. Mutti and his wife still write to each other. Professor Müeller died soon after the war. He used a new type of operation, which left a silver nail in the joint. Friedel was very proud of it. The operation went well, but his knee problem apparently gave the Wehrmacht an excuse to deny him a career as an officer.
But these problems did not occur until he went to Eisenach. During training in Zinten everything went well. Friedel was happy, easygoing, and well-liked by his comrades and superiors. This started to change in Eisenach, where they worked under the worst conditions. Worst of all, though, was the disgusting political intrigue. His letters clearly reflect his aversion to and rebellion against it, which we felt were very justified. I answered an impertinent letter of his regiment's commander in a way that could not be more clear. We tried to comfort Friedel as much as we could, but by that time he hated everything. He longed to get out of the unbearable atmosphere in Eisenach and go to the danger zone at the front, where he hoped things would be more fair. Furthermore, he was deeply shocked by the destruction of his homeland by enemy bombing. As his melancholy letters illustrate, he seemed to see the whole situation as hopeless. His mood was also apparent in a picture of him from that time as well. Then he volunteered to go to the front to defend his East Prussian homeland. His wish was granted. He became a little more carefree in his letters, but they were overshadowed by melancholy and disappointment, as well as concern for our lives, until the very end.
He wrote his last letter on January 12th, 1945, at the beginning of the big Russian offensive, which led to the encirclement and destruction of Königsberg and during which Friedel died in his second mission against the enemy. We did not hear about it until February 8th, 1945. His lieutenant came by in person to tell me because Friedel's tank regiment had returned to Königsberg in the meantime. He explained that the tanks had been under heavy attack. While they had all returned from that mission, Friedel was the only one missing. He had taken cover next to the tanks, seeking protection from the enemy attacks. He probably died in the area of Schlossberg (Pillkallen and Gumbinnen). The lieutenant went on to describe how everybody had liked Friedel, and praised his willingness to be of service.
A few weeks later, February 24, 1945, we had to flee Königsberg, which already had been under attack for weeks. Despite our efforts, we have never been able to find out anything else about Friedel's fate, not even through the DRK [Deutsches Rotes Kreuz (German Red Cross)]. We also never got any of his things, leaving us with only his letters and a ring he received from family in Schönwalde and left at home to remember him by. You shall get it later.
You can imagine, dear Klaus, that Friedel's destiny bears heavily on us, especially because he had been our problem child in some ways. During the last few years of his life, he overcame his troubles, which had sometimes caused tensions at home, and found himself. Again and again he wrote about his attachment, loyalty, love, and concern for us. Then he was snatched away from us. His early death was particularly tragic for us. He was only 19 years old, like you are now. Of course, many millions of people met with a similar fate. It is somewhat comforting to know that he was serving the way he wanted to and that he was spared many difficulties after the collapse. That is small comfort, though.
A good musician friend of ours in Königsberg once called Friedel the romantic of the two brothers. I thought of that while I copied the letters, which express that trait. They are very descriptive and impressive. Lastly, I just want to mention that I will make some explanatory notes here and there as I go through the copies again so they will make sense to you.
Stralsund, February 1959
Mein lieber Jürgen,
Friedel's letters from his time at the RAD and the army and which Mutti saved and collected are starting to suffer from the ravages of time, so I decided to copy them for you and Klaus. They are the only things of his that we own. They constitute his legacy, and I presume that you'll treasure them as a memory.
Since Klaus was very young at the time and has only a vague memory of his oldest brother, I wrote a bit about Friedel's development, something that you don't need. I also added a few explanations.
While copying and reading the letters, the horrible past and the tragedy of Friedel's death came to life again. We are totally convinced that he was declined as an active officer – his most bitter disappointment – because he rejected the Nazi regime, which had already undermined the military. Indeed, Friedel was very critical, fair, and honest, and soon saw through the dishonesty, rottenness, and corruption of the time. Because of his straightforward and uncompromising nature he could not help wearing his heart on his sleeve. We tried to comfort him, and my letter to his colonel in Eisenach – where the conditions and political intrigues were the worst, and his letters were undoubtedly opened by the censor – did not lack for clarity. But Friedel was sick of everything, including the terrible impact of the air raids in the homeland. He was energetic and happy when he was in Zinten, liked by his buddies and superiors, being the joker of the whole cadet class, but he became increasingly resigned and depressed. His letters took on a more melancholy tone; his mood change was also evident in a photo from that time. In his last days he recognized the hopelessness of the whole situation and was very concerned about our fate as well. That's when he transferred to the front, to an East Prussian tank unit, in search of a better atmosphere. That wish, which also became his fate, was granted!
You know, dear Jürgen, that as an adolescent our Friedel was not particularly well-adjusted, which sometimes made his life difficult. All that changed with time. He became touchingly affectionate, as shown by the love and concern for us expressed in his letters. That he was snatched away from us then makes his tragedy especially hard to bear, despite our knowing he was one of millions and may have been spared a lot of suffering.
At the end I added letters of his friend Albrecht Thomasius*, whom you maybe also knew. He was a little older than Friedel and had a good influence on him. He had a hard time getting over his long internment as a prisoner of war and is still in professional limbo!
I hope these lines and the copies of these letters reach you well.
* * * * *
Leißienen (Kreis Wehlau), 15 August, 1942 *
L.M. [Liebe Mutti]
I arrived here well. Have little time to write. The food is good so far. I'm returning the leftover ration cards. Please buy me something with the cake ration cards and send it to me. It's a rather large Domäene [estate] (12,000 Morgen) [7,413 US acres].
Viele Grüße von Friedrich
Leißienen, Sunday [16 August 1942]
Liebe Eltern!
I hope you received my last letter with the ration cards. For the cake ration cards you could send me Stritzel [a kind of coffee cake] or rolls. On our first day we cleaned a stable. Yesterday we tied and set up Hocken [grain sheafs] on the field. I will try to get a leave for my birthday [August 31]. The food is actually very good. At 7 a.m. we get six sandwiches. The next meal is not until 12 Noon. There is no food in between so we stay hungry. The same happens between 1 p.m. and 8 p.m. At 10 p.m. it's lights out. We are attached to a Hitler Youth Camp. Yesterday I went out with three other guys to go äppeln [scrounging apples], but we only took what we could eat. We also had to work this afternoon. Yesterday I tripped and fell so badly over two stones and fell that my leg swelled up a bit. If it starts hurting, I will come home immediately.
[Leißienen,] 13 August, 1942 [postmarked 19 August, 1942]
L.E. [Liebe Eltern]
Many thanks for the letter. You wanted to know how I am doing. Not too great. Please don't send any more mail after Sunday. I will let you know more later. We might be home by then. I will tell you why in private. Anyway, we have fleas here and we are getting water soup [and] vegetable soup to eat and are being exploited to the utmost. We will not put up with working 8 hours without food anymore. We are sleeping in an old chicken coop. The conditions are abominable. Please also tell Otiti* that I can only get mail until Sunday for the time being.
Grüße Friedrich
[Marginal note:] Don't send food until I request it. For now, don't withdraw my police registration.
[RAD – Reichsarbeitsdienst; a construction and maintenance unit in which one year’s participation was mandatory. Friedrich served only three months because he was drafted. It was not part of the military, but had a paramilitary role. He served from May 18 to August 11, 1943.]
Deeden, 19 May, 1943
Liebe Eltern!
I arrived here O.K. at the RAD camp [Reichsarbeitsdienst-Lager]. The train trip was less than pleasant because I had to stand until Wehlau. At the train station I met up with a few other guys who were also making the trip. Fortunately we got a ride to the camp on a horse-drawn carriage. We received clothing like Drillichzeug [fatigues], Knobelbecher [slang: boots], sneakers, long johns, Fusslappen [foot wrappings], day shirt, etc., right away. It was all quite nice. In the evening we even got a warm meal. There was so much bread that I can send some home. By the way, your sandwiches and eggs were excellent. At night it was a bit chilly, but you get used to it. Making the bed worked out okay. We always get up at 6:30, which is pretty shitty. [He spells out the word beschissen only partially: “besch...”] We will probably stay here 4-6 weeks and then go to Moosbruch or someplace else. I will send my stuff to you soon. Unfortunately I will have to include the books because they will not fit into my Affen [slang: backpack], which is already stuffed. I already know some of the guys in my room. It might interest Jürgen that one of them is Hölzer. Enough for today. You will hear from me shortly.
Viele Grüße. Euer Friedrich
RAD Abteilung 7/14/Deeden/Eydtkau
Deeden, 20 May, 1943
Liebe Mutti!
I will send you a few lines since I have a few free minutes. Let me start with some wishes. First, I’d appreciate if you could send me my orthotics. Also, I wouldn’t mind if you laid a few cigarettes on me as we will not get any more until the beginning of next month. This evening we each got three oranges, which was rather nice. As Hans Decker* already mentioned, all of our movements in the yard are done in double time. Don’t be surprised if you haven’t gotten my suitcase yet, because there was no means of transportation. I’m running out of ink and I still have to shine my boots, so I will stop.
Mit vielen Grüßen an Herrn Decker u. Familie verbliebe ich als Dein Friedrich
Deeden, 23 May, 1943
Liebe Mutti!
Yesterday I received your lovely letter, which made me very happy, and I thank you for it. Unfortunately I have to return the books I took with me because I have hardly any room for them. We are supposed to get even more stuff today, and I barely have room for it. Unfortunately, today our Zug [platoon of about 30 men] is Zug von Dienst [platoon on duty], so we have very little free time, even on Sunday. Our Zug will be cleaning the latrines, laundry building, kitchen and several other rooms. Since we are not allowed to have more than 5 Marks, I will send home my moola in rates of 5 RM [Reichsmark]. You can put it into my savings account when you get a chance. Yesterday, Saturday, was pretty uneventful. We now get up at 5:30 a.m. on weekdays. Supposedly it will be moved back to 5 a.m. in the future. We are given 5 minutes to wash up, and then we have breakfast. Everybody gets a heaping tablespoon of jam, 4-5 slices of bread, and unlimited coffee. Then the Stubendienst [cleaning duty] cleans our room, which holds 16 men and one Vormann [frontman]. After that comes the Flaggenparade [flag-hoisting ceremony] at 7 a.m., and then we go on duty. On Saturday our chief reviews the main events of the previous week. At 10 a.m. we have a second breakfast. We get three slices of bread and some kind of soup. That is followed by Ordnungsdienst [literally “order duty,” it means “drill exercise.” Friedrich explains it further in his letter of May 30, 1943]. At 12:30 p.m. we have lunch. Yesterday we each got one bratwurst with potatoes and sauce. Lunch goes until 2 p.m. From 2 to 6 we have Ordnungsdienst and other nice things. After supper, which is also rather nice, we have free time until our 9 p.m. Zapfenstreich [bedtime/lights out] hot shower. On Saturday we always have a five-minute hot shower, which is really nice. A collection was taken for the Red Cross today. Our room “voluntarily” gave around 100 RM. I will tell you more about it when I get home. If you have time, could you send me my suspenders? My pants are slipping like crazy. The story about G. [H.?] is pretty nice. I would have fired her. Hölzer has a camera, so you don’t have to bother sending me mine. Has Günther [Bahr]* written already? I will stop now because I am running out of time.
Mit vielen Grüßen an alle, Dein Friedrich
P.S. By the way, you asked where I sleep. I sleep on the bottom bunk, which is definitely the better choice. Happy 20th wedding anniversary to you both.
25 May, 1943
Liebe Mutti!
I just wanted to send you my cake ration card and the rest of my money. Yesterday I got a Raucherkarte [tobacco ration card]. Unfortunately your package hasn’t arrived yet. I’m looking forward to getting it. My suitcase still has not been sent out. Yesterday a train with a car of burning straw passed by. We helped put out the fire. Trains are always passing by, loaded with tanks and other nice articles. Today we received Tuchzeug [clothes], and I was able to get a great coat. I have to close now because I have Stubendienst [room-cleaning duty]. Soon I will not be able to write much because we are getting a lot of work. The day before yesterday we practiced Spatengriffe [spade drills] for the first time...
P.S. The Red Cross collection totaled 4,500 RM. I gave 10 RM [?], for that [?] I gave nothing.
Deeden, 30 May, 1943
Liebe Mutti!
Many thanks for your letter, which arrived yesterday, and for the package with the orthotics, which also came yesterday. Thanks especially for the latter. I will eat the cake this afternoon. I started eating the little cakes as soon as I opened the package. They tasted nifty. The cigarettes weren't too shabby, either. I was especially delighted to get them but I have to ask you not to send me any more because we get 12 cigarettes for each double coupon of the tobacco ration card. I have enough to last a lifetime. But I will save the extras and give them to Albrecht [Thomasius] or someone else. There was a lot of confusion in our room; for one thing, the entire room was taken apart from top to bottom. You should have seen our room, with lockers turned over, etc. Of course we couldn’t clean up in time, so the duty chief chased us around the yard a few times. It was a real drag, because my muscles were still really sore from an earlier 8 km run. Several guys puked after the run, and almost half of them collapsed. I got through it. You asked me what Ordnungsdienst is. Ordnungsdienst is 3 hours a day of marching like robots while doing links rum [left turns], rechts rum [right turns], stillgestanden [halt] and Spatengriffe [spade drills]. We play an awful lot of sports, almost 2 hours a day. We run around the sports track for 10 minutes in the mornings. I don’t feel any pain in my knee. There is no chance of getting any leave before we get sworn in, so I will not need your ration cards for now. I was taken away from writing this letter for 3 hours because a few of my roommates and I had to dig up a field. The reason for this Sunday diversion was that during inspection yesterday someone found a few grains of sand under our boots. Well, that’s how it goes! We are all going to the movies in Eydtkau at 2 p.m. tomorrow. The movie is “Der Dunkle Tag” [The Dark Day]. Exciting, huh? During one of our recent cross-country runs we saw a few bunkers of the Ostwall*. They were incredible monsters. Again, thanks a lot for the package and the letter. The other packages you already mentioned will get here soon.
Mit vielen Grüßen verbleibe ich als Dein Friedrich
P.S. Greetings to the other “inhabitants” [possibly people or relatives staying at parents’ house]. Thanks to your package, I at least have nice toilet paper again, which is so scarce here that we are looking for it in the garbage.
Deeden, 2 June, 1943
Liebe Mutti!
Your second package arrived here yesterday. Thank you. The ink, cigarettes and especially suspenders are very handy. Along with this postcard I'm sending off a package with 3 oranges, which we got for dinner today. Klaus will be delighted. If you write me again, please include a few postage stamps; I am running low because of this package I'm sending. Thanks a lot too for the NSKK Mann [Nationalsozialistisches Kraftfahrer-Korps – National Socialist Motor Vehicle Corps; he probably means a textbook for motor vehicle drivers].
4 June, 1943 [?]
Liebe Mutti!
Enclosed are the old ... [?], the gloves etc., which I have no use for. Excuse my bad handwriting, but I'm writing in bed. I read the books. I liked them. So did several of my buddies in the room. The day before yesterday I went to Ebenrode for X-rays.
5 June, 1943
I hope these things cheer up Klaus so he gets better soon. This was a good opportunity to send you a taste of our bread. I have enough of that stuff at the moment.
Deeden, 6 June, 1943
Liebe Mutti!
First let me wish you a happy birthday. My letter will probably arrive a day late, so please forgive me. I hope I can get this letter off without interruptions. A thousand thanks for the package that arrived here so quickly – I got it yesterday. But you really don’t have to send me so much food. If I need anything, I will write. But nevertheless, the cake was great. The roll of film was also useful because someone here has a camera. Everyone in our room enjoyed the newspaper. The toilet paper is really good quality and nice to use. We have been limited to using leaves! Again, many thanks for your package. – Now to your letter. But before that I have to ask, did my package arrive? Surely the contents must be rotten by now! The pictures came out rather nice. Who took them? Thanks too to Klaus for his “letter.” You asked how much bread we get each day. We get 750 g [about 1 1/2 lb.] of bread, 40 g [more than an ounce] of butter, a soupspoon of jam and a sliver of salami in the evening. The spreads are not so plentiful so sometimes we gobble the bread plain. The guys in our room are all generally pretty nice. Half are Königsbergers and the other half Stettiner. I have made some interesting observations. For instance, the elementary school students from the East are much more stupid than those from the West. A lot happened today. There was a soccer game between our team and that of a neighboring unit. Unfortunately we lost 4 to 7. Then we had to clean our fatigues, which was a really dumb job because they were caked with mud. If I had thrown my shirt at the wall, it would have stuck there. Yesterday we went on a long march which left me with a blister on my left foot. Recently the doctor came to give us a shot against diphtheria or something. I still have a bosom from that, so a bra might soon come in handy. We still have to get 9 more shots. Finally I have a favor to ask. I'm embarrassed to ask, but since we aren't getting leave, I can’t get anything for myself. I’d be grateful if you could send me some of that lemon extract to mask the strange aftertaste of the water here. I'd also like to get some fine sandpaper or a polishing stone to polish my spade. The black shoe polish is running out. I also will need some soap soon. There is something wrong with the distribution here. If we do get soap I could return it to you. How is Klaus doing? I wish he'd write me one of his original letters again. Tomorrow we'll go to the movies again. The last film had [Willy] Birgel in it, but it was nothing special. The bread effect [breaking wind from eating too much bread] which I exposed you to plenty in Königsberg reached horrendous proportions here today. Can you imagine, 17 guys in one room? But that’s enough for now. Again, best wishes to you on your birthday.
Deeden, 8 June, 1943
Liebe Mutti!
First thank you for the postcard from Klaus, which I received yesterday. I sent a package with 2 oranges and some candy recently. I hope it gets to you soon. You don't have to send me any soap, because yesterday we were issued 1 bar each of regular soap and soap for shaving. Are you short of bread? Could you include a Party insignia in your next package? We are required to wear them on the Tuchzeug [coat or jacket]. Is Klaus doing better? We might get leave for Pfingsten [Pentecost], but only if there aren't any more cases of scarlet fever.
Deeden, 10 June, 1943
Liebe Mutti!
I just want to send you a few lines for Pfingsten. Yesterday I mailed a package with things I don’t need anymore, because we were issued suspenders and handkerchiefs by the Kammer [quartermaster]. The leave for Pfingsten is not coming through because there are several cases of scarlet fever. I'm not feeling too good because I have a pretty bad sore throat. All the best for Pfingsten to you and the Schönwälder.
Euer Friedrich
Deeden, 14 June, 1943
Liebe Mutti!
Thank you very much for your believe-it-or-not four letters, which I received this past week. Thank you for the package, too, which had everything my heart desired. Again, the cake was excellent. I have already used that lemon stuff to brew a delicious drink. The polishing stone made my spade really shiny. Now I have toilet paper en gros. Again, many thanks for the package. When I have time, I will try to read the two books you sent. I also liked the newspaper. The liquid soap got here intact. I included a roll of film with this letter. I am in some of the pictures. I hope you recognize me. The group picture has all but 4 guys in it who were sick at the time. I'm excited to see how the pictures come out. Please send me a copy of each. We will order more copies of the ones we like. How is your stomach? Eat lots of carbon. That will make it better. You have sent me so much carbon that I could medicate the entire company. I got over the effects of the immunization shots well. My foot blister is also gone. From now on I will always use cream and powder on my feet. It will be easier to march then. Pfingst Sunday was very nice, especially the food. In the morning we each got 5 rolls, 20g of butter, a soupspoon of jam, and 1/6 of a loaf of bread. That was just breakfast. For lunch we had fried meat; that is, one slice per person. In the afternoon I ate half of your cake and 2 oranges. In the evening, again, 20g of butter, wurst, and bread. Today the menu was the same except we didn't get any rolls. Instead of the 2 oranges we got 30 pieces of hard candy. No one is on duty during the two Pfingsten holidays, so we can do what we want. I usually write letters and read newspapers. None of the Stettiners knew Viktor Alsen [a relative]. I'm surprised to hear that you want to go on vacation from July 7th – 21st in Massaven. I'm afraid by that time we'll be in Argental (on the river Gilge). Well, we'll have to see what happens. I already got some mail from Günter [Bahr]. He likes his camp a lot. He is an assistant medic and doesn't have any outside duty. – I agree with Klaus that I have been at the RAD long enough. We are counting the days, too. There are only 56 days left and I'm getting tired of those Vormänner [superiors] who give you a hard time as soon as they find out that you're still a student. Unfortunately everyone in my room feels that way. How did Jürgen's bike trip on the Nehrung [Kurische Nehrung] go? I made the same trip with Zerbst once. How far did he get? – In your June 11 letter you mentioned that you were concerned about my sore throat. It was pretty bad for a week, especially when I ate, but the pain has gone down a lot. I only feel pain now on the right side when I swallow. A buddy of mine has some stuff to gargle with, which really helps. I hope to be totally better by tomorrow. There’s no need to worry. – So Klaus is sick again. Is he in a lot of pain? Did you go to Schönwalde after all? How was it there? I'm sure the food was excellent as usual. Did you straighten out my room when I was last there? How is Mr. Decker? Please give him my greetings and tell him that I don't have enough time to write him. Love to Klaus, whom I hope gets better, and Jürgen, who could write me when he feels like it, and I hope your stomach gets better soon und verbleibe als Dein Friedrich.
Deeden, 17 June, 1943
Liebe Mutti!
I have to mention a bit of carelessness on your part. I had mentioned the cases of scarlet fever here. We are forbidden to write about things that happen in the camp. Don't mention anything about the sickness to the Nagels. [Frau Nagel was a tailor who worked for various relatives and therefore was a source of gossip.] They will worry needlessly because their son did not write them about it, and there will be unpleasant gossip and other problems. I also asked you to please not inform Otiti because she gossips way too much. Please tell her not to give the Stranzins a lot of detail about what goes on in the camp. It will save me a lot of trouble. My throat is totally cleared up. It went away all by itself. I couldn't help thinking about how things like this used to keep me out of school. That was pretty neat. Excuse my bad handwriting; I'm writing in bed. Viele Grüße, Dein Friedrich. Please write soon!
Did you get my previous letter?
Deeden, 20 June, 1943
Liebe Mutti!
Thanks so much for your two letters that arrived here yesterday and the day before. The postage stamps came in handy because I had just about run out of them. I got a postcard from Günter at the navy hospital yesterday. He wrote that he had an appendix operation and that the stitches will come out today. He seems to be in good spirits. I'm expecting a more detailed letter from him today. – There is nothing new to report here in Deeden. We were solemnly sworn in yesterday. To celebrate we got leave until 10 p.m. (for the first time). But before we were allowed to leave, we had inspection. Many of the guys failed. I was unbelievably lucky. By chance, I happened to have a clean handkerchief and clean hands! Many were grounded because they had dirty ears. So I went to Eydtkau with a few buddies from my room. It was an awfully boring hick town. I was never so bored in my life. There were a lot of soldiers in transit. I went to the only photographer in town and I felt I had gone back in time 100 years. After walking through a stinking kitchen, I entered a room that reminded me of how Wilhelm Busch [famous 19th century cartoonist and poet] draws artists' ateliers [Friedrich misspells it “Atilies” and adds in parentheses: “I don't know how to write this Mistwort” (damn word)]. The end of the story was that the photographer had run out of film plates. Then I went to the Russischer Hof [a hotel]. It's supposed to be the best hotel in Eydtkau, but it was nothing special. There I met – believe it or not – my special friend Schmidt (from dancing school). He was wearing some kind of border guard uniform. Some of the guys told me that he is also stationed in Deeden in a border guard barracks. I also saw the movie actress Gisela Schlüter. She's probably staying at the Russischer Hof. – You wrote in your last letter that many parents have visited their boys here. I actually was going to suggest that. I just thought it might be too far to travel. Mrs. Nagel is visiting her son today. I guess this might be the last Sunday we get leave. Our Schreibstubenhengst [slang: officeworker], who lives in our room, heard that we will be in Argental by July 6th. As of Thursday we will have to be ready to move out, and there will be no more leave. It’s too bad we can’t see each other during your vacation, but it's possible we will get leave to Tilsit or Labiau from Argental. Maybe we can meet up there. We’ll see. – We got crewcuts on Friday. Can you imagine – my hair is matchstick-length. Just try to picture it. – I'm very excited about how the photo came out. I'm surprised how much Wölfchen [Wolfgang Vogel, son of Margarete (Gretchen) Vogel, of Schönwalde] has changed. You wrote that he is sneaky. I thought him to be a little schadenfroh [deriving pleasure from others’ misfortunes] but otherwise I didn’t see any bad qualities in him. By the way, I found Harald [Wolfgang's younger brother] much nicer. – How did you fix Klaus's toy cart? It was totally broken. I will close now and write a few lines to Jürgen.
Also mit vielen Grüßen verbleibe ich als Dein Friedrich.
[P.S.] Our Kameradschaftsbund [probably a soldiers’ club] probably won’t work out.
Lieber Jürgen,
Thank you for your letter. I really liked it. You seem to be very busy with school. You don’t get any vacation? Mutti wrote me that Treber (Baubi) ratted on you for not having your homework done. Let it go in one ear and out the other. – How they’re screwing us here is beyond description. You might be interested to know that they sent Hölzer to Cranz for a rest because of his lousy physical condition. He was just skin and bones. You would enjoy watching us. We are training to use a rifle and gas mask. We are near the train line, so we can watch all the transports that come through. Every five minutes freight trains pass with tanks, airplanes, an infinite number of cars and other nice stuff. In 9 days half of our RAD time will be over. Every morning we holler, “Es klingt wie eine Sage, noch 51 Tage” [“It sounds like a dream, only 51 more days”]. I wish you, Klaus, and everyone else the best. Tell Mutti to send me 5 RM [Reichsmark] of my money. The 2.50 RM we get every 10 days isn’t enough to buy anything.
Deeden, 20 June, 1943
Liebe Mutti!
I have a quick question for you. I'm in an awkward situation. I got a letter from Gretchen [Margarete Vogel, née Alsen, mother of Wolfgang, Harald, Brigitte, and Elke] asking me to be Elke's godfather. You probably already know that. What do I have to do? I wrote to Wera [Alsen, née Moser, mother of Margarete Vogel] to wish her a happy birthday and to accept the godfathership. Next time you write, please tell me what else I need to do.
24 June, 1943
Liebe Mutti!
Thank you very much for your nice letter. I'm sending you a package with some superfluous items with this postcard. It includes my mail, which I’d like you to please put on my shelf. You see, I’m trying to get rid of all the things I don't need. Who knows if all my things will ever fit in my Tornister [backpack]? We’re going to have a get-together in the village Sunday evening. I wonder what it will be like. I have a favor to ask. Would you wash the enclosed Fusslappen [foot wrappings] and handkerchiefs? I can’t get them clean with cold water. Maybe you could send them to my new address at the next opportunity. I will give it to you when I get there. Until around Thursday, you can still write to my old address.
P.S. Is Jürgen feeling better? How is it coming with the Christening present? Thank you for your advice about the godfathership. Thank you for the 5 RM.
Deeden, 27 June, 1943
Liebe Mutti!
Thank you very much for last Sunday’s letter. I was delighted to get it. I have guard duty from 6 p.m. Saturday to 6 p.m. today, so I have a chance to answer it. Mrs. Nagel was wrong to say the letter wouldn't reach me on time. I was really annoyed to have to pull guard duty today, because it is so dreadfully boring. It would have been all right on a weekday, because then I would have been excused from regular duty. But ruining my whole Sunday is pretty unpleasant. By the way, guard duty is considered an honor and a distinction. But I can do without such rhetoric. Last night I got exactly 4 hours of sleep. The Wacheaufziehen [mounting of the guard] and Vergatterung [changing of the guard] went off all right. If you don't know what Vergatterung means, ask Mr. Decker, who'll surely know. After the guard is dismissed at 6 p.m., everyone will have pulled 8 hours of guard duty. It was frigid at night. – Did you already get my package? Please forgive me for sending the dirty foot wrappings. I thought the newspapers could be used in the waiting room [of his father's medical office]. I mistakenly sent back all the letters with the return addresses. – Now I don't have Albrecht Thomasius’ address. Would you copy it and send it to me? I just got the NSKK-Mann [Nationalsozialistiches Kraftsfahrer Korps – motor-pool instruction book]. Thank you very much. Yesterday there was a rehearsal for tonight's party. I think it will be a disaster because the sketches just don't have any content. It will be up to the band to save the whole evening. Thank you again for your help with the christening present. What kind of old silver did you actually give them? The weather is awful today. Luckily the roads were covered with cinder or we'd all have drowned. We brought in two full loads of that stuff to our camp yesterday. The dust makes it an awfully unpleasant job.
We’ll be off to Argental on Saturday.
Deeden, 30 June, 1943
Liebe Mutti!
Thank you very much for your 2 letters. We will be out of here shortly. The Vorkommando [advance command] is already leaving tomorrow. We hope to be discharged later. That means of course that our personal things will have to be forwarded so that we can return home in civvies. We are supposed to be discharged between August 10th and 16th. We have been having problems with the food lately. Every day we are cheated out of some of our butter ration. Things improved after one of the units complained to the chief. We also have been getting less bread lately. Things will certainly be different in Argental. – Enclosed is my old tobacco ration card. It's already expired here. Maybe you can get something for it through Mrs. Lindenau. Please give the cigarettes you get for the 3 coupons to Mr. Decker, who always seems to be short on smokes. I'll send him a package with tobacco and a pack of cigarettes today. I hope he likes them. – I’m not sure where Argental is. It's supposed to be closer to Tilsit than Labiau. In any case it’s somewhere near Gr. Friedrichsdorf. Maybe you'll find it on the roadmap. Let me know where it is sometime. You wrote that Mrs. Nagel is sewing for you again. I imagine there's a lot of work. Thank you also for the package you sent through J. Nagel [presumably Mrs. Nagel's son]. I'm sure I forgot to thank you for it. The butter and little cakes were great. Concerning J. Nagel, somehow the people in charge have gotten wind of the fact that he was some kind of HJ shithead [Hitler Jugend; Hitler Youth], so he was named assistant instructor. As a result he'll probably stay longer with the RAD. Ich könnte mich ja bremsen [I can't wait!]. For God's sake don't tell Mrs. Nagel about any of this or there will be gossip again, and I don’t think the Nagels know about any of this. Besides that, nothing is new here. We have been getting the camp in shape all day. Garbage holes are being dug and the latrines are being pumped out, which is an especially pleasant job. The other day while in the “shithouse” I spoke to a certain “Bastian,” a cellist you met at the Lempps! – The more I think about that party the other day, the more I realize how idiotic it was. There was nothing to drink or smoke. Just as you told me, girls were nowhere in sight, and at 10 p.m. it was lights out. We were all pretty annoyed. And when it comes to this cheap Schunkeln [swaying from side to side to music while sitting, arms locked with your neighbors], something that is common at such affairs these days, I just want to explode. The mood in our room was extremely tense. Thank you in advance for washing the foot wrappings. It must have been a lot of work. When you send them back, please include a few of my civvies, because we are not going to be transferred anymore, and I have more room anyway. I could really use my wool socks. Until now I've been wearing foot wrappings, because we only got one pair of wool socks. – And now let me get to the subject that has been bothering me for days: the “Taufe” [Christening]. I have been thinking about it for hours and can’t come up with anything to write. Who should I address this “letter” to, anyway? Elke is still too young to read. I guess I could write to Gretchen [Elke's mother], but I'm the godfather of Elke. It's enough to make me puke. I don't know who to write to or what to write. It’s all just empty phrases anyway. I'd be grateful if you could give me direction about whom to write and what to write as soon as you get my address. I'm at my wits’ end. Being a godfather is just a formality anyway. I heard you and Mr. Decker talking about this once and I basically agreed with him.
Argental, 4 July, 1943
Liebe Mutti!
I finally have a chance to write a few lines about our new camp. Leaving Deeden didn’t break anyone’s heart. On our last day there, a rather bizarre thing happened. The cook hanged himself in a cell after being arrested by the police for reasons I'd rather tell you in private. It was pretty intense. Six hours later a few guys from our unit had to cut his body loose and lay him on a bench. Later they took the bloody rags to the yard and took pictures of themselves with them. We have grown very callous. I bet Jürgen would puke if he heard the conversations during mealtime. Some guys got so disgusted they wouldn't touch their food, which we then divided like booty. Well, as I said, we got here all right. At 8 a.m. we began marching from Deeden to Eydtkau. It wasn’t so easy because my backpack started to pinch after awhile. Besides, we had to haul a gas mask with Gasplane [a poncho-like cover to guard against poisonous gases], a spade, and Brotbeutel [satchel for bread]. A train with running water was already waiting for us in Eydtkau. There was so much room that I could lie down. After a few hours we reached [Gr.] Wilhelmsbruch via Tilsit. We got out and took our gear out of the freight cars. At 3:30 p.m. we took off in a stifling heat. It was a 7 km march. You can just imagine how it was. We marched without stopping. When we finally arrived at the camp, we were all pretty shot. To our surprise it was in a pretty good state. Deeden had its advantages, but physically it's definitely better here. There are decorative outdoor fountains and other nice touches. The rooms, however, are more cramped and painted gray, while our Deeden rooms were colorfully painted. I used the time during the hubbub of our arrival to rustle up a new pair of fatigues and a new Kragenbinde [kind of necktie or neckband]!! As soon as we arrived, our chief got an order for us not to unpack anything; we were supposed to stay ready on alert. Soon we’ll be assigned to East Prussia with the air force. I hope that order will stay. So there’s no point sending me mail until we have a permanent place to stay. You'll find out in my next letter, I remain...
[Marginal note]: Fortunately we will be able to change our clothes tomorrow. We have been wearing the same thing for three weeks in a row. My white shirt has become black with dirt. Did you have a nice celebration for Jürgen's birthday [July 4]?
Argental, 7 July, 1943
Liebe Mutti!
I wanted to take advantage of a few free minutes to tell you what’s new here, which will interest both of you. First of all, we are going to be transferred to the Königsberg area, either Ellerbruch or Ellerkrug. It's in the Gr. Raum area. We will be working with 8 other units (with 200 men each) on an airstrip. I'm excited, but there's a drawback: we'll have to sleep in tents. So we are now practicing pitching tents. If the weather keeps up, we might as well write our wills. Luckily, we only have to put up with this for 34 days. Our discharge, however, will be in Argental. My 2nd piece of news is that I got my Army draft notice today. If I weren’t in the RAD now, I'd have to report on July 17 to Gr. Glienicke, near Berlin. I would have been assigned to the 10. Panzerersatz – und Ausbildungsabteilung [kind of tank training unit]. Sounds pretty sharp, doesn't it? The notice also said, “falls noch beim Arbeitsdienst, sofort nach Entlassung aus dem RAD” [“if still in the RAD, report immediately after being discharged”]. I hope I get assigned later to the same unit, because I'm sure the location will be better than in Poland. Otherwise Argental is very bleak. Nothing more than a few dreary fields, a few shrubs, and the so-called Arge [brook, rather than a river] flowing between them. The ground is still wet. When we march, the whole mess gives in under our weight. It rained almost the entire RAD time, and it's been raining all day today. And duty isn’t cancelled under any condition. Enough for today. Sei herzlich gegrüsst von Deinem Friedrich.
How do you like it in Georgenswalde? How is the weather?
Argental, 10 July, 1943
Liebe Mutti!
Today is Saturday and I have a bit of time to drop you a few lines. This afternoon we will be off. I’m not sure if I’ll go out. Tomorrow a letter will follow.
Argental, 11 July, 1943
Liebe Mutti!
Here is the letter I mentioned in my last postcard. I just want you to know it is safe to write me. After we leave, a Nachkommando [unit that cleans up after troops have left] will be around to forward our mail, so you don't have to worry about mail getting lost. I have a request to add. Could you send me a few foot wrappings? I got a few myself, but it would be nice to have a few clean ones for the Appell [reveille, or any other time troops have to fall out.] Also, please send me some writing paper and envelopes. I'm running low. Please send me a set of the pictures if they’re ready. You can keep the negatives at home. Please put my letters in my letter folder, as there’s no more room in my backpack. We had leave yesterday and today. The next village is 8 km away, so I decided to stay in the barracks and write letters and sleep. Last Friday we had an Oberarbeitssführer [official ranking above Friedrich's chief] review. He was pretty pleased with our training. I had to laugh at how our chief trembled in his boots during the review. In the evening we had milk soup. You wouldn’t believe how we wolfed it down. Our room polished off seven full pots of soup. One guy had as many as eight full plates of soup. Not bad, huh? Three were enough for me. Today the kitchen made us some little cakes for a treat. When we finished dividing them up, it came to actually three cubic centimeters per person [he likely means a 3 cm-by-3 cm cube]. I was pretty insulted. Yesterday we were supposed to go on a three-hour march, but luckily it started to pour so badly that we returned after 3 km. Naturally we got drenched. We fired up the stove and by the afternoon our clothes were dry again. The weather was a little better today. I hope it stays that way. How is it in Georgenswalde? Is the beach good for swimming? Hoping to get a letter from you soon, I remain, Dein Friedrich
[Marginal note:] I forgot to put the letter in the other envelope. Viele Grüße auch an die Familie
Powunden, 18 July, 1943
Liebe Mutti!
Thank you very much for your long letter of July 5. As you probably noticed from my envelope, we are now somewhere else, near Gr. Raum, and we will be working for the Air Force. Unfortunately we even have to work on Sundays, including today. Tomorrow we have Ordnungsdienst again; it alternates daily. The food is very scarce here, probably because of all the people who have to be fed. The trip here was awful. We left Argental at 7 a.m. and arrived in the train station in Heinrichswalde at 10 a.m. We still had a 15 km march, which was awful because we had to march with full gear on sandy paths. The next train ride lasted from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. The quarters are fair. We are housed zugweise [in a platoon of 30 men instead of the usual housing in squads of about 10], which I’m not crazy about. We are now working for the Air Force, so we get 1 RM a day. Unfortunately there’s no place to spend it. You probably noticed that we now use Feldpost [military mail service, not the regular post office he had been using], so I can return my stamps to you.
19 July, 1943 [continuation of the same letter]
Unfortunately I couldn’t finish my letter yesterday because I had to pull guard duty at the construction site. I was really annoyed because until now I have only had guard duty on Sundays. I got three letters at once, two from Otiti and one from you. Thank you very much. You sent stamps again, which I appreciate, but I am sending them back for you to use. I'm excited about the package that's on its way. Thank you in advance. How do you like it back in Königsberg? It was probably much, much nicer in Georgenswalde.
20 July, 1943 [2nd continuation]
It's been impossible to finish this letter. We are constantly on duty and have no free time. We had that stupid Ordnungsdienst again today. Today we saw an airplane that had a probable landing gear problem and made a belly landing; it hit pretty hard. Getting leave now is out of the question. After all, we have only three weeks before our discharge. They won’t even let us go to Cranz. We can even see the water tower on the horizon. Thank you for correcting my last letter. That expression I used was petty anyway. I won't close this letter the same way and that's how I made that mistake. Thanks again. I’m sorry if this letter is full of mistakes and doesn’t make any sense, but I have so little time. I'll finish now and quickly add a few lines to Väti for his birthday [July 21, 1895].
L.V. [Lieber Väti], I wish you the best for your birthday, and I hope you like the enclosed picture. – Could you order more pictures from Lagiller [probably a photo shop], order #4213c? I have run out.
Liebe Mutti!
Thank you very much for the package that was forwarded to me. The foot wrappings are really great. I plan to save the socks for the march back to Argental, because I don’t like foot wrappings for long marches. The food was very good. It was great to have cake after all this time. Everyone in our room was excited about the pictures. You still have to send the group shots. Our Abteilung [unit of 200 men] had bad luck the other day. We were supposed to get leave today. On Saturday, just before we were about to take off, it was canceled. That’s because from now on we'll have to work six hours a day to get the job finished by August 5th when we go back to Argental. Three Abteilungen are working at the site. You wouldn’t believe how big the project is. We now have to get up at 4:30 a.m., which is really tough. We are already grumpy over our leave being canceled. To make up for it they gave us leave yesterday evening and this afternoon until 11 p.m. As usual, I stayed in because I was tired. There were a few things at the canteen today that I will send home to you. Don't be surprised if I send them through regular mail and not Feldpost. Also don't be surprised about Argental being the return address because I'm not allowed to send them by Feldpost. Our personal clothes are supposed to be sent by express train service to Argental. That’s not for certain, so please wait for further information. I will write again soon.
O.U., 27 July, 1943
Liebe Mutti!
Thank you so much for your nice letter and postcards, some of which were still addressed to Argental. First I want you to know that we finally got instructions to send our civvies to Heinrichswalde, bahnlagernd [to be held at the train station]. The whole mess is going by train. From there it will be picked up by the RAD and taken to Argental. Of course these idiots told us all this much too late. Hopefully they’ll arrive on time, or else we will have to wait to be discharged until they arrive. (Excuse my convoluted sentence.) The discharge is already set for the 11th, 12th and 13th. We take off on the 9th. Please send me the light brown suit (not the dark brown one) and the dark red checkered shirt. And the shoes that were sewn on top (the older ones), too. Our unit is constantly put on extra duty because some A.M. [guys] messed up. Almost 1/3 of our unit was already in the hole. Crazy, huh? I'm sending along a package with a few things from the canteen. The Waschprickel [Prickel: East Prussian for gizmo or utensil; Waschprickel: something for use in the bathroom]. I hope you can use it, as well as the shampoo powder. I also sent the nuts Väti likes. I don't care for those things. They were passed out during the evening distribution. The foot wrappings can stay at home because I'll need them later in the military. I used Argental for the return address because Feldpost may not be used for packages. I sneaked it to the postal ordinance to get it out of here. I hope it gets to you. I'm doing fine. My back looks like a mulatto’s. That’s what six hours a day at the construction site does. We also have Ordnungsdienst and sports; it's pretty tough work. Luckily the food is better because we got a Feldküche [portable army kitchen vehicle]. Please give Jürgen my thanks, too. And please tell Mr. Decker I said hello and thank you for his nice letter but that there’s no point in visiting me because our unit has an Ausgangsverbot [freeze on leaves]. It’s too bad. I will thank him personally later. Unfortunately we have so little free time that there’s hardly enough time to write a letter.
O.U., 29 July, 1943
Liebe Mutti!
Just a quick few lines. You probably got my letter asking you to send my civvies to Heinrichswalde, bahnlagernd. Are they already in transit? Everything is the same here. It's hot as hell, which makes work especially unpleasant. Today we had a discharge medical exam. I checked out all right. Yesterday we had an inspection by the Generalarbeitsführer [a high ranking RAD official] from Königsberg. He ordered us to march to Cranz on Sunday for recreation (of course everything will be closed). I’m not the least bit interested in going. I hope it falls through, as usually happens at the RAD.
Herzl. Grüße an alle von D. Friedrich
3 August, 1943
Liebe Mutti!
Just a few lines before my discharge. We arrived here fine Sunday evening, although from Gr. Raum we traveled by livestock car, and we were packed like sardines. Work started on Monday as usual. The heat is unbearable. How are you doing? I had to laugh at Klaus, who is usually quite bold with me. He seemed to have been speechless. [Friedrich was home on leave on Sunday and appeared strange in his uniform.] Too bad the time was so short. I'm still eating the pie you gave me. I finished the cherries. Have you gotten a razor and soap dish? If you're short on time please leave it to me. Has Uncle Paul [likely Gramatzki*] made it to Königsberg yet?
Seid alle u. H. Decker herzl. von Eurem Fr. gegrüßt.
[RAD service ended 8 August, 1943; army service began 16 August, 1943]
O.U., 17 August, 1943
Liebe Mutti!
As I promised, I am writing you at the first chance I got. We were issued clothing yesterday. Our lieutenant is very dashing. I'm extremely rushed because we recruits have a lot to do, especially in the beginning. It’s stricter here because after all it’s an O.B. [Offiziersbewerber] Lehrgang [officer applicants course]. More another time.
Zinten, 18 August, 1943
Liebe Mutti!
I just got here and already I have a tall order of requests. The Gehl would really come in handy. That's the history in telegram style [title of the book, Geschichte in Stichworten], which is located in Jürgen's cabinet. Perhaps you could also stop by Grunzer [a contraction of “Gräfe und Unzer,” a large bookstore in Königsberg] and try to get a textbook for tank gunners. If it's not available, maybe you could come up with something about gasmasks, the carabiner 98K [a kind of rifle] and pistols. We have to make up a lot because many of the other guys have already been here since July 1st. Our course started officially on July 1st. You are allowed to mail the package without the Zulassungsmarke [postal permit coupon] but with the usual postage. Herzl. Grüße an alle, Euer Friedrich
Zinten, 18 August, 1943
Liebe Mutti!
Please include my pocketknife in the package. I left it somewhere on the table. I could also use a pencil. Viele Gruße, Friedrich.
Could you also get me the address of Hans Alsen [twin brother of Grete Vogel, née Alsen]?
Zinten, 22 August, 1943
Liebe Mutti!
Today on Sunday I finally have some time to write you a little. As always I have some requests which, however, I will list at the end of the letter, because I don't want to start the letter with unpleasant things. Now, then – as already said – at the end. The barracks is actually pretty nice. The bathrooms and the other facilities are of course much better than at the RAD with their shabby barracks. In return the duty here is much stricter. The rations are pretty good. Unfortunately the lunch is always a bit meager. But it tastes excellent. The Brotaufstrich [things to put on bread, such as jam, cheese, coldcuts] is also rather slim, but one can do with less. Unfortunately the rooms are rather cramped, but on Sept. 1st that's supposed to change. Tomorrow we are likely going to have an inspection by the Kommandeur [commanding officer]. Today we already wore our black uniform for the first time. It looks rather good. I'm the only East Prussian in our room. In the entire Lehrgang [course] there are only 3 East Prussians. We have here many counts and princes, among them a Graf von Westerholt. Maybe Mr. Decker knows his name, because he is also from the Rhein region. How is it going with you? Mr. Decker is likely still in Schönwalde? What's up with Frau Fink and her son? Do Klaus and X (I can't recall the name at the moment) [he means Hans-Werner] still get along so well? It would be possible for you to visit me here. I can't however yet name which Sunday for sure, because I don't know when we will be off. So when I write you the day in advance, you could come. I would be delighted. Now comes the worst [part] of the letter. I'm embarrassed but I really need these things. So I would really be happy if you could send them when you get a chance:
1. My Wuschen [slippers]. (If my Barfußschuhe [literally, barefoot shoes: some kind of sandals or canvas sneakers] are in good shape, please send me those, because we weren't issued any sneakers. So if the Barfußschuhe aren't around anymore, send the Wuschen.)
2. An Eßbrettchen [a small board to cut bread and prepare and eat sandwiches], because it's unappetizing to put food on a table which is also used for cleaning clothing and other things.
3. Some kind of rag to polish belt buckles and silverware.
4. A bit of shoe polish to polish the belt buckle.
5. An old satchel for dirty laundry
6. My old belt
7. Two razor blades
8. A few safety pins
9. Some kind of stuff for bedbug bites and flea bites, because we have those in our room. Hopefully we are getting rid of them.
10. My pocketknife is already on the way?
11. Some lemon concentrate. Because sometimes there is not enough coffee, so that we drink water instead.
12. A small Hefter [binder] and paper from my shelf.
13. The history Hefter with the red paper reinforcement. Because I think we soon have to write an essay, and...
[A single sheet without date, possibly the end of this letter]
...and there are a few things in it that might come in handy. Did I mention the Gehl already? So, that's all. I hope you won't be angry. Actually, it feels pretty brazen to itemize everything like this. So und nun seid alle herzlich gegrüßt von Eurem Friedrich
I’m returning the stamps because I can't leave the barracks to buy anything and otherwise they become void.
Zinten, 23 August, 1943
Liebe Mutti!
Today we were ordered to write a letter home. This order will likely cheer you up, and because of it you will hear from me. We were also required to send the address of our Lehrgangleiter [leader of the course] to our parents. Because our lieutenant would like to hear from the parents should any questions arise. His address is Lieutenant Eichler, Panzerabteilung [Tank Division] 10, Zinten, O.B.-Lehrgang [O.B. = Offiziersbewerber] [course for officer applicants]. Well, now to my actual letter. First, thanks for your nice letter from Sunday, which I got today. At the same time I received one from Günther Bahr, which was opened by the OKW [Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, Army High Command]. Günther also hopes to be discharged soon from the RAD. Today we have a pretty tough Ordnungsdienst for 5 hours. Besides, we have about 3 hours of instructions daily. Plus 1 hour of Putz- und Flickstunde [cleaning and mending time] and soon there will be added weapon-cleaning, because today we were issued rifles. So you see, our day is pretty much taken up. To knock off work at 5 p.m. sounds a little like Hilde [Hilde was a maid in his family's household]. I'd love you to visit me if I were free at that time. Unfortunately that's not the case. Surely it ought to work out on a Sunday afternoon. However, you would have to come all the way to the barracks, because we are not – as already mentioned earlier – allowed to go out yet. In one week we will be sworn in. On November 1st we are supposed to be transferred to an Unteroffizierschule [school for noncommissioned officers] and then, after 4 [?] months, we will be done with that course. In ¾ of a year we will have the possibility to get out of here. Are Stritzel [a kind of coffee cake] still available in Königsberg? These kinds of things we get only rarely. Yesterday I wrote that I could use a binder. Please send me also the one with the leather cover. To make notes, the very small one I got from the Huhns [possibly Hahns] would come in handy. Well, I will close for now, because time is flying.
Zinten, 29 August, 1943
Liebe Eltern!
Many thanks for the nice birthday letter. [His birthday is August 31.] Thank you, especially, dear Mother, for the huge package. It’s unbelievable how much you came up with. Just after you left, the entire O.B.-Lehrgang marched to Zinten. I was glad I was able to stay home. I put my things away in my locker, made my bed, and opened the package. I ate – without realizing it – half the Käsekuchen [cheesecake made from Glums or Glumse (East Prussian for Quark, cheese similar to ricotta)]. It was fabulous. You must have been able to get all the ingredients. Now I’m so full I can barely get up from the bed. Nowadays it’s rare to get this satisfied in the military. I’ll save the rest of the cake for my birthday. The pretzels were cool! Where were you able to get all that flour? I hope you didn’t skimp on yourself. – The thing with my knee will probably get better in time. The guys are just coming back from Zinten.
Again, many thanks for everything. The calendar and books will be very handy.
Königsberg, 10 September, 1943
Liebe Eltern!
Just a few quick lines which I hope will reach you on Sunday. I have not been operated on yet because Herr Professor Müller had to leave town. The operation will be tomorrow, Saturday. The best time to visit me would be starting Tuesday, if you want to. Please bring me my mirror, which is in my cabinet. I'm in Section 6 in the basement, Room #2.
[After his operation and recovery at the military hospital, Friedrich was home on sick leave until 2 February, 1944.]
Zinten, 5 February, 1944
Liebe Eltern!
I’m sorry I haven’t been able to write any sooner. I’ll try to make up for that today. Well, I got here all right the other evening. The suitcase was pretty heavy. I slept at the Genesendekompanie [convalescence unit] the first night. The next day, before the doctor even had a chance to examine me, I was transferred to my course. That was fine with me because it made catching up a little easier. If I had been away longer, it would have been even harder. Even so, I'll have to cram hard the next few days. The next day I was back on full duty, which was hard after that lengthy hospital stay. My leg is behaving well. I hope it stays that way. Except for a slight swelling, you don’t see anything. I do have to be careful, though. Yesterday there was a little party for the course at the officers' club. There were all kinds of alcohol. It was pretty nice. I like our course leader a lot. He is much nicer than our last one. Again, there’s just one problem. There are bedbugs, just as during the previous course. Yesterday I caught one. I'm bitten all over. Can you please send me a package with bug powder, which you'll find in the cabinet? Could you possibly spare the Brockhaus [well-known German lexicon] because I could really use such a lexicon!? Have you asked Müller [the orthopedic surgeon] when I should see him in Königsberg about my leg? I also don’t have Jürgen's or Thomasius' addresses. The latter will be somewhere on a letter in my cabinet. It's actually on a Feldpostkarte [a military-issued postcard]. I'll send you the suitcase in the mail later. The provisions I took have lasted quite nicely. – Please give my greetings to Klaus, Herr Decker, etc.
P.S. We usually get leave on Saturday and Sunday. If something special is going on, you can call me at the Schreibstube [office]. By the way, Dr. Kehlmann’s son [or Kählmann?], whom I know from school, is here with me.
[Feb. 1944; no date on letter]
Liebe Mutti!
Just a short note today. I’m returning the suitcase with the things I don’t need. The key is in the envelope. As usual, I have very little time. The stuff you sent tasted great. I got to the LKW [Lastkraftwagen; truck] on time. The eggs were hard-boiled after all. That’s all the time I have for now.
Zinten, 11 February, 1943 [probably meant to be 1944]
Liebe Mutti!
I got a chance to send you some dirty laundry. I’d be grateful if you could send socks and foot wrappings as soon as possible, maybe by way of Kehlmann. I haven’t gotten any mail from you. Did you get my letter? Except for a constant cough I’m fine. Kehlmann will tell you more. How are Jürgen and all the others?
Zinten, 13 February, 1944
Liebe Mutti!
I got your first letter yesterday. I thought something had happened. Thank you most of all for the pictures. Yesterday Kehlmann took off on leave. He will stop by to drop off some socks. I will give this letter to a buddy from my room, who is going on leave, or rather, officially to Königsberg. It would be nice if you could send the socks back with him. If they aren’t ready yet, I’m sure you will have a chance to send them here. By the way, you don’t need to send me any clothes hangers. I already have enough. I’m sending you a picture of our Lehrgang. I’m not in it because I wasn’t there yet. Last Sunday we went to an organ recital in the Zinten church in which Mr. Sachs [Jürgen’s cello teacher] played. I’m including the program. – A few days ago there was a wild [bedbug] extermination in our Bude [slang for room]. I am so relieved they are gone now. I hope they don’t come back soon. Our Lehrgang probably will go to Pillau next Sunday to see U-Boote [Unterwasserboote; submarines]. The ROB-Lehrgang [possibly reserve officer applicants] that went there yesterday even made a few [submarine] trips. I hope we get a chance to take some, too. If you hadn’t mentioned Mr. Decker in your letter, I surely would have forgotten his birthday. – I probably will only be able to write only every Sunday because we have so much to do during the week. I realized with horror that this Lehrgang is much more advanced than the previous one. I really have to cram to catch up. I sent a letter to Jürgen yesterday. Has he had leave to see you yet? Is Klaus still asking when you are going to Zinten? You could quite possibly come on a Sunday. Just let me know a day before. Maybe we can arrange it by telephone. I could pick you up from the station. But for now it can wait. Maybe in 2-3 weeks. You wanted to know how often we get Sunday leave. Well, we get leave every Sunday to go to Zinten. I will try later to put in for a short leave for Königsberg.
P.S. I’m enclosing ration cards, including some for milk and potatoes that I don’t need. You can return the others in the next letter.
Zinten, 15 February, 1944
Liebe Mutti!
Thanks a lot for your nice letter of Feb. 2, which I got today. I got the package yesterday. It came at just the right moment; I was incredibly hungry. The cake was fabulous. I’m eating practically all your rations. Otherwise nothing is new. You don’t need to visit me in Zinten because I should get a short leave [to Königsberg] on one of the next Sundays. And finally, I have a request: If you still have leftover ration cards for bread, please send me some, because I could buy some rye rolls with them at the canteen.
Zinten, 27 February, 1944
Liebe Mutti!
Thank you for the letters, ration cards, and packages. Thank you for returning the picture to me Feb. 18. None of our instructors is disabled, although most of them have been wounded. I got the letter with all the bread ration cards on Feb. 18. I used them to buy rolls, which were pretty good. Each weighs just 50 grams, so I had a huge pile of them. Yesterday I got your letter of Feb. 24 while a buddy of mine brought the package with all the goodies. I have to ask you not to send me so much food, though. I don’t want you to have too little for yourself. I hope that guy didn’t ask you to give him something to pick up. He was only supposed to ask you to put aside the binder with the leather cover and notebook so he can pick them up later. That is supposed to happen tomorrow. What kind of impression did he make? – Jürgen wrote me yesterday. He seems to like it a little better. We had a lecture about chamber music Friday. We listened to records. It was pretty nice. – Last week we were pretty busy, which didn’t leave me time to write a lot. To come back to the package, the cake was really good. So was the sugar [?]. The bread ration card came in very handy. Are these really all extra? I haven’t heard anything from Günter in quite a long time. He has already finished his training. Is Väti healthy again? I hope my letters have enough detail.
Zinten, 28 February, 1944
Liebe Mutti!
I had another chance to get a letter to you through a buddy today. We had our first introduction to tanks today. We learned about them more from the outside, though. It was the same for Hans [Decker] when he was in basic training. Only now there are more corners, edges, and hatches. But it’s fun anyway. An awful lot of guys were on sick leave in our Korporalschaft [squad], about a third. They have to go to the hospital for checkups, which is why I can send mail through couriers. I will try to put in for a leave on Sunday two weeks from now. That’s all for today.
Zinten, 4 March, 1944
Liebe Mutti!
I have a special reason for writing this time. There is a case of scarlet fever in our room. Now the whole Bude is quarantined. You had written that you were expecting Klages on Monday. I only mention it so you won’t get impatient. I hope the letter gets to you on time. I’m giving it to a Uffz. [possibly Unteroffizier, a noncommissioned officer] who is on leave. He is supposed to mail it in Königsberg. We were supposed to pull guard duty today, but it was cancelled at the last minute. Life has gotten lazier. Our food is brought to us, and we only do outside duty if it’s within our Korporalschaft. The quarantine will last 10 days. We have to go to the Revier [medical center] every other day for a checkup. How they will handle the course schedule beats me. Otherwise I’m feeling fine. Tomorrow, Sunday, I’ll write a more detailed letter provided I have time and they don’t come up with something for us to do. The leave next Sunday fell through because of the quarantine. We also have to provide an Ehrenzug [probably a unit for a ceremony] for Heldengedenktag [March 14, a day honoring war heroes].
Zinten, 5 March, 1944
Liebe Mutti!
Well, I’m ready to write the promised Sunday letter today. First, thank you for your last 2 letters, which arrived last week. Thanks also to Klaus for his “letter.” I’m including a picture as a souvenir of my trip to Pillau. I hope he likes it! Klages will probably come to Königsberg the week after next for his orthotics. Our quarantine will be over by then. I will give him dirty socks and handkerchiefs, as well as clothes hangers and an extra pair of underpants. Don’t mention it to him. I also will include the letters I asked you to keep for me in the green cabinet. I’ll send home all of that. Now of course I have a few requests: 1) There should be some writing paper left in my green locker. Please send me 20 envelopes and some paper. Not too much paper, because I still have some left. 2) Please withdraw 20 RM [Reichsmark] from my account because I’m getting short. You can send it in installments. 3) The custom in our Bude [slang for room] is to hang your favorite picture on the wall above your bed. Could you get that picture of an old man lying on a sofa and reading? He’s holding an umbrella. I believe it’s called “The Bookworm.” I forget the name of the painter. [Painting is by Carl Spitzweg, 1808-1885, Der arme Poet; The Poor Poet]. It might be available at Treichert, unframed, of course. If it’s not, don’t worry. So, those are my requests. – So you were pleasantly surprised about the manners of the guys in our course. That old Moll shouldn’t show off and gossip so much. I have to warn you about that guy. To me he is the most unpleasant Heini [jerk] of the whole course. He was only supposed to drop off the letter. Apparently he snuck up to your house again. Fortunately he’s gone; he was moved to the military hospital. I hope he doesn’t show up there again. He didn’t leave under the best terms. That’s all I want to say about that. Klages is much easier to bear. He is arrogant and a Klugscheisser [bullshitter], which annoys everyone. He is such an awful show-off, too. So now you’ll have a rough idea of what he’s like when he shows up next week. – I still haven’t heard from Günter and Thomasius. Does Väti feel any better? I have plenty of bread ration cards now. Thanks a lot for the last ones you sent. I’ve heard there will be amber cigarette holders available at the amber factory in two weeks. Maybe you can get me one.
Herzliche Grüße an Klaus, Jürgen, Väti, u. H. Decker, Dein Friedrich.
Zinten, 5 March, 1944
Liebe Mutti!
I just remembered that somewhere in a carton in a cabinet there should be an RAD Kragenbinde [tie] that I’d like you to send with the other things. The socks that I'll soon send can stay with you for a while because I don't want too much clutter.
Zinten, 11 March, 1944
Liebe Mutti!
Thanks very much for the package, which arrived a few days ago. It included lots of treats that continue to taste awesome. It took only 2 days to get here. The mail delivery is generally pretty good. Only Jürgen's letters and my replies took almost a week. Today I got one from him that he sent on Sunday. – But back to the package. Thank you for sending all the writing paper. I have plenty now. Thank you also for taking the trouble to get the picture. Of course I would take “The Cactus Lover” instead of “The Poor Poet.” Is the picture big? If it is too large, it wouldn't make sense to frame it. It would be very nice. Thanks also for the money that was in the letter. It arrived just in time, because I had wanted to buy a few things from the canteen but was short. And then your letter came. – We are all happy that Moll finally cleared out of here. Since then, cigarettes, etc., have stopped disappearing. Klages is most likely going to Königsberg on Tuesday. He may stop by to pick up some Leukoplast [medical tape] (just a little) and my shoehorn (it's in my cabinet). Do you still have the extra photos of the [?] Wibenburg [?]. You could send a few in your next letter. You couldn’t get the cigarette holder after all? – Tomorrow I'll send you a package with 3 pairs of socks (dirty) and two cigars for Väti. I hope they taste OK. I doubt they will. They were selling Uhu [brand of glue] in the canteen. I included 3 tubes that I hope you can use. There also are a few Gekröse [slang: odds and ends] in there you may be able to use. I also sent a Putzkette [rag attached to a small chain for cleaning gun barrels] that I want you to keep for me. – The quarantine was lifted today, so it’s back to work as usual. Next week we'll start Krad [short for Kraftrad; motorcycle] and LKW [Lastkraftwagen; truck] driving school. I'm insanely excited. Finally, something other than that dull Infantrismus [made-up word for Infanterie (infantry)]. The work is OK. The Feldwebel [sergeant] remarked the other day that I seem to be the Spassvogel [jokester] of the course. – I just noticed in my calendar that Elke Vogel's birthday is coming up [born March 17, 1943]. What should I do? I can't just send her trockenes Brot [plain bread]. – I also got A. Thomasius' letter today. It took exactly a month to get here. He is still stationed in Alba. Enough for today. I hope Väti gets better soon. Wish H. Decker well on his exam for me.
Zinten, 12 March, 1944
Liebe Mutti!
As usual, by the time I finish writing a letter I’ve forgotten half the things I wanted to say. I forgot to ask you to give Klages the pullover from Aunt Wera [Wera Moser, née Alsen, 1886-1945, mother of Grete Vogel], because it gets rather cool during driving school. Also, I could use a roll of toilet paper. Is any black shoe polish still available? Maybe you could also get me a box of leather conditioner. You can't get any of those things here. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow our O.B. Unit will attend an Ehrenzug [honor parade].
Zinten, 21 March, 1944
Liebe Mutti!
I got the packages today and the two letters during the week. Thank you for everything. I feel really bad for not replying earlier; unfortunately I couldn't because our motorcycle-driving school started Sunday, and on days like that you get no time to yourself. Today I have some free time because we were off for 3 hours, but that means we have to drive at night. We'll probably be going all the way to Heiligenbeil or even further. The fastest I went was 50 mph. It's really cool. Yesterday we drove off-road. We did some real cool stunts. We had to go down a steep slope and then go up an even steeper one. I have a 350 DKW [motorcycle with 350cc, made by the DKW factory], which really pulls like crazy. Tomorrow we have a driving test. Then we start truck-driving school, which will also be over by Sunday. It is all going a bit too fast. We may come through Königsberg by truck. I may be able to stop by for a moment, but it’s doubtful. Thank you again for everything you sent, especially the food. I totally forgot to write to Schönwalde [village where Wera Alsen's farm is], which I will do right now. Thanks also to Väti for his note and the money, which was plenty.
P.S. I still haven't heard from Günter yet. Please tell Mr. Decker I said hello and good luck on his exam.
Zinten, 26 March, 1944
Liebe Mutti!
Something edible showed up again today. Thank you so much for the letters and the package. I was just called to the guardhouse and someone gave me an enormous package that Hilde [his parents' maid] dropped off. I was totally “von den Socken” [flabbergasted]. The contents will last quite some time. Thank you again for everything.
27 March, 1944 [continuation of same letter]
I started to try your goodies today. The Stritzel is awesome. – I have to write this letter bit by bit because time is scarce during driving school. I passed the motorcycle test. The truck-driving course has been extended. We started today and we will be tested in a week. We have already been to Königsberg. Unfortunately I couldn't drop by because we had to go back immediately. We were near Otiti [his maternal grandmother], but soon we will be back in Königsberg. Let's see what we can do next time. I was shocked by all the deaths in the family. It's probably because there are so many old people of about the same age. What can you do. – The Easter leave isn’t definite. But don't let that influence your vacation plans. If I come, I wouldn't mind being alone. Of course, there’s nothing great about that. But you never know how things are going to turn out in the Kommiss [slang for army]. I can just imagine how the Hähne and Genossen [he refers to members of the extended Hahn family and friends] were fighting over T.L.’s[?] Klamotten [slang: clothing]. – Otherwise there's nothing new here. Yesterday we were allowed to go to the Varieté [variety theater] in Zinten. It was pretty nice. I'll stop now because we have to get up at 4:30 a.m. tomorrow.
How is Mr. Decker’s exam [ref. to the Physikum, exam for medical students] coming along? Grüß auch ihn von mir.
Zinten, 16 April, 1944
Liebe Mutti!
I finally get to write the Easter letter I promised. Last week we were so busy I couldn't even get my own things in order. First, thank you for the Easter package, which I am still working on. The pretty pictures and figures on the Easter eggs attracted lots of attention among the guys. The cake was fabulous, as were the other goodies. Did you both get home all right on Sunday night? Is Klaus still full of mischief? He probably fell asleep. – Meanwhile, the leave question has been settled. At the end of the week we will go on bivouac. We'll return Sunday or Monday and then get leave. The course goes one half at a time, though. The other half leaves when the first half returns. So I'll get 4 days leave either at the beginning or end of next week. I have to get a few bottles of wine for the farewell party from a liquor store in Königsberg. Everything’s going to work out. Would you please clean my socks so that I can pick them up then? Please sew my initials F.M. into them, because there's a lot of stealing going on.
Herzl. Gruß, Dein Friedrich. Grüße an alle!
Zinten, 1 May, 1944 [after 4 days’ leave]
Liebe Mutti!
I'm now happily back in Zinten. I was in the first group to get leave. Now only a few guys from the Reich [the mainland of Germany as opposed to the enclave of East Prussia] are going on leave. The last one took off today. The farewell party will be the night of the 8th. We will have inspection in the morning. On the 9thwe will be issued clothing. We most likely will stay for 5 months in Eisenach. Bergen [?] is not going to work out. I’m sure I have contributed enough for the farewell party. It's our turn for G.v.D. [Gefreiter vom Dienst, orderly duties] today, which means being up for 2 hours at night. The orderly room cancelled our rations so when we returned, we received ration cards for 3 days. On Saturday they gave us some of that God-awful stinky cheese. The whole room reeked terribly. Luckily you had given me something to eat on the way; the salami we got had turned bad and we couldn't exchange it until Tuesday. The East Prussians are the only ones still here today, Monday. The rest of the guys are still on leave. I guess we can expect the first ones to start returning tomorrow. Too bad there wasn’t any time for pictures. I’m really psyched up for the trip to Eisenach. The nice thing about it is that we will go by D-Zug [passenger express train] and not cattle car as I first thought. That little midwife suitcase is better than nothing, and I realize it holds quite a bit. Mr. Decker is probably also back from his short leave. What a pain – I forgot a few things again. Please send them as soon as you have my new address in Eisenach. 1. I forgot to take film with me. It’s in my cabinet. I could use two rolls. 2. Could you buy me a few Zigarettenhülsen [pre-rolled cigarette paper], which are sold in the store at the corner of Post Street below Bistrick [?]? Also, I heard from Kehlmann that there are Stopfer [apparatus for stuffing tobacco into the rolled paper] at the cigarette store next to the automat on the Steindamm, which extends past the building line. When you pass by, see if they are available. We are supposed to take a bathing suit to Eisenach, too. Please choose one and send it along. I could also use a Blechstütze [matchbox holder?]. Also, there should be a blank notebook in the cabinet with my writing paper that I bought when I was on leave. That’s all. You can include the bill for all that in your next letter, which you can still send to Zinten. But it has to arrive here no later than noon on Tuesday. I'll give you my new address as soon as possible.
Zinten, 1 May, 1944
Lieber Jürgen!
We have to scram soon, so please wait for my new address.
Eisenach, 14 May, 1944
Liebe Eltern!
At last here is my first sign of life. I got here all right. Letter will follow.
Eisenach, 17 May, 1944
Liebe Mutti!
I finally have a chance to write you a letter. I hope it reaches you by Mother’s Day. All 105 of us are put up in the attic. You can imagine what that looks like. All our extra gear is stored in the basement. On the 6th of next month we will get our rooms. The area here is really nice. On Sunday I was on the Wartburg. The view from it is great. Among other things, I saw the ink spot made by Martin Luther when he slammed the inkpot against the wall. The food is so-so. The locals are very friendly. The work here is just bearable. Unfortunately, I have to keep my letters to a minimum for the time being. This is only my second one all this time. I hope everyone is healthy. We have had four air raids (during the day). Otherwise there’s nothing new.
Eisenach, 19 May, 1944
Liebe Mutti!
Just a quick note for Mother’s Day. An Unteroffizier [non-commissioned officer] swore up and down that I hadn't written a Mother’s Day letter yet. There is nothing left for me to do, so I’m just going to scribble a bit. I hope you won’t mind. Everything is in full bloom here in Eisenach. I can't imagine what it looks like in East Prussia. The people here are very polite and friendly. There’s no comparison with East Prussia. I'd be grateful if you could send me some extra ration cards because the food in town is pretty good. The connection to the barracks is pretty convenient. I'll try to get a short leave to go to Erfurt. The work here isn’t bad. Soon we will take the test and the respective exercises to qualify for the Reichssportabzeichen [a pin awarded for sports].
Eisenach, 29 May, 1944
Liebe Mutti!
Thank you for your letters and thanks in advance for the package, which I'm dying to get. Special thanks for the ration cards, which came in pretty handy in town. Unfortunately, I have Pfingstmontag [Monday after Pentecost] orderly duty until noon tomorrow. At least that will give me time to get my own affairs in shape. Yesterday I went to town. The weather is fabulous, but a bit too warm. We are all sweating to death. The trees are either still in full bloom or just about faded. I had lunch and then wandered around. In the evening I went to the Wandelhalle, where a concert was given. It was nice. You asked about the trip to Eisenach. To our dismay, we had to schlep our gear ourselves from the barracks (in Zinten) to the train station. The same thing happened at the main train station in Königsberg. The night trip to Berlin was less than pleasant. Between the cold and the hard benches, we were stiff when we arrived. When we got to Berlin, seeing the bombed city really hit us hard. We could hardly find one intact house during the trip. As I mentioned, we had to change trains again in Berlin because the track had been partly bombed. Once in Berlin we changed from the railroad to the local city train, then the subway, etc. We were exhausted from carrying our heavy baggage. Our transport leader asked for authorization to travel further by D-Zug [Durchgangszug; express train], which unfortunately he received, but we wanted to be in transit as long as possible. On we went. The destruction lessened as we went on. We passed huge factories, among them the Leunawerke [large chemical complex near Dresden]. It was interesting. At 11 p.m. we finally arrived in Eisenach. We had to schlep part of our gear all the way to the barracks, a half-hour away. The accommodations were and are pretty lousy. They are, as our boss says, frontnahe [located near the front]. Our Hauptmann [captain] is rather young and had just returned from the front. He has among other medals, the Deutsches Kreuz in gold. In the next few days we are supposed to move into our rooms – finally. I spoke to some of my buddies from Lieutenant Eichler’s course. Some of them will be promoted to Unteroffizier [non-commissioned officer] but the whole bunch will be sent to the front. Getting leave now is questionable. We are getting so-called Lehrgangsurlaub [leave for the course members], three days including travel. I'm debating whether to use it to go to Erfurt; otherwise it won't be worth it [may imply going to Königsberg isn’t worth it because it’s too far]. I might change my mind. What would you suggest I do? Nothing else is new. The work here is a little different from what we did in Zinten. To my horror we have Heeresfachschule [technical school of the army] every Saturday. Even just the last part [Fachschule] of the word gets to me. A lieutenant gives real lessons in German, etc. And we even have homework to do. Well, it’ll all be over one day! I'm not happy with my “comrades.” I can't stand Klages. And Kehlmann is also a bit dense. There is no one in the room I can talk to about anything other than everyday stuff. I get along with Kehlmann, but that’s about it. Well, I have a few questions and requests. First, let me answer your questions. You wanted to know how far the Wartburg is from Eisenach. It's about a 3/4-hour walk, because it's pretty hilly. Generally, we have leave every Saturday to Sunday. When we’re lucky, we even get leave until midnight. I was awarded the Reichssportabzeichen [a pin given as an award for sports] for completing the 10 km run. The cutoff was 50 minutes. I ran it in 47 1/2 min., which is a pretty good time. Our Feldwebel [sergeant] was pretty impressed, too. We have alarm drills pretty often. Like today at noon. I haven’t seen any bombs dropped. Planes are just flying over. How was the Pfingstfest [Pentecost], by the way? – During our free time we usually take walks, eat out, and other such nonsense. I haven’t come across [J.S.] Bach’s birthplace. I'm not even sure if it’s around here [J.S. Bach was born in Eisleben]. There is nothing else worth seeing in Eisenach except for the Wartburg and the Burschenschaftsdenkmal [monument honoring student fraternities]. – Günter probably knows Ingeborg Nagel, who died, well. The question is, is it her or her sister? I'll ha