Found Letters--German--1940s

[Marla]

I have an interesting find to share. These letters date to the 1940s, and were mailed from Germany to Minnesota. They are all in German. I bought them at a flea market, intrigued that they were in a foreign language. The seller had been packing them around the country for years as part of her stall but didn't know anything about them.

Unfortunately, my German isn't up to translating these. Can any German speakers shed light on what these letters say?

A sample:

And another:

 

[Kitty_Sheridan]

Looks to me from some of the passages that the American family were sending packages to Germany. They're thanked for sending the coffee which tasted 'so good' and they talk about peace being closer for everyone. I think they talk about rationing of bread? (mentions the amount) my German in very rusty and I speak more Dutch these days!
What a great find, do you know anything more about them? The place is Flehingen, near Karlsruhe Germany. By this time under American control.

 

[Story]

I wonder if there's coded messages in the text?

 

[Bluebird Marsha]

The date is June of 1947, so I assume things are getting better for them, but heavy rationing is still in effect. I wonder how these families became acquainted. Maybe some relief organization?

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

The date is June of 1947, so I assume things are getting better for them, but heavy rationing is still in effect. I wonder how these families became acquainted. Maybe some relief organization?

They're related because the letter is addressed "Liebe Cosine und Familie" (Dear Cousin and Family)

 

[Bluebird Marsha]

Duh. Trust me to ignore what's under my nose. I claim bad progressive lenses

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Here's a partial translation of the very first part of the letter. The rest is somewhat difficult because many of the words seem to be misspelled. This is not an exact translation. Perhaps someone else can take a stab at the rest.

Dear Cousin and Family!

Your dear and beautiful package was a great surprise to us. We received it yesterday with great joy. We thank you from our hearts. These dresses, skirts and this coat [that you made?] fits Gertrud very well. Today she has the flower dress and coat. She's so well dressed...

 

[Marla]

I wonder if there's coded messages in the text?

I wish! I'm interested to read what life in post-war Germany was like from a first-person perspective.

 

[Marla]

I will look through the letters to see if there are any more from Rosa. Most of the letters appear to be from other people though, but were mailed from Germany and addressed to the same person (or family) in Minnesota.

 

[hilja]

Hi everyone!

For the last few months I visited this board every few weeks but never registered. Now coming across this thread I just could not help myself getting an account.
I am a native German speaker, learnt English (and French) in school though I did not get to speak or write both languages much lately. So the following translation of both of the letters could come across a bit clumsy. I hope that everyone interested is more happy about the fact that they can read the translation and get to know the meaning of the letters than being upset by my grammar mistakes..
I tried to translate both letters pretty much sentence for sentence and word for word because even in her original version Rosa makes quite a few mistakes concerning grammar and spelling.



Flehingen, 15th of June 1947

Dear Cousin and Family!

Your dear and beautiful package, which was a great surprise to all of us, was received with great joy. We thank you from our hearts. The two dresses, the two skirts and the coat fit Gertrud very well, just like as if they were made just for her. She enjoys them very much. Today she wore the beautiful flowerdress and the coat. She is very well dressed with these items. I am also happy about the two hemdhosen (bodies?) and I will resew a shirt from the waste fabric. We are very happy about the four cans of sausage, which you enclosed, because our rations are measured more and more. We receive 100 grams of meat for every person each week. We can buy the 450 grams all at once. On the other days we have none to eat. So, you can guess what a joy that is when you receive some in addition. I really cannot express it in words the way you treat us so kindly. And I don't know how to thank you. It would be magnificent to share it all with our father, so that we also would be able to share our joy. But when I'll write to him about your helpfulness in our misery, he will be very happy about that and be lofted out of the reach of concern, because he really is concerned about us ekeing out a living. We did not know anything of him for one year. Whether he was still alive, those weeks and months were very scary. I do not want to go through this time again. Karl did not know anything of us for one and a half years, that was not a trifle for him, too. We had to undergo a lot. How a war can bring such concern, anxiety, deprivation and division. And now great adversity everywhere we look. The refugees from the east, who were alotted to us, carry the great blame because they have to be fed. It is pretty much overpopulated here. Those people were sent packing, away from all their goods and chattels and now their land lies fallow, and that is exactly what is missing here. All the time one asks oneself if such a war was necessary. And still not everything is alright. And the peace still is not made, but let us hope for the best. So that a reconciliatory peace can be made with all nations because every argument gets worse and God shall save us from that. Now we wish you all the best especially health, what we hope of ourselves also, because that is the greatest fortune one can ask for. Now all hail to you from all of us.

Your Cousin
Rosa Winterbauer

Also, the children really enjoyed the Droys/Dreys/Drays (?), many thanks for those!





Flehingen, 10th of May 1947

All my loved ones!

Yesterday we received with great joy your kind and good package. We thank you from our hearts. The coffee tastes very good, that (coffee or taste?) does not exist here anymore since long ago.
The shortening is very useful. We have less and less statically, in four weeks instead of 200 grams of bread there will be 100 grams per week. You simply cannot eat one's fill. And it is just like that in all cases. We have not seen rice for years. We like to eat it. The soup tastes very good, too, I cooked one immediately. I want to save the tea up until our father will return from his imprisonment. [Now it gets tough. The following line reads at last to me:]It is like a medicament because the people who return suffer from diarroeah because the stomach is not able to tolerate any food anymore. The children are happy about the cacao. As about everything else. What was inside: peas, beans, soap, needles, Treet. Everything is a welcoming addition to our rations. Again, thank you very much for everything. How are you? Hopefully you are still in good health, we are. If our father returns home this year, it will take away this worry at least. In Moscow it was decided that all the prisoners shall be released by the 31st of December 1948. That is still a long time. Many people could die until then. But we shall trust in God. He will keep him alive. We have to be patient even if it can be tough at times. If only peace would reign once again and everything could be as it used to be. One can feel this war during the postwar period more and more. Dear Eliese, your daughter Frieda has sent us a very beautiful package full of really good clothing. I appreciate that very much. You cannot believe the great joy your packages have given us. Now I want to close this letter and wish you all the best. With kind regards to all of you,
Rosa Winterbauer
Greetings from the children.

 

[Worf]

Thanks for the translation. As a military historian I'm ususally more concerned with the battles than the aftermath. This is a wonderful window into that postwar time. I wonder if they were in East Germany or West Germany? Considering the ease in which her packages got there I would say the West. I remember as a kid in grade school we collected money and cannned goods for war ravaged Europe... hard to believe we were doing that into the 60's. Interesting stuff... Thanks so much to the OP for providing these precious letters and to Hilja for translating.. well done!

Worf

 

[hilja]

She lived in Flehingen a small town in the province Karlsruhe in Baden-Württemberg, West Germany. This northern part of Baden-Württemberg was an American-administered area at that time.

@Worf:
My grandmother is one of those people who had to leave their homes in East-Europe. She and her family came from German-speaking Silesia. During the war (early 40s) she fled with her brother and sister to Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in North Germany, then had to move on to West Germany during the late 50s. Those 20 years were really harsh to her. At first feeling save and happy because they survived the war, then sensing that not everyone is as happy about your stay as you are just because you are an immigrant.
During the war time she never visited a school, so she had to take up labour. Later she worked as a cleaning lady. She never had a lot of money. Well into the 80s she shared an apartment with her two daughters and her in-laws.
In the 60s, even though there still was the Wirtschaftswunder going on and the fact that you could get most of the things you wanted to buy, for most of those immigrated families the prices were just to high. I can remember her telling me that once she had to saved a big part of her monthly salary to buy five bananas and coffee so she had a small present for her sister who had even less living in the GDR.

 

[dhermann1]

The referance to the soldier in the Russian POW camp is sad. I don't believe very many, if any at all, were sent back by the Russians.

 

[Worf]

Thanks Hilja for more information. Yes... not only was the land destroyed, the infrastructue ruined but you still had Russia and the West staring at each other litterally over your head. Not a pleasent way to get some sleep. And as for the Russians releasing German P.O.W's, I'm personally amazed that any got home. Not saying the Russians were evil, but they were vengfull. A lot of Russians prisoner's taken in the early part of Operation Barbarossa were killed and maltreated and the Russians knew this... Hundreds of thousands of captured troops on both sides were beaten, starved and worked to death. I'm not casting stones... just telling truths.

Worf

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

The referance to the soldier in the Russian POW camp is sad. I don't believe very many, if any at all, were sent back by the Russians.

It is significant to note that countries such as the former Soviet Union, Vietnam, etc. had a habit of keeping prisoners long after hostilities had ceased. Many of the surviving German POWs didn't return home until the mid '50s. And the exchange of POWs which marked the end of the Vietnam War (or at least American involvement in the war) included some French prisoners who were captured at Dien Bien Phu almost twenty years before!.

 

[hilja]

And the exchange of POWs which marked the end of the Vietnam War (or at least American involvement in the war) included some French prisoners who were captured at Dien Bien Phu almost twenty years before!.

Oh my.. that is so sad! I did not know anything about these cases. Imagine being a wife and mother at that time. How hard it would be to see your old love return over twenty years after you thought him dead. All the broken hearts..

My grandfather from the father's side was a POW in Siberia. But he returned home safely in 1949. As a little kid he always told me stories about the hard work he had to do there. He said that the Russians treated him and his fellow imprisoners always good and like a human being. They could take walks into the small town nearby every weekend where the residents gifted them with small things like a hot tea or soup or a cigarette. Later, when he started to suffer from Alzheimer's he even said it was quite a 'nice' time there compared to the stress and bustle of his later life.

By the way, I would love to translate more letters if Marla has the time to post them.

 

[J.W.]

I think the "Droys" are drops. Same word in English and German.

 

[katiesparkles]

i think droys really means drops! the small, curive p sometimes can look like a "y".

i'm too tired to read the whole letter right now, and it seems like hilja did a great job translating, but i'm a native german speaker so if anyone's still trying to find out something let me know what. i'll take a look!

edit: oh snap, i didn't see the second page! haha.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Oh my.. that is so sad! I did not know anything about these cases. Imagine being a wife and mother at that time. How hard it would be to see your old love return over twenty years after you thought him dead. All the broken hearts..

Also at the end of World War II many American POWs who were known to be alive and well were never repatriated and disappeared without a trace when the Russians liberated the POW camps in Poland and eastern Germany. It was even covered up by the US government who officially reported them "KIA (Body Not Recovered)."
http://darbysrangers.tripod.com/id67.htm

 

[Unlucky Berman]

Thats an amazing and very interesting find. Thank you very much for sharing it. If you need more help with some other letters, let us know, PM or post them here. I am also glad if I can help you a little bit. It seems you have a lots of them and, frankly those little stories of the history are really interesting, much more lively than seeing some documantaries or reading books of that era. I wished my Grandma had kept such pieces. She was born in the area around Lodz in Poland and had to leave it in the late 1940s. In the end she came to the Eastern Part of Germany, so I heard a lots of stories as a child from her about live in Poland and the years afterwards.

One thing I can remember was how hard the first years after the war had been. Something I can also see in those letters you shared is the hunger and the problems with getting enough food. Especially in the Soviet-occupied zone the Russians were not only vengful (but then, who wouldn't after what was done to them) but they also took out most of the food which was produced in the zone to bring it into their country. The same Stalin did with the Ucrainians and therefore great hunger and many deaths were the result. My grandmas little 2 cousins died due to the coldness and the hunger in those years and they weren't the only ones. It is interesting to learn that they weren't so much better in that at the other occupied zones in the west.