Description
Tobruk, the Mediterranean, Russia, Normandy & the Defence of the Reich
Fräulein M (b.1922-d.2017), a Secretary from Wiesbaden, kept a collection of Wartime Letters she had exchanged with soldiers who fought in the Second World War. Fräulein M’s Feldpost collection came to light after her death. Besides telling Fräulein M’s own story, the Fräulein M letters tell the story of 4 German soldiers who died in World War Two.
One of the four soldiers who corresponded with Fräulein M was Oblt Iring E, a young fighter Ace who scored kills in Russia, Malta, Italy, the Balkans and the Home Front. He died on Christmas Eve 1944 whilst providing fighter escort to an SS Panzer Unit.
Besides telling the story of the four soldiers, this book tells the story of the Record Keeper herself. After surviving the deaths of friends and family members and the destruction of her world, Fräulein M went on to live an ordinary life in the affluent region of Hessen.
The contents of Fräulein M’s letters have been corroborated with unsentimental archival records drawn from German State Archives, German War Grave Commission Records and War Service Records reconstructing the minibiographies of the dramatis personae.
Fräulein M’s letters offer unique insights into the frames of mind of young Germans whose lives were devastated by Nazism. It is easy to understand why envelopes of the letter collection were marked “Gefallen” (meaninf Fallen/Dead) because they narrate the story of a fallen generation.
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