Mail Correspondence with Soldiers at War (“Feldpostbriefe”): Letter from the German soldier Walter Simon to his wife, February 1945 (Published on 25/04/2025)
(Source: Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge, Letzte Lebenszeichen II – Briefe aus dem Krieg [2013], p. 178 f., translation from German language):
Letter to his wife
“Hain, 17/2/1945
Dear Martchen!
Thank you for the letter you sent to the company which I have received today. It is the first sign of life from you since 6/1/1945. After that, I have received no more mail from you, except from Erika, who wrote to me again on 3/1/1945. Gerdi has also not heard from me since 6/1/1945. I kept writing to you, to Erika and to Gerdi. But I never received a reply, so I felt compelled to write to the city of Magdeburg. But I’m still waiting for a reply from there, too. I now assume that the mail has been lost, because I have not received any mail back, like your telegram.
Now to the point: so what I had always secretly feared has come true after all. Well, thank God you’re alive, isn’t anyone hurt? Why don’t you write to me about it in detail? I’d love to come myself, but there’s just no time off. What was the attack like? I kept hearing ‘Magdeburg – Dessau’ on the radio. So I could already make up my own mind. How are you accommodated there, do you like it?
I don’t think anyone can imagine what it’s like here now. I’ll just tell you: it’s appalling. In this bitter cold, people are moving from place to place with what little belongings they have packed up in a hurry. The Russians are everywhere behind them. Perhaps it won’t be long before we have to set off again. The country roads are crowded with wandering civilians, military, prisoners of war, long convoys of cars and more. It’s a hopeless mess, no order at all. Trenches and holes are being dug everywhere, barricades are being built across the roads, large anti-tank barriers are being erected and so on. The thunder of the guns resounds everywhere, the bullets roar over us. In between, Russian airplanes that destroy everything. Mothers and children crying everywhere. The mothers had lost their children and the children their mothers. Indescribable, the few trains that are still running are so overcrowded, people want to go, no matter what. On the buffers, on the running boards, even on the locomotive and on the tender.
Is this supposed to be the longed-for victory and peace? Families torn apart, the homeland destroyed, expelled from the homeland, fathers and sons killed and so on. How it will end – I don’t know either, nobody knows except those who are at the helm. But I hope that we will all see each other again, how, it doesn’t matter in the end! Just make sure you always have the children with you. Get Gerd at all costs. What about the settlement, have you already received [it] or not? Add everything up. All the furnishings, clothes, coats, suits, boots, shoes, all the linen and other supplies are about 3000 RM. I would do everything myself, but no soldier is allowed to leave here, it’s fight to the last [man]. And once you’ve left here, you’ll never come back. And the gentlemen know that very well, so no one is allowed to leave, not even in the most urgent cases. Only, Karlchen – as far as possible – write back here, if I can no longer answer you, it’s not my fault.
So, despite everything, cheer up and think of the children! Now give my warmest greetings and kisses to the children too! Walter!
Let‘s hope this letter gets through!“
Walter Simon, born on 21/03/1901 in Egeln, apparently died on 16/04/1945 in the Neisse district, he rests in the military cemetery in Jarnoltow/Poland.
(Head picture:
German military cemetery Bitburg Kolmeshöhe, November 2023)
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