Mail Correspondence with Soldiers at War (“Feldpostbriefe”): Poem “Waldheimat” by 18-year-old German soldier Reinhard Reschop during World War II about German forests (Published on 02/01/2023, most recent update on 13/04/2026)
I. “A Legacy” of World War II
In 1955, Gertrud Karg von Bebenburg published the book “Ein Vermächtnis – Briefe und Gedichte gefallener Soldaten des Zweiten Weltkrieges” (“A Legacy: Letters and Poems from German Soldiers Who Fell in World War II”), a collection of authentic field post letters and poetic texts written by German soldiers who had been killed in action.
II. 18-year-old Reinhard Reschop
The book contains a poem written by Reinhard Reschop, a German soldier who was only 18 years old at the time, about German forests; it is a testament to his remarkable talent. The war put an end to it all; the author took his own life in September 1943 in Pogorzelce near Białowieża, Poland, by shooting himself in the head.
He belonged to Reserve Grenadier Regiment 1, which was primarily deployed for replacement and training duties as well as security services in occupied territories and was stationed in Staubzy (Stolpce), Belarus, in the so-called “Reichskommissariat Ostland” from late 1942 onward. The unit was part of the 141st Reserve Division and, in addition to its primary training function, increasingly participated in operations to combat partisans, which were particularly intense in this area west of Minsk. The Białowieża region was a center of partisan resistance and German “anti-guerrilla operations” against the civilian population and resistance fighters, including the final liquidation of the Białystok ghetto in August 1943.
It is not known whether Reinhard Reschop’s suicide is connected to these activities of his regiment, but it is hardly far-fetched.
III. Reinhard Reschop’s Poem About German Forests
In almost eerie contrast to the crimes he presumably witnessed every day as a soldier – and may even have been forced to participate in – stands a poem he wrote at an unknown date, which pays tribute to German forests in sensitive words.
It reaads (source: v. Bebenburg, Ein Vermächtnis – Briefe und Gedichte gefallener Soldaten des Zweiten Weltkrieges [1955], p. 40 f.):
Waldheimat
[“Forest Home”]
Die Heimat ist der schönste Wald:
Wo rings die Wipfel beben,
durch Bäume jung und alt
die herben Winde wehen;
wo tiefes, grünes Moos
verträumt ins Dasein blickt;
wo weit im dichten Schoß
Gehölz in sich verstrickt;
wo schlanke Tannen stehen,
voll Stolz emporgereckt;
wo sich im Winde drehen
die Gräser, hochgereckt.
Die Heimat ist der Wald,
wo weit die Bäume rauschen.
Wo Stürme voll Gewalt
durchs leichte Buschwerk tauschen.
Wo Riesen trotzig stolz
den Stürmen widerstehen,
muß morsches, dürres Holz
im Kampf zugrunde gehn.
Wo leicht am Boden froh
ein kleines Bächlein rinnt,
wo träumend irgendwo
ein Mensch im Waldlicht sinnt.
Die Heimat ist der Wald,
der Seele Heimatstatt,
wo zierliche Gestalt
die Lebenszuflucht hat.
Wo Du nach hartem Los
zu neuem Sein erhebst,
was Du auf weichem Moos
an neuer Kraft erlebst,
Wo Du den Sinn erkennst
der göttlichen Natur,
wo Du das Sein erkennst,
das webt in der Natur.
Die Heimat ist der Wald!
Siehst Du den goldnen Schein,
der leuchtend überstrahlt
den Wipfel und den Hain?
Die Sonne segnet reich,
bevor sie schlafen geht,
das weite, grüne Reich,
das leis der Wind umweht.
Nun sieh! Der Glanz vergeht.
Der Tag ist sanft verhallt.
In tiefem Dämmern steht
die Heimat, unser Wald!
It seems that the enchanting emotional world of “Waldheimat” was crushed by war and the “suppression of partisans”, and with it the author’s will to live. One cannot regret this enough, but it vividly illustrates the nature of war.
III. Biographical data of the author
Reinhard Reschop, born on 24/08/1925 in Berlin-Steglitz, committed suicide on 23/09/1943 in Pogorzelce/Poland.
(Head picture: Ehrenfriedhof Heidelberg, April 2022)
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