Mail Correspondence with Soldiers at War (“Feldpostbriefe”): Letters of a German soldier from Russia to his family in March and April 1945 (Published on 14/08/2023)
Feldpostbriefe and their significance today
When researching Julius Erasmus, one inevitably comes into contact with letter correspondence between soldiers at war and their families from the time of the Second World War, such correspondence being called “Feldpostbriefe” in German. Be it messages about the death of a soldier, written by his superior to his relatives, which were later sent to Mr Erasmus as a hint for a grave search, or other correspondence between soldiers at war and their families at home. Since then, I have also been dealing more closely with field post letters from that time.
Feldpostbriefe are valuable contemporary documents that unfold their timeless message, especially in times like the present, and convey a vivid impression of what war means to all involved. They are a valuable tool to ward off the very beginnings of a renewed striving for war and perhaps to help prevent history from repeating itself once again and with yet more gruesome consequences for mankind. At present, war, weapons and the killing of people on a large scale are once again being drummed up forcefully, although for decades one could have had the vague hope that mankind had finally learned its lesson to some extent from the painful experiences of two world wars in particular. Unfortunately, this does not seem to be the case once again.
With this in mind, appropriate letters or letter excerpts from various sources will be published here from time to time in the section “Mail Correspondence with Soldiers at War (Feldpostbriefe)” as a reminder of what war means to man and mankind. To provide food for thought and in the unshakable hope that this may make a difference.
Letters of the German soldier August Gerull from Russia to his family shortly before the end of the Second World War
(Source: Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge, Letzte Lebenszeichen II – Briefe aus dem Krieg, p. 61 ff. (translation from German language)):
Letter dated 26/03/1945:
“Dear Mummy, Peterle and Hänschen!
I have just received two letters from you, one dated 17/01/ and the other 25/01/. I am glad to have received a few lines after such a long time, even if they are very old. It is easier for me and I am calmer when I know that everything is still healthy and in order at home. I feel joy and tears in my eyes when I read your letter about how you are doing. Certainly you have a hard time. But you don’t know how I feel when I know that my wife and children are safe for the time being and have escaped the tyranny of the Russians! That’s why I trust in God and thank Him for helping us until now. First from the Ruhr area, when we lived [there], then from East Prussia. Oh God, life would have had no more value if I knew that you, little Peterle and Hänschen had been in the hands of the Russians. Therefore I trust firmly and give thanks that there is a Lord God and that he has helped me and my family until now. And if I should come home in one piece or as a cripple after the war, I want to serve only one thing and that is our Lord God. I have seen a lot in the short time and I think differently now than before. A human being is nothing. As long as it lives, it is hounded and driven, no hour, no day, no night rest. And yet everyone hangs on to his little bit of life, when the fire from all calibers drums on him. Yes, so war tears many wounds in happy ranks. What is man? Nothing at all!!! Those who instigated the war should be torn to pieces! But they sit gloriously and in joys in the dry in feast and frenzy!
Well, how are you still, today is the second Easter holiday. Yes, what is the situation in the Reich? A misery and horror! How are the many people to be fed? What makes still small Peterle, is probably still healthy, only that the small angel’s cheeks will be thinner. Oh God, how it is bad, if a child has not even full to eat. And poor little Hans is now just in the best of growth and gets nothing in his bones. God grant that this cruel slaughter may soon come to an end.
How does it look now in the garden, probably all nice and green? Or have the bombs flattened everything to the ground? Yes, what hands labor laboriously built with sweat, is destroyed in a second and razed to the ground. Well, darling, I will close. Don’t despair and be kissed a thousand times by your father for you and for little Hans and Peter.
Wish Hans-Joachim good luck for his 10th birthday on 31 April. Daddy.”
Letter dated 02/04/1945:
“Dear Mummy, Peterle and Hänschen!
Since I have not written for a few days, I want to send you a few lines. I still have no mail from you, except for the letter from January. I don’t even know if you are still alive. Yes, we live in bad times, who knows if we will see each other again here in this world! It is sad and one can soon despair. No mail from home and the war is getting harder and harder. People against material. One watches, how the best comrades are torn to pieces before one’s eyes. And any second the same fate can strike you. I certainly think the world can’t last much longer. For what masses of people are being slaughtered can no longer be overlooked at all. God shall have mercy on me and, if it is destined, let me die in such a way that I will soon be dead. My darling, if I should not come back, then see that the two little ones get on in later life. I have no further wish or to dictate anything to you, but only […] that the two grow up and be spared from a war.
I know you are old enough and have been capable throughout your life and will know what to do and what not to do. It’s a pity that life is so short and that many thousands and thousands can no longer see their loved ones at home! So one still calls out to the other comrade in the hole, ‘Are you still alive?’ And it is really God’s miracle when you see that even if not all of them, most of them are still there. Then you first rescue the comrades who are badly wounded, so that they come quickly to the dressing station. Then you see only serious faces and you feel like a few years older.
I don’t want to complain, I have no reason to, I’m glad it didn’t get me so far. My bunch is worn out and I came back from the cauldron with 8 men. The others are missing or scattered, will probably be with other units. I am now with a new unit and will probably stay there. Wrote a letter to you yesterday. Yes, darling, you write that you and I will look different when we see each other. We will both be gray! We will grow old anyway and it doesn’t matter if we are snow-white or not. The main thing is that we will meet again in life and I will be able to work again and create something for you dear ones at home. That is also just the whole principle for me and the tasks that God has given me. As you know, I have made no demands on myself in my entire life, only those that were necessary. And I long for the day when I come back up the mountain and am greeted by dear, joyful faces in the hallway. Yes, when you are so far away from home, thoughts of home rise up in your mind and you lie for a few days, as I have done, on the straw, on the floor, where hundreds of soldiers have already lain. So, the straw is already very short and trampled and there you think about how it was once and how it is now. Comrades, they sit on the floor and walk the rounds. But it’s nothing new, everyone is afraid of [the] future. Yes, it happens that you cannot wash at all for a week, the clothes are on the body. Haven’t had them off yet since I’ve been in the field. Now come the rainy days and the mud is almost up to the knees. Yes, everyone also hopes that this year the horrible war will end.
Today Ivan has again drummed decently. […] As you write, darling, you have a lot of alarms. I can imagine that, the space for the German people is getting smaller and smaller, and the enemy is getting closer and closer. Heard that heavy fighting is near Guben and Großau. And that’s southeast of Berlin. Yes, the poor Landser has done the necessary and strived hard. But most of his strength was lost. Yes, I don’t know yet what happened to Anna and Minna. If they were advised to flee, they will be safe. But most of them did not. Yes, the many miseries that this war has brought to mankind cannot be overlooked. I am with many East Prussians who wait for mail every day and do not know where their relatives are. I don‘t even want to think about it.
My darling, I will close in the hope that my letter will reach you in good health, your daddy is greeting and kissing you, little Peterle and Hänschen a thousand times.
I am still, thank God, healthy. If I have time, I will write you a few lines again.
My field post number is now 64635 B.”
Last letter 15/04/1945:
“Dear Mummy, Peterle and Hänschen!
Yesterday I received a new letter dated 22.3. and I was very happy that you are still alive. But the letter is very old and a lot has changed since that time. You wrote that the American is in Mainz and now he is in Eisenach and much further. I understand he is already in Wittenberg. So that is close to Berlin. Hopefully you have not fled, because if you are still at home now, which I assume, you at least have a roof over your head, if the house is not destroyed by external influence. Because where are all these people supposed to go now, too? Yes, I have heard that fighting has taken place in Eisenach. I have thought of you and am still in the dark as to where you are and what has happened to you. It is an awful life when one does not know where one’s relatives are or whether they are still alive. I am writing this letter at random, I don’t know if it will reach you at all. I was very happy to see that little Peterle has already grown up and is already taking the gooseberries out of the jar. Yes, the little guy and also Hänschen will now have to suffer hunger. Yes, it is bad and will get worse. We live in a time that is uncertain. Well, as you can see, I am still alive. From now in a mountainous area, where the mountains are a little higher than those in Eisenach. The Ivan is not far from us. For the time being it is quiet, except for small disturbing fires. Let us hope that the war will soon come to an end and we will all meet again alive. Have written [a] letter to the comrade from Gladbeck with whom I was in Riga. The letter came back with the remark: Fallen for Greater Germany. So a good comrade of mine has also fallen.
Now, dear Mummy, Peterle and Hänschen, be all greeted a thousand times and kissed a thousand times by your dad.
Hänschen’s birthday is 31 April, wish him lots of happiness and blessings! Daddy”
August Gerull was born on 29 August 1900, he is considered missing in action to this day.
(Head picture: German military cemetery Ysselsteyn/Netherlands, May 2023)
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