Mail Correspondence with Soldiers at War (“Feldpostbriefe”): The letters of German soldier Adelbert Rühle, 1939 to 1942 – part 3 of 4 (Published on 14/05/2024)
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.
The effects of political indoctrination on children and young people
Among the most harrowing evidence of what political propaganda is capable of are letters written by young German soldiers during World War II, such as those already published on this blog (see, for example, the letter by Franz Krügner). Exposed from childhood to “education” in the sense of the prevailing ideology, they had internalized the latter so deeply that they could often hardly wait to become soldiers and to be allowed to make their contribution to the realization of the goals that were conveyed to them as having no alternative.
The Feldpostbriefe of Adelbert Rühle
Adelbert Rühle, born on 23/09/1923 in Posen, was one of these soldiers. Not even 16 years old, he volunteered for military service in the fall of 1939. He fell on 07/08/1942 as a lieutenant of 6th co./InfRegt 120 (mot.) near Kalach/Russia and was buried at the military cemetery Krassnye Skodowad near Kalach. Beginning as a recruit during his basic training in October 1939 until his death on the Eastern Front in August 1942, he wrote numerous field letters to his family, in which he described his spiritual life and his soldierly motivation with a frankness that is sometimes difficult to bear from today’s perspective.
His letters were published during the war in the booklet “Die Feldpostbriefe des Adelbert-Ottheinreich Rühle 1939 bis 1942” in order to show, according to the propaganda of the time, “the mental development of a German boy into a soldier, into an officer” (according to the preface op. cit., p. 5). A new publication took place in 1979, now containing an admonition for reflection and peace (preface op. cit., p. 6).
Adelbert Rühle’s letters are a timeless warning to be vigilant against totalitarian political systems and their characteristic mechanisms.
They exemplify the consequences of a regime that already took possession of children and young people and educated them through propagandistic indoctrination to become compliant instruments of the ruling ideology, who were as gullible as they were unconditionally committed, in word and deed, to the slogans conveyed to them. The dramatic consequences are well known.
Some of these letters will be reproduced here, spread over several parts. Further published are: Part 1, Part 2 and Part 4.
Letter from Adelbert Rühle to his friend Jochen Fritsche, who himself fell near Königsberg on 24.02.1945 (source: Brunhild Rühle, “Die Feldpostbriefe des Adelbert-Ottheinreich Rühle 1939 – 1942” (1979) [hereafter abbreviated to “Feldpostbriefe Rühle”], p. 45 ff. [translation from German language]):
“Potsdam War College, 12/10/1941
Dear Jochen,
What else have you had to go through in the month and a half I have been back home? You have been in the dirt for a month and a half longer now, with little sleep and little food, and it was enough for us even then.
But the camaraderie also gets better and better the worse the dirt is and the longer it lasts. It must be wonderful to lead a platoon there. Our soldiers are almost all such wonderful guys, if you can just understand and treat them properly. This is particularly evident at the front. Even if the troops are always a bit crude or run-down – that’s what war brings with it, after all; you can’t attach as much importance to little things and outward appearances as in the barracks – it’s precisely there that you can see how decent, loyal, tough and brave our men are, even those who were often bad soldiers in peacetime. And for me, deployment is always the measure of a soldier’s value, and only what proves itself in deployment needs to be trained and drilled in peacetime. Because we are aware that our drill is valuable, but it must not make us stubborn or embitter us.
The frontline spirit is one of the greatest values that war evokes in the people, and we never want to forget it if we survive the whole war in good health. We can learn so much from it for the rest of our lives.
You will understand that the operation here sometimes seems a bit strange to me and I would much rather be stuck with my comrades somewhere ‘east of Kiev’. But once I have been condemned to this place, I will have to work hard to be a useful platoon commander, if it works out. It’s certainly the best job now in the war, because no one is such a role model in action as the platoon leader. He has to literally jump ahead of his men everywhere and at all times.
Can you have a better youth and a better start to your life than at that time and especially at the front as a group or platoon leader! This war took on an even greater significance than could have been foreseen. A battle between European culture and Bolshevism. With Bolshevism, capitalism is also against us. From our perspective as Landser [soldiers], we cannot overlook what is being decided by it. But we feel that it will bring about a tremendous turning point in world history, perhaps a great new epoch. Above all, however, we know that Germany will be lost if we do not win, and that is enough for us to see our life’s work first and foremost in fulfilling our duty at the front.
What comes later is still so far away from us and perhaps meaningless, although many great new tasks will arise, because never again will we be so needed and so fully utilized as at the front, even if we are gunners … in the third rank or small group leader!
If we think and act like this, then we are also allowed to swear sometimes, because sometimes the whole war gets on your nerves, for example the fact that we haven’t seen each other for over two years now. But after this campaign, things have to work out! I’m wonderfully available now, even if I can only get Sunday leave; and above all, I can definitely count on a vacation this Christmas! As soon as you have any glimmer of hope after the campaign, please write immediately. We have so much to talk about now. What the last two years have taught us! But you won’t be thinking about vacation right now, it’s not the most important thing. Stay healthy.
Your Addi.”
Letter from Adelbert Rühle to his mother (source: “Feldpostbriefe Rühle”, p. 74 ff. [translation from German language]):
“Russia, 16/5/1942
Dear Mother,
Please excuse the pause in writing, we have just taken over and as my boss had just fallen ill, I was in charge of the company and there was a lot to do, especially as we were moving to a new position and I also had to look after my platoon.
But it’s nice to be taken up. When I really have responsibility, no job is too much for me. Then you don’t get tired and you don’t ask what you have to do, you just try to keep an eye on everything. But you can’t want to do too much on your own, you have to be able to put others in the right place.
One of the most beautiful tasks is caring. When we were lying in peace, I had plenty of opportunity to take care of it. But the most beautiful, most difficult and most important part of caring is caring in the spiritual, or rather mental, sphere.
I had enough time to do these things in our rest quarters. We also did some training again and made our quarters more beautiful, i.e. cleared away piles of dung and built a terrace from a collapsed wall. There was a big competition throughout the village to see who could create the most beautiful garden. The Landser worked on these gardens for a long time in their free time, often until late in the evening, removing piles of dung and creating beautiful coats of arms and flags from colored stones and flowers. It was wonderful what they achieved. All it takes is a little push and they enjoy it and work for it voluntarily. Even though we knew that we wouldn’t be able to enjoy these gardens for long. That’s “doing a thing for its own sake”.
I have already written airmail once and can write every two weeks from now on. Now I am eagerly awaiting an airmail letter from you. I haven’t received any mail here yet, but it can’t be long now.
Today we have glorious weather, wonderful sunshine, and we take advantage of it to sunbathe and wash and enjoy it to the full. You experience everything much more intensely here, every little joy and every little annoyance, what does any little joy mean back home?
So now it’s summer here and we probably won’t be lying in position for much longer. We’re all just waiting for it to start again, and I’m looking forward to leading my platoon against the enemy.
With warm greetings to all your Addi.”
Letter from Adelbert Rühle to his mother (source: “Feldpostbriefe Rühle”, p. 76 ff. [translation from German language]):
“Russia, 29/ or 30/5/1942 (still in dispute)
Dear Mother,
After a long and hard struggle, we are now back in peace, in long-awaited peace. Things have been settled here for three days now, but I haven’t had time to write yet. I’m still in charge of the fifth company and, as it had suffered a lot, it had to be reorganized first, which of course meant a lot of work. But all this work is wonderful and satisfying. Even here in peace and quiet, it is always a pleasure! The little bit of business stuff I do on the side, thank goodness I have ‘my people’ for that, and the things I do myself in this area are also enjoyable, or are at least responsible and high-level tasks: Assessments and notifications. I really feel that I have found my officer’s job in this area: people management and organization.
But the best work is in the company itself. The wonderful guys from all classes and ages of our people!
I probably won’t be with the company for long, there are still so many older people, but I’m glad to have had this job before.
Today is the first real day of rest for me. Even if the weather is awful, we’re still happy in our tents and I want to let you know quickly that I’m safe and sound.
This operation was probably one of the most difficult for the regiment, because the best Russian guards troops were pressing on us with all their might to escape the Kharkov cauldron. You will have heard about it in the OKW report. Many also lost their lives in the process.
Yesterday we buried our dead in a simple soldierly manner with regimental music and a company of honor with the wonderful song: ‘Ich hatt einen Kameraden’ [‘I had a comrade’]. It was still so moving to stand in front of the open graves of comrades who shared their fate with us just a few days ago and who were no longer with us; because they are no longer with us, you can feel that when you look them in the face. That’s why you can hand them over to the earth with a calm soul. And at that moment you feel the words very strongly: ‘… as if it were a piece of me …’ Yes, they are actually a piece of all of us that has gone, we all bleed with them, just as we will all be victorious, so the dead are a piece of us again.
And now we are surely heading for victory. This success was tremendous and justifies the sacrifices. It will have been the hardest blow, now everything will start rolling. We here also welcome this new forward movement with joy, even if it brings difficult days, it is a relief and brings us closer to our goal.
I received your airmail letter yesterday, and if it hadn’t been for the deployment, it would certainly have arrived even sooner. By the way, I have already received a lot of mail since the beginning of the peace, including envelopes and small packets of cigarettes, and I am very grateful for everything!
Now, please say hello to the little ones, whose cute pictures have made me very happy.
And a warm greeting to yourself!
Your Addi.”
Letter from Adelbert Rühle to his friend Jochen (source: “Feldpostbriefe Rühle”, p. 79 ff. [translation from German language]):
“Russia, 3/6/1942
My dear Jochen,
The first onslaught of the spring offensive is now over, the Whitsun days have brought us heavy fighting. The weather was as usual: intense heat, stinging sun on the days of the march and during the attacks, and miserable rainy weather in the positions. Once again, our soldiers had to face some damn tough challenges. As a platoon leader, it’s a great job to spur your men on and to keep them fresh in all their efforts. It’s much easier to muster the necessary energy when you’re marching in front of your platoon. You can only cheer them up if you really put up with everything in the same way and don’t accept any favors. And then it goes even better. Everyone gives their all anyway.
You know, dear Jochen, that it can be the most beautiful task for us to lead our men in action. Beautiful isn’t really the right word, because it’s always damn hard to see the best fall, that remains the most difficult experience of the war.
But the soldiers’ luck didn’t fail me, the casualties in my platoon were relatively low.
I always get along wonderfully with the old farts, they are a bit difficult and often open their mouths a bit wide and are sometimes as stubborn as 52-ton trucks. You have to get the stubbornness out of them and I don’t mind them mutinying, they have a right to do that as long as they keep it to swearing. But above all, you can rely on them, as they have proven time and time again. They are simply unshakeable. They are also the source of the wonderful spiritual strength that prevails among us and overcomes everything. Sometimes our compatriots express themselves in a curse or a stupid joke. That is worth a thousand times more than patriotic speeches, which are forbidden by military tact anyway. Yes, the old men really are the backbone, the ‘corset bars of the army’. It is largely thanks to them that the discipline here at the front is much better than it was after the Polish campaign, at the very beginning of the war. If bad replacements come in now, they’re already being put right by them, and if one really falls down, then there are so many people there to put him right again with a few gentle words. Because our old men know what you can still do and have their pride, and in their eyes, everyone wants to be a new guy. In fact, we have gained so much in the course of the war that we now stand much stronger and firmer than at the beginning. Despite the heavy losses, it has been a wonderful gain so far, for which we must be grateful. It really had to be this way.
Once again, as so often, we realize after the fact that it was a wonderful twist of fate that we can never understand in advance.
Your letter has now arrived. That was a special pleasure again, and now I’ll write a little more.
You are right, dear Jochen, judging people is one of the most important and most beautiful areas of our profession, in fact the most important prerequisite. And in my opinion, this is the core problem in every field.
A wrong selection has the most devastating effect, good leadership means everything for our future.
You never stop learning, especially when it comes to understanding human nature. But the war has certainly taught us a lot in this area. For me, the most important principle is the man himself, his character and his heart. They are worth a thousand times more than any other qualities in any position. I have completely gotten out of the habit of judging people by their ‘opinions’. You can never hear what a word means. Especially in this day and age, there are probably so many lowbrow phrase-mongers and opinionated lumps for whom their ‘opinion’ is just a means to an end.
And how many soldiers have we met who only claim to strive for comfort and peace and who can grumble and swear about everything, but who are the best guys when it comes down to it! Perhaps we thought at the beginning that we would never be able to get along with them, but later we realized that this gap is only ridiculously small, that it is only the individual who decides.
It is a difficult task to recognize the straight, sincere person and the deceiver. The easiest way to recognize them is as a comrade in the community, especially in action. How many ‘educated’ people fail again and again when, as in every community, it comes down to the act of the heart, which, despite our harsh tone, is often so wonderfully great among our compatriots. You only have to listen to a soldier talking to a comrade who is so badly wounded that there is no hope. And he simply finds the right words to comfort him.
And the heart is so often the deciding factor in life. Our choice must undergo a major re-evaluation!
We understand each other so well and want to support each other again and again on our journey, which we basically have to walk alone.
I would also like to hear a bit more about your current work. Even though I’m in a mess, I still want to know about your struggle and your work!
At the moment, I’m kindly drawing for your bachelor party, but by order, and I’m trying to be as mean as possible. That’s part of it and it’s heart-warming! You’ll be surprised.
I’m so looking forward to the day and would love to be there. But I’m also happy for you in your absence! I can understand your happiness so well and wish you a safe journey for all the days that you are actually already walking together!
Your Addi.”
To be continued. Further published parts of the series: Part 1, Part 2 and Part 4.
(Head picture: Adelbert Rühle and his grave,
from: “Die Feldpostbriefe des Adelbert-Ottheinreich Rühle 1939 – 1942”, p. 60, 90)
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