Item Description
Original Item: One-Of-A-Kind. This is a great set of WWII Letters, written by German POWs back home to their relatives and families in Germany. There are nine letters in total with one envelope, and 4 letters written by one POW, while the other 5 and the envelope are from another, and they illustrate the different paths that German POWs could take after being captured. All of the letters have the correct stamps from the U.S. Censors, who ensured that any important tactical information was filtered out, and ones mailed from U.S. prison camps also have U.S. Post dates as well. As these were sent back to Germany, they also have the German WWII NSDAP inspection stamps.
The group of four letters were written and sent by Gefreiter Günter Niendorf, 8iG-262749(H), all sent back to Familie Wilhelm Niendorf in Berlin. The first two letters, dated 13. August 1944 and August den 27.44, have the mailing address as ADRESSE FOLGT NACH ANKUNFT IN EINEM BESTÄNDIGEN GEFANGENEN LAGER, or "Address will follow upon arrival at a permanent prison camp". These two letters look to have been written when Niendorf was still held in Germany, before transfer back to a camp in the United States.
The second two letters are dated 16. Okt. 1944 and 6. Nov. 1944, and they give Niendorf's address as Co. 7 P.O.W. Camp, Camp Gordon, located outside Augusta, Georgia. They are written in very neat handwriting, and would make a great translation and research project.
The group of five letters and the envelope were written and sent by OBERLEUTNANT WOLFGANG LIEHR, all while he was held at PRISONER OF WAR CAMP MEXIA, located in Texas. The first three letters, dated 16. 2. 1944, 24. 10. 1944, and 7. 11. 1944, are all addressed to FRÄULEIN ELSE OSTERLOH in HALLE / SAALE, Germany. We assume that this would be his girlfriend or fiancé, as "fräulein" is not a term one would use when writing to a friend or relative. The last letter, written 7. 2. 45. confirms this, and it is addressed to FRAU ELSE LIEHR at the same address, indicating that Wolfgang Liehr and Else were now married, a common thing for German soldiers who were away from home fighting. They even had "wedding helmets" that would serve as an official stand-in for the soldier to make the wedding legally binding.
The envelope is also from before they were married, and is interesting in that it does not have any inspection markings on it, and is not the right size to fit any of the letters included in the grouping. Liehr's address is the same as on the other letters, so maybe it was used to send a simple greeting letter, or maybe a picture. Unfortunately whatever was inside it is not included in the set.
Liehr's letters are, unfortunately, written in script and his writing is not nearly as neat as Niendorf's, so transcribing and translating the letters will definitely be more challenging. A really nice set of wartime POW letters, that give an interesting look into the life of German POWs during WWII.
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