Original Item: One-of-a-Kind. This is a very personal original WWII-era glass souvenir paperweight made in Passau, Germany in 1945 for Second Lieutenant Betty J. Woestman, a U.S. Army nurse who served with the 125th Evacuation Hospital, Semimobile. The paperweight bears her name, rank, unit, date, and location, providing unusually direct identification to both an individual Army nurse and her wartime medical organization.

The 125th Evacuation Hospital, Semimobile was activated on March 27, 1944 at Camp Maxey, Texas. Lieutenant Colonel Ralph G. Ball of the Medical Corps served as commanding officer, and the unit was built around a cadre that included personnel transferred from other medical organizations.

After training in the United States, the hospital deployed overseas during late 1944. One member of the unit, Willard C. Cole, later recalled leaving Camp Maxey with the 125th, serving first in Europe and then moving into Germany during the spring of 1945. By early April the hospital was operating in the Krefeld and Mönchengladbach area and subsequently moved deeper into Germany as Allied forces advanced.

The war ended while the 125th was in Germany, but the unit continued serving during the occupation period. Its connection with Passau is especially well documented. The unit history itself, The History of the 125th Evacuation Hospital from Activation to Occupation, was published in Passau, Germany in 1945, demonstrating that the city became an important location in the hospital’s post-combat history.

The glass paperweight measures 4 ⅛ x 4 ⅛ x 1 ⅞”. As shown, a large chunk of the glass has broken off at one side, and one piece was glued back into place. There is still a lot of it missing. There is another chip at the bottom front center. The paperweight depicts a buck moving through the forest on the top, and on the bend is the medical insignia with the inscription:

125th Evac. Hosp.
1945
2/Lt. Betty J. Woestman
Passau Germany

The surviving inscription firmly connects this paperweight to Second Lieutenant Betty J. Woestman of the 125th Evacuation Hospital, while independent unit records confirm both her membership in the hospital and the organization’s presence at Passau in 1945. Although the extensive glass loss materially affects condition, the named medical provenance remains intact, making this a particularly personal artifact of an American Army nurse’s service in Germany at the close of World War II and during the opening months of the occupation.