Hi! I went thrifting at my favorite flea market today, and had a great time. I bought someone’s stamp collection (german+czech+swiss), some sharpshooter medals, and…a POW letter😃. I was sifting through a cardboard box of letters on the ground. I patiently went through each one, and picked out a couple postcards (for the stamps mainly, although I found one from 1936 that was about Hitler??), and then my jaw dropped when I saw the PRISONER OF WAR POST envelope.
I opened the letter carefully, and found a perfectly preserved typed letter and photo.
The Google translate gave me the gist of the letter (although a German speaker would be of great help!). The sender is at a British POW camp in Egypt and has been there for 3 years. He mentions how he saved up his wages (he gets a wage?) to send this letter to a sweetheart (or relative?) in Geneva. He asks for Yvonne (the recipient) to buy groceries to send to his family in American-occupied Germany, and he writes an address for her in the letter. He then expresses that he would like to return to Bavaria, but the British aren’t sending anyone there, so he would settle in Berlin with a friend. Then at the end he wishes to see Yvonne soon and sends a photo - “I unfortunately must cut off the letter here so the photo goes through”.
I am SOO happy I found this piece of history and am able to share it! I’d be happy to send more pictures that are easier to read. I will keep this in a very safe place at home.
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The paper is folded (and has been for many years!) so it’s almost impossible to flatten completely. The paper is also extremely thin and I do not want to damage it.
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Weird what people keep but that’s how most researchers find out how historical events touched individuals. Sadly 100 years from now there will be no records like this as people now communicate via email, Snapchat, anything electronic. Nobody puts a pen to paper to journal or write another person anymore.
We even are doing it here.
Keep that letter in a nice place as it’s actually an important historical document. It’s a snapshot of period of time never experienced before and hopefully we will never have to experience it again.
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What a treasure. Maybe contact the WWII history museum in New Orleas and see if they’d like it. I believe they have a collections of letters there.
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That’s really intriguing. Any clue as to his role in the German military? That letter appears to have been written more than a year after the end of the war. I’m really curious as to who he was and what happened to him.
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Wow, that’s so cool Shmersky! I (would) love collecting this type of thing, although I haven’t actually got any yet… 
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I already emailed a history enthusiast from the Egypt Study Circle group. One of their members wrote a very detailed article about the German workers camps, and I learned a lot from it. So I sent them pictures of the letter, hope it could help with their understanding in some way 
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This article here is very helpful about how the work camps came to be, and what the conditions were like and general information. I will try my best to go to the market again today (it’s 1am so 
) to see if I can find more of Yvonne’s mail. Although it’s Easter Sunday so… not much luck aggh
http://www.egyptstudycircle.org.uk/Articles/QC233p241.pdf
To answer your question more, I believe it says in the article 1/3 of the Germans were from Afrika Corps. Additionally he was there starting in 1943 so it’s probable he was Afrika Corps given the timeframe. I also read that the “less Nazi” Germans were released sooner, and with him talking about release in 1946 I think he wasn’t too much of an ideologue.
I have the collecting bug pretty bad 
. It’s a blessing and a curse. I have cool stuff but I’m always trying to find more space. I actually had no letters before this one! It was just something I found while sifting through mail, and I snatched it up. Now I want more mail…this is becoming an addiction
If you want to collect, be really picky and visit flea markets and eBay a ton. I like flea markets because most people have no idea what they are selling and will give you good prices.
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Yes…I never experienced life before internet, sounds like a different time. Good news is we can also upload paper stuff to the net to store that information and spread it a lot easier!
I wonder if POWs now send emails to their loved ones? Although Geneva conventions specifically mentions post, so I actually do not know
@Comrade_Shmersky
In any secure facility you’d not want unfettered access to those outside the gate. Even in today’s jails and prisons phone and mail are strictly searched or recorded. So even if prisoners are allowed email or other non written communications I would think that the correspondence would be screened through some sort of security. Prisoners have no reasonable expectations of privacy.
I wonder with today’s technology if it’d be possible to track down the family of the prisoner.
I really want to! I know Yvonne’s address, and given I found this letter at a yard sale I bet she died and they just sold this off. Another lead would be German soldier records or POW records. Both are hard to get my hands on but I already contacted some history nerds to help.
TRANSLATED VERSION:
Cairo, September 5, 1946. My dear Yvette, I am sending you the promised picture today, and I hope you’ll like it. I have a big request for you, dear Yvette. My relatives, who, as I wrote to you, fled Berlin and are now living in Bavaria, wrote me a devastating letter about their food situation. I tried everything to forgo my wages and send the money to a Geneva grocery store, which could then, in turn, send packages to my relatives. Unfortunately, it was all in vain. I considered for a long time whether I should turn to Mrs. Roullet with my request, who enjoyed my mother’s and my hospitality during her long stay in Berlin. But I abandoned this idea because her behavior towards me was too outrageous.You are now the only person who can help me in this matter. I am very reluctant to ask for your help, as I don’t know from which perspective you will perceive my request. However, you can also imagine what this news has meant to me, as I have been a prisoner for three years now. So if you can and want to help me with this heartfelt request, please be so kind and send a package to my relatives every now and then. It goes without saying that as soon as the current difficulties have been resolved, I will reimburse you for all expenses. The most important things are probably: flour, margarine (there is no need to send butter), meat or sausage, powdered milk, and sugar. If you could fulfill this request, I would be eternally grateful. The address is: Dr. Ulrich Thümmel (13b) Ebenhausen-Holzen 12, Germany, American Zone of Occupation.
I will probably have to return to Berlin after my release, as no more refugees are being accepted in Bavaria. My friend, who still lives there, has urgently asked me to come and stay with him, and I will probably move in and stay with him.
Unfortunately, I have to close so I can paste the picture in time.
I send you my warmest regards and remain with the hope of a reunion perhaps not too far in the future.
Yours, Ralph.
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@Comrade_Shmersky keep digging and keep us posted! We need closure on this! Did she send the food? Did they connect after his release from pow camp? How did they meet in the first place? So many questions!
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I found so many more leads…I will try and write everything down but let’s just say the plot thickens 
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I don’t blame you (I do as well!), unfortunately it is 11pm for me and I have an early flight to catch tomorrow but I’ll try my best to keep you guys updated when I get back
But heres some hints that I’ll explain later
Wow, such a moving letter about such a sad event/time. I’ve still got my fingers crossed that you’ll be somehow able to reconnect this letter with the family it was meant to go to.
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Thanks!
Unfortunately the letter (and many more of Yvonne’s letters) were found at a flea market. She probably died and her family sold the whole box of letters.
Heres what I found today/yesterday:
- Rolf was an Obergefreiter (equivalent to Private First Class). Considering he was captured in 1943, he was most likely afrika corps!
- Yvonne was a law student at Geneva university (1931-1934). Huge thanks to my mom for the translation. She was one of the few women (marked with an asterisk!) and was from geneva, and is of Swiss nationality.
- Yvonne has been talking to other soldiers !
Sergio is Italian navy! I found this photo without a letter, unfortunately. This is from 1939. It seems less romantic than Rolf, considering Sergio just wrote “A Yvonne”. Maybe Yvonne likes her men axis🤭 OR…
- A theory…Yvonne was studying law relating to war (hmm Geneva conventions?) and that could explain her talking with Sergio, and also why she asked for a picture of Rolf (to make sure he wasn’t being mistreated).
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