Years ago, when I went to boot camp, the only communication allowed was by writing. It’s a very intimate form of communicating and receiving a letter was a special moment. I know I myself use all sorts of electronic devices now and even pay almost all of my bills online so I can’t even remember the last time I wrote a check.
But when I send a card or something to my family for a birthday or just a care package for my grandchildren, I always write a note expressing my love for them and how much they’re missed. It beats a text or anything else because writing is so much more personnel.
In a funny way you have stumbled on a story that could have put Rolfe in the middle of Europe’s greatest trials with the fall of WW2 Germany, The Marshall Plan, Reconstruction, POW’s, all of it. It could be a love story, tragedy, comidic, generational, everything.
You could have the start of the next great book, movie, or podcast. Good luck with the research and keep us updated. I’m hooked!
Also, good luck with your tests.
@Comrade_Shmersky I’m thinking you have a great Hollywood story here. Espionage, romance, double crosses… What’s next?
@chauncy
@dadoffour
well you two are in luck because I am already starting to write a story about him/the work camps! It is really a kind of artistic ‘muse’ for me, and I love writing a lot (i will post it once I have more down, rn I am mostly just fleshing out the characters). I will also keep researching 
If you have any ideas for the story (especially characters right now) feel free to suggest
I have an update that I will share with u guys after my tests - the plot thickens yet again! This time it includes Nazi(s)?
Anyway, I started writing the story, and bear with me. I’m a high schooler, and I was writing it at lunch with one of my goofy silly friends. It’s not 100% historically accurate, and is made to be funny and unrealistic. I also am not the best writer because I’m only a sophomore in high school! Keep in mind I will be working on this, and some characters aren’t fleshed out yet. And yes I am on the like 3rd sentence. I have also never shown my writing to an audience that isn’t well…high schoolers.
I might be inspired to make some models after this 
who knows
A very good start! 
Thank you! I have gotten a bit further now and it is fun to write, starting to get the hang of things 
ALRIGHT SO new update
Found some more of Yvonne’s mail in my stash and although the writing is not that enthralling, I found some new addresses and people she corresponded with
- It seems to be a family (of 4?). I have two postcards, one with German stamps dating from 1934-36, and one from Yugoslavia which I have yet to date.
First, observe this postcard
It is addressed to a Frau Y. Sordet. However this address is not her Geneva address, but it sounds Italian?
Then the contents of the postcard. German stamps of von Hindenburg, which date from the earlier 1930s (before Hitler stuck his face on every stamp). The message translates to “Health and happiness”, and is signed by 4 people in different handwriting. Note what Gaby has written in absolutely gorgeous handwriting…
This story/journey keeps getting more interesting. You’ve ventured down a very deep “Rabbit’s Hole.”
I have! I’ve been combing archives during free time at school, reading old letters, newspapers, and so much more. I’ve been reading everything I can about POWs and it is quite fascinating!
Hello! This is cool stuff!
I have a feeling that @Bobstamp would like to see it and knowing him he would probably have some cool comments, too!
Comrade, this is great that you’re delving into this research/detective work but don’t let it distract you from your studies.(sorry, that’s the teacher in me)
Ugh I actually hate school so much and my grades are kind of okay (with some exceptions). I just had my AP exam & math test and I have to retake a test next week, otherwise I don’t have terribly much going on. I have lost much of my motivation to do work/pay attention because I only have a month and a half left of school 
I HAVE deleted some of my stories from my computer so I can not be as distracted though :]
Good luck on your APs and tests🫡. I really despised taking those (and honestly all tests). I have my o-chem finals in 2 weeks as well.
Anyways, I take it you’ll probably major in something history related?
Pawet’s post to this thread was indeed interesting to me. Finding a Prisoner of War Post from a prisoner of the Germans is an unusual flea-market find.
Letter sheets like the one in question in this thread are often more interesting than covers (used envelopes), which rarely include their former contents. But in the case of POW mail, which was heavily censored, they rarely provide any useful information about the circumstances of the imprisonment nor any opinions or information about the war. The same is true about mail from soldiers everywhere.
I have been collecting Second World War “postal history,” which is a blanket term for lettersheets, covers, picture postcards, and postal cards (postcards with imprinted stamps, issued by postal services) for the last 35 years. Lettersheets like the one the OP posted are not particularly rare, or valuable. They can be found fairly easily on almost any philatelic auction site and on various on-line philatelic sales venues.
Prices for “ordinary” POW lettersheets range from, say, U.S. $25 to $100. Their commercial value is based primarily on their provenance: Lettersheets (or covers) from well-known people from historically notable places or times are more highly valued than items from unknown people writing in times not related to historic events.
Generally speaking, there is greater interest and commercial value in collections of multiple lettersheets and covers than in single items, especially if their messages reveal information about any aspect of the war. In fact, the messages are often the single factor that determines price, or at least historical interest. But even when there is no message, as is the case for most wartime covers, the postmarks, postal markings, the addresses of the senders and recipients, and even the condition of the covers helps to determine whether the item goes into a dealer’s dollar box or goes to auction with beginning bids in the hundreds of dollars.
The following covers are included in my collection:
• The first item I ever mailed, a postcard to my parents, sent from Boy Scout camp to my parents. Its commercial value? $00.00! It’s intrinsic value? Priceless:
• A cover sent from Germany to Japan the day before Japan attacked Pearl Harbour. It was “interned” in New York City for the next seven years! Value? I forget, but it was probably around $100:
• A “one-sided” family correspondence consisting mostly of airmail and V-Mail covers sent between an American Army infantryman, Luster Main, and his family in Kansas City, Kansas, from the time the soldier was in basic training through his introduction to combat in Europe in 1944. Most of the soldiers letters apparently survived, but almost none of his parents’ letters did.
The correspondence tells us that he was captured during the Battle of the Bulge, spent the rest of the war as a POW, and was released. During his incarceration, his parents attempted to write to their son’s commanding officer, but their V-Mail letter was returned, in a special envelope used when V-Mail could not be delivered. That particular V-Mail could not be delivered because the officer had been killed in action. Only in January, 1945, did his parents receive a POW letter from him:
If you would like to know more about what cover (and stamp) collecting means to me, you are welcome to visit my website, Ephemeral Treasures, at https://ephemeraltreasures.net.
A special thank to Pawet for alerting me to this thread. I’ve backed away from model building in recent weeks. Not sure why — bit of Vietnam War PTSD? The terrible political/environmental situation in the world. Anyway, I’m going to try to get back in the game soon. My stash awaits.
Bob
I got involved in stamp collecting when I was a boy. My friends dad was into it in a serious way. His collection was all US mint stamps.
I still have my Scotts stamp collection book and years of the USPS commemorative sets from the 70s. Fun to look at once in while but haven’t really done any collecting in over 40 years. Just can’t let the collection go
I have a couple covers from a few big stamp shows
Relevant history here - overrun countries in WWII
O-CHEM??? I am actually failing regular high school chemistry 
Good luck man, you seem really smart
I want to major in International Relations and Russian language :] history would be an enjoyable major as well, however my dad has strongly warned against it because no one is hiring~~
Very cool!
The cover is likely worth a bit over $70, given that German covers from British camps are rarer than the Italian ones (I compared it with others on eBay), and it has a photograph attached to it. I was kind of stupid in retrospect to not buy the whole box of letters it was in, since ALL of the letters in there were one lady’s mail and there was probably another POW letter that I missed. Oh well…
But you have a pretty nice collection! I am just starting out, and my stamps are probably worthless, but hey, they are nice to look at
sigh, I miss high school chem. I hated it at the time, but then I realized I took the ease of the class for granted.
International relations sounds cool! Are you double majoring with Russian language? Yea if art & photography made money, I would totally switch majors.
If that class was easy I don’t want to imagine university chem 
Ideally Russian language as a minor, especially since in that field you need a foreign language (ones deemed critical by the govt. especially) :3