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Learn more about the book "Marcel's Letters" and the font P22 Marcel Script, which is based on the handwriting of conscripted WWII laborer Marcel Heuzé
Carolyn Porter, Marcel Heuzé, Marcel's Letters, Graphic Design, Font Design, P22 Marcel Script
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OTD August 6, 1944: The Daimler-Marienfelde factory was bombed

Library of Congress image USZ62-59134
Upper left: Before; Center: During. Lower right: After.

On this day seventy-three years ago, eighty-three Army Air Force B-17 bombers targeted Daimler’s Marienfelde factory. “The bombing is very effective,” the mission record stated, “and ten major [targets] are severely damaged during one of the best days that the Eighth [Air Force] experiences.”

If you’ve read “Marcel’s Letters,” you’ll know I scoured military mission records to find out how and when the factory where Marcel worked had been bombed. If you have the book, you can read the passage about the search—and this specific bombing raid—on pages 109–112. The photo above is first referenced at the bottom of page 110.

Book Club Questions

Have you selected Marcel’s Letters for your Book Club? Use this list of questions to frame a lively discussion about the book. Or, you know, you can pretend to discuss the book and just drink wine. I know how some Book Clubs roll. I won’t judge.

Do you want me to join you? Drop me an email at carolyn (at) porterfolioinc.com and we can arrange a virtual meeting via Google Hangouts.

Click here to see the BookClub handout

1943 French Compulsory Labor Service Census Certificate

In one of the letters Marcel mailed from Berlin, he mentioned having to show his papers to the German police. My guess is that he showed them his arbeitskarte (worker card) which likely included his photo and listed basic biographic information. The arbeitskarte might have also been inked with his fingerprints.READ MORE