Saving Private Ryan, 57:40 ©Dreamworks Pictures and Paramount Pictures
I’ve met with any number of book clubs where someone remarked how little they knew about French forced labor during WWII before hearing Marcel’s story (…hey, me too, sister. Me too!) A number of readers have also remarked that — now that they know more about what happened to conscripted French civilians — they’ve ‘picked up’ on references to it while reading other books.
Saturday, October 10, 1942
.
My dear Mom,
.
Today no letter from you, but a package for which I thank you very much: a padlock, Felisedine, slippers, hard candies, envelopes, a blanket, in short, everything that was written on the little paper inside, everything except the ‘Comedia’ that you may have taken out at the last minute.
If that’s the case, you were right, for the reading of ’Echo de Nancy’ is enough for me. Again, thank you but please do not deprive yourself of anything for me, for I don’t need anything else and I wouldn’t fear asking you if I did. So please don’t go without something for my comfort, promise?
Elbing, July 2, 1944
Dear Madame and Monsieur Roland,
I received your kind letter [which] gave me great pleasure to have your news and information about the arrival of Roland. Thank you very much for the information about the [unclear] young lady. I’m in good spirits, don’t worry.
Mr. and Mrs. Albert Roumieu
Bar sur Loup, close to Grasse, Maritime Alps, France
Ludwigshofen, June 2, 1944
My very dear parents,
I’m sending you these few words to share some of my news. First of all, I can tell you that we are all in good health and I hope that this letters will find you the same, my dear parents, as well as the Fécaud and Giordamanga families. READ MORE
Saturday, May 6, 1944
Dear little Alice,
I received your two letters of April 5 and 12. I’m confirming it to you, in case you didn’t receive my letter from Buching [?]. READ MORE
Mr. and Mrs. Albert Roumieu
Bar sur Loup, close to Grasse, Maritime Alps, France
Ludwigshofen, January 21, 1944
My very dear parents,
I have just received several letters dated December 20, 23, 25 and January 1 that pleased me very much, for they brought me your good news and I can see that your health is good, and I can tell you that it’s the same for all of us.READ MORE
Envelope
Miss Elza Delbovier
106 avenue Nouvelle
Brussels 4 [unclear]
Belgium
Full-page Letter
My dear Els,
You will undoubtedly receive this letter before the one that I mailed on Monday the 21st [unclear]. I apologize thousands of times for such a delay in writing to you. I would really not want you to be upset about this.READ MORE
My dear Dad,
I’m writing to you hoping that you received all my cards in spite of the problems with the mail.READ MORE
March 9, 1944
Dear all,
It wasn’t until last Sunday, March 5, that I received your letter of January 29. It had been censored!READ MORE
This is the first letter I’ve found that was mailed from France to a French laborer in Germany. The letter was addressed to Serge Brodig, who was in a lager (a barrack) in Berlin. The postage stamps bear Petain’s profile.READ MORE
A.Grillot
Stöckenerstrasse 351, Stube 43 [351 Stöckener Street, Room 43]
Stöcken-Hannover
Hannover, July 18, 1944
To all of my very dear ones,
I’m sending these few lines to you this evening, Tuesday, to give you my news, which is still as good as possible. READ MORE
Thorn, the 4th of June, 1944 Carte
My little adored Marie,
I see, my love, that you have received good news from Jeannot (Johnny). I’m happy about that, darling. READ MORE
I just finished reading Spandau: The Secret Diaries by Albert Speer. A friend loaned the book to me long ago; she heard Marcel had been imprisoned in Spandau, and thought the book might be of interest.
Albert Speer was Hitler’s architect and eventually became Minister of Armaments and War Production. During the post-war Nuremberg trial, Speer denounced Hitler, took responsibility for the use of forced labor, and was sentenced to a 20-year prison term. Many other Nazi leaders, including Fritz Sauckel, General Plenipotentiary for Labour Deployment (that is, the man who was in charge of sending men like Marcel to Germany), were hanged.READ MORE
CP: Congratulations on the release of “Death of an Assassin: The True Story of the German Murderer Who Died Defending Robert E. Lee” (Sept 1. 2017, Kent State University Press). This fascinating story would have been entirely lost to time if you hadn’t put together these German and American puzzle pieces — congratulations! Tell us a bit about the mystery you solved:
AMA: Thank you, Carolyn! Actually, it was two mysteries, one on each continent.READ MORE
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.
While working on the book, I had — I still have, to be honest — conflicted feelings about Daimler-Benz. READ MORE
Germany
May 1, 1945
No. 144
My darling wife,
I have just finished a long letter to Mother and it has been overdue.READ MORE
Vienna April 4, 1944
My very dear parents,
I come for a moment to give you some news from me which are very good for now. I am still in good health. I hope it is the same for you.
READ MORE
