May 1, 1945: News of Hitler’s death: “I’m wondering if it is true…”
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
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
I was surprised, but delighted, that my translator could read this writing. To me, it almost looks like shorthand! But, she continues to work miracles.
A French Slave in Nazi Germany: A Testimony
Elie Poulard, Author
Jean V. Poulard, Translator and Editor
University of Notre Dame Press, 2016 (English)
READ MORE
What’s the first thing that caught my eye about this postcard from September, 1943? The unusual emerald green ink, of course!READ MORE
Second to Marcel Heuzé’s letters, this postcard has been the most incredible find.READ MORE
This postcard was written August 12, 1944 by a man named Marcel.READ MORE
I presume this postcard was written by a Dutch laborer; clues include the date, the censor marks, the fact she was in Berlin. READ MORE
Earlier this year, my 91-year-old uncle, Allen Porter, was invited to be part of a panel of veterans at a WWII lecture at Fort Snelling. The topic was the liberation of the concentration camps. READ MORE
It might seem strange to say, but since finding Marcel’s letters, it feels as though other letters have found me. This is one such letter, which I recently had translated into English.READ MORE
I was thrilled to get a package from Germany today. Inside was a hard-bound copy of “Year Book of Type 2,” edited by Slanted. READ MORE
By the summer of 1942, large numbers of working-age German men had been transferred to the eastern or western fronts to fight. This resulted in increased vacancies at factories and mines at the very point in time when more laborers were needed to support the German war industry.
Yesterday, a small cardboard box arrived, and as I walked up the driveway, I tried to puzzle out who it was from. When I opened it, I was delighted to see a hard-cover book from a Kickstarter campaign I backed months earlier, and had nearly forgotten about.
Over the weekend I finished reading the book ‘Alex’s Wake.’ It was one of those books that started with a slow drip, but ended with a wave of sadness so enormous it was impossible to hold back tears.
One of the amazing people I’ve met along this journey is Louise Dillery. Readers of the book will get to know how amazing she is, too. She translated some of Marcel’s letters, and has turned into a dear friend. Louise is nearly 90 years old, but you would never know it — she’s sharp as a tack, and loves to talk about thoroughly modern things like eyebrow tattoos, Beyoncé and the allure of ‘bad boys.’
Last week, a historian from the National World War II Museum flew to Minnesota to record the testimony of my uncle, Allen Porter. He was part of the 303rd Engineering Battalion of the 78th Infantry Division and fought across France and Germany in 1944-1945.
Recently I finished reading the book Paper Love by Sarah Wildman. Over the last few years, I’ve read more books on World War II than I can count, and I have to say, this was one of the best.
This book is set in Germany in the dangerous last months of World War II. Liesl is newly married to a widowed surgeon who has been summoned to work at a hospital far away; she is responsible for the care of her husband’s three young boys amid dwindling food supplies and refugees being assigned to their home. One son has a mysterious illness and faces the prospect of being sent to Hadamar, a destination for ill and unfit children; Hadamar was a destination that would mean certain death.