When Pris came to help me in July, she brought a box of her dad's papers and letters to give to Shad. There was a stack of German mail (Bill had served in Europe and the Pacific in WWII), some of it unopened. I studied German in middle and high school, and one bloody awful semester of college. It was exciting and fun for me to look through and try to translate.
This says, "True to his flag, died in the struggle for the freedom of Mighty Germany. A hero for people and the Fatherland." This paper would have been a death notice to the family of a soldier.
A lance corporal Ludwig Walds... I can't make out the full name. Office paperwork.
A letter discussing the monthly living stipends for a soldier in Mainz, Germany.
There were papers for money transfers to bank accounts of family members from soldiers.
Papers discussing family members--wives and dependent children.
Many envelopes unopened, but stamped marked March and April of 1944. My theory is that Bill was in the army that liberated Mainz, Germany, and that he took a stack of mail from an office at the German military base. Either way, it's an exciting and chilling piece of history to own.
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