My dear, just imagine for a moment that the war is over.

A Selection of Excerpts
Second Year
March 1943

Letter No. 41.

March 1, 1943
My dearest darling!

Another month has already passed, and it is already March. Conditions here aren't pleasant at all anymore. The weather is wonderful, to be sure, but we are dealing with a great deal of mud and, above all, water. From morning till night, we are busy building bridges and paths—so-called corduroy roads—so that we can at least walk on dry ground within our position.

My dearest darling, please forgive me for writing so little lately; we are just glad to finally get back to our quarters in the evening. But this work is very important, and it is certainly better to have dry boots on rather than wet ones. ...

Letter No. 42.

March 5, 1943
My dearest darling!

Today I received a letter from Mother that gave me quite a scare.

Oh, my beloved H..., I hope it isn't too serious and that you are feeling well again by the time my letter reaches you. My dearest darling, please be careful and stay away from that ladder. I shudder to think what could have happened. Oh, if only I could be there with you.

My dearest, darling love, I sensed that something must be wrong. I had become so anxious because I wasn't receiving any mail from you. And now I am so far away from you and cannot visit you or help you.

Oh, my darling, I hope a letter arrives very soon with the news that you are doing better. I won't have any peace of mind now until I know that everything is all right again and that you are in no pain or discomfort. ...

Oh, if only I could be with my dearest darling again. But how much longer must we wait for that? To make matters worse, something has now come up.

As I already wrote to you, the thaw has set in, and everything is turning back into a quagmire of swamp and mud. Having gained plenty of experience with this last spring, all the so-called roads—which once again resemble a vast sea of ​​mud—are now closed to all traffic.

For the time being, solid corduroy roads are being built everywhere. Unfortunately, this also means that leave is out of the question for now; we are over 120 km away from the railway, and naturally, we cannot walk that distance, as it would take far too long.

Hopefully, the weather will stay consistently warm so that we can use the roads again soon. So far, the weather has remained fine. Things are fairly quiet here again, so we are felling sturdy trees every day to get the corduroy roads finished as quickly as possible. ...

Letter No. 43.

March 6, 1943

... There’s such a lovely song playing on the radio right now. It’s called: "It’s so wonderful to have you back with me!"
Oh, my dearest darling, lovely as these songs and tunes may be, the lyrics can really get on one’s nerves out here. ...

Letter No. 44.

March 8, 1943

... Perhaps we’ll be lucky and the ban on leave will be lifted fairly soon. But then it starts all over again. Then we start calculating and figuring out the earliest possible date we could be home. You know, my darling, these calculations are a bit of fun, but right now they’re also a source of worry, because we simply can’t know when things will move forward again. ...

I am so happy that you’re writing to me even while in bed. But you know, my darling, you really ought to just stay lying down so you can get back to full health as soon as possible. I would much prefer it if you didn’t write to me for the time being, as it surely puts a strain on you. ...

Yes, my dear sweetheart, unfortunately I wasn’t able to hear whether the greetings came through on the radio. ...

Letter No. 45.

March 10, 1943

... You write that the four of you are sharing a room. Are you in the hospital, then? ...

Oh, my dearest darling, what pleases me most is the news that you don't have to leave your job. I know you would like to work in a war-production plant, but who knows—perhaps it’s for the best. You know, conditions in a plant like that certainly aren't as good, and so much can happen with the machinery. ...

Letter No. 46

March 13, 1943
My dearest darling!

It is Saturday evening again already, and once more I have written so little to you this week. Please forgive me profusely for writing so seldom; we really have so little time, yet all the more work. But you need not worry, for it is certainly very quiet here.

We did have some trouble with the Russians again yesterday and the day before, fighting over our position. But they quickly got the worst of it. After all, we don't exactly throw snow and ice—unlike some of the Russians.

You see, they had more men than they had rifles.

Now, my dearest darling, the thaw has given us a great deal of work. Corduroy roads, bridges, and duckboards have to be built everywhere. ...

Letter No. 48.

March 16, 1943

... My dearest darling, you are quite right when you write that you want to have your husband all to yourself and never see the uniform again. But I am afraid I will have to disappoint you a little in that regard. For, my love, I am certain that even after the war, we will still be soldiers for at least another year or two. ...

Letter No. 50.

March 18, 1943

... After the meal, I had to report to our battalion commander. That turned out to be a pleasant surprise, for I was promoted to *Unteroffizier* (NCO) effective March 1st. Well, I was certainly very pleased about that. ...

Letter No. 52.

March 21, 1943
My dearest darling!

Another lovely Sunday has come to an end. We had absolutely wonderful weather again today. The Führer spoke today, and he has lifted the ban on leave. Now the first men from our unit will be going on leave again, and then it will be my turn once more. I think I might be able to be with you again around the end of June or the beginning of July. ...

Letter No. 55.

24 March 1943

... Today was another beautiful day. The sun was wonderfully warm, and I was out and about for almost the entire day. It was very quiet today, so I was able to enjoy the full beauty of the day undisturbed. If we weren't in Russia, one could almost forget that there is still a war going on. ...

Letter No. 59

March 31, 1943
My beloved darling!

It is high time I wrote you a few lines again. Please forgive me for keeping you waiting so long for mail, but we’ve had terribly bad weather these past few days. It has been raining non-stop for three days, and since we were outdoors a lot, we had our hands full trying to get our things dry again. ...

Because of the rainy weather, there is nothing but water and mud everywhere. But none of that can shake us. The mud will go away eventually, too.

My dearest H..., on Sunday I saw a few German civilians again. There were two young women and two men from Graz who sang folk songs for us. It was quite nice, and we all enjoyed it, but you know, my beloved darling, when I was lying back on my cot in my bunker, the longing for you hit me with particular intensity. ...