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

A Selection of Excerpts
Third Year
January 1944

Letter No. 218

The East, New Year's Day 1944
My dearest, precious darling!

The new year has already begun. Once again, I wish you all the best from the bottom of my heart—great happiness, good health, and everything else you wish for yourself. May God grant you a blessed, grace-filled, and happy year and protect you from all evil and every illness.

My beloved darling, whom I cherish above all else, I hope you made a good start to the new year. It was fairly quiet here yesterday, so we were able to celebrate a little.

But my thoughts were far away from here, and when we sent our shells over to the Russians at the stroke of midnight, I reached out to hold your hand in my thoughts, took you in my arms, and gave you a tender New Year's kiss.

Lost in these thoughts, not even the thunderous firing of our shells could disturb me. We soon lay down to sleep, and my thoughts remained with you in a lovely dream. ...

Letter No. 219.

The East, January 2, 1944
My dearest, darling H...!

I have just finished my work for the day. I have to draw up various fire plans and position sketches. It is already 10 o'clock, so I’ve called it a day. After all, there is always tomorrow, and I really must write a little something to you, too.

The weather wasn't nice at all today. A fierce snowstorm raged all day long. Well, it couldn't do us any harm. We have a great bunker, and it’s quite comfortable in there.

Yes, my beloved, precious darling, I got through the day well, too, and I am still doing very well. If that is always the case for you as well, then I can rest easy. ...

Letter No. 223.

The East, Jan. 6, 1944

... Whenever the mail arrives, I always have to read your letter first, and then read it through again at the very end. Even if the Emperor of China—or some other bigwig—were to write to me, your letter would still come first. After all, what could possibly bring me more joy or interest than news from you?

But wait, my dearly beloved treasure, I don’t want to mislead you. There is actually something else that interests me almost even more. But you needn't worry, because it concerns you, too.

That would be, firstly, a leave pass, and secondly, peace. Both would bring me back to you quite soon, and you would surely be happy about that as well. ...

My dearest treasure, so now you have all the letters up to No. 199; only Nos. 170 and 174 are missing. I’ve just checked when I wrote those letters. No. 170 was from Berlin—dated October 13th. No. 174 was already from here.

I wrote that one on October 22nd. I’m afraid I have to tell you that it contained two parcel stamps. We received them on the 21st, and I sent them off on the 22nd. Well, it’s not the end of the world.

It’s not as if we have little to eat and need anything from home. But it is surely better for just stamps to go missing than for a parcel to get lost.

My dearly beloved H..., I am so very happy that you are always doing well and that you are healthy and in good spirits. I hope that is still the case when you receive this letter. If only the planes would leave you in peace. That is always my greatest worry, and I pray again and again to our dear God to spare you from that. It would be the worst thing for me if something were to happen to you there.

My dearly beloved darling, I am still doing very well. I am still in my nice bunker, and it’s great. Oh, my sweet, precious darling, how wonderful it would be if I could suddenly make it back to Germany and be near you.

But the Fatherland needs us here, and we are happy to fulfill our duty. After all, in doing so, we are protecting you too, as best we can.

My dearly beloved darling, unfortunately I will have to give up my Freia. We aren't allowed to have dogs here in the main battle line, so I’ll have to look around for a good home for her.

You know how much I love animals, and I hate the thought of giving up the dear little thing. But orders are orders. Oh well, it’s not the end of the world, though... ...

Letter No. 225

The East, January 8, 1944
My dearest, precious darling!

It’s nearly 10 o'clock again, and the first week of this year has already passed. I wonder how many more days must go by before I can come to you?

I’m going to count forward 50 days starting today. That would bring us to February 27th. I am fairly certain I’ll know by then whether I’m getting leave for our wedding. Let’s hope for the best.

My sweet, darling treasure, loved above all else—how are you doing? I hope you’re still doing very well. I’m doing very well myself, too. We had beautiful weather today and an exciting experience as well.

A cheeky Russian plane showed up this morning—you could barely hear it. It had throttled back its engines and flew right over us at a very low altitude, or so we thought. But that wasn't quite the case.

It turned out to be a long-range reconnaissance plane suffering from engine trouble. We are stationed here between two rivers, and the pilot had miscalculated. He assumed he was already back home and was preparing to make an emergency landing.

As a result, however, all three occupants were taken prisoner. The plane crashed about 300 meters from here. The crew was unharmed.

We did, however, get our hands on some valuable equipment. Well, we have some sort of experience like that every day. Naturally, I went straight over there and took a close look at everything. I would have loved to remove the radio right then and there. It was still intact, but unfortunately that is forbidden, since all these items are meticulously logged. Even minor modifications to such devices are significant for the leadership.

My dearest H..., this evening I had such a lovely experience—if I may call it that. I had gone out on patrol earlier. When I stepped out, the moon was barely visible; it was heavily overcast.

But then the clouds cleared away, revealing a beautiful, clear, starry sky. When I returned "home," I sat outside my bunker for a while and gazed at that magnificent sky.

All the while, my thoughts were with you. Ah yes, the same stars shine above us here as they do back home. As I sat there, I dreamed of you with my eyes wide open, and amidst all those countless stars, I saw your beloved face.

I had to tear myself away from that beautiful, joyful vision by force; otherwise, I would likely still be sitting out there. ...

Letter No. 226.

The East, January 9, 1944
My dearest H...!

Now this Sunday, too, has come to an end. There was a great deal of work today. Last night, a fierce snowstorm set in, and it is still raging.

We had to shovel snow all day long, after all, because my mortar crews must be ready to fire at any moment. We are all quite tired today.

Even more work may await us in the morning. The snow shoveling will start up again early on. It is a good thing, at least, that it isn't so cold while doing it. That makes it manageable. Well, the work certainly keeps us nice and warm. ...

Letter No. 227.

My dearest little treasure!

And so, another lovely day draws to a close. Well, it wasn't *that* lovely, actually. There was a heavy snowfall all day long, though it has stopped now. We did quite a bit of snow-shoveling this morning.

You could hardly find the entrance to our bunker anymore. But shoveling snow makes for a nice change of pace, and there’s always plenty of fun and joking around while doing it.

Oh, my H..., beloved above all else and with eternal faithfulness—you should have seen our Freia today. She was hardly recognizable. The snow kept swirling around, and by the end, she was completely white.

Oh, you know, my dearest little treasure, she brings me so much joy. She just came back in from outside and greeted me happily. Yes, she is definitely house-trained. When she needs to go, she asks to go outside very nicely. She did have an accident once, but I held her snout right over it and gave her a few swats.

She remembered that lesson well, and now she’s always on her best behavior. Now she always wants to climb onto my lap, but then I can't write.

Right now, she’s lying close beside me on the right, resting her head on my right thigh. At the same time, she’s playing with my left hand. She’s particularly fond of my thumb. Her teeth are already quite sharp, and she can actually hurt you a bit. I took a picture of her a few days ago.

The film is already on its way home. I hope the picture turns out well. ...

Letter No. 231.

The East, January 14, 1944
My dearest H...!

I’ve already covered a long distance today. We visited the supply train today and got deloused once again. At the same time, we also went to the sauna. Oh, that was lovely. A good wash and fresh underwear—it makes you feel so much better right away.

Freia had a bit of a holiday today, too. I took her along, and there were plenty of bones at the field kitchen. She really enjoyed that.

My dearest treasure, what do you think is coming up now? Can you guess? It’s something joyful. We received two more leave passes today for January 20th. Well, that’s something, at least. Things need to stay this way; then it’ll be good.

Let’s hope there won’t be another freeze on leave. Oh, how wonderful it will be when the time finally comes for me to hold my leave pass and head off toward the West.
It’s already January 14th, and this month will soon be over. Time flies, yet it feels like it’s taking far too long for the moment to finally arrive.

I miss you so terribly, my dearly beloved treasure. What have you done to me that makes it so hard for me to bear it here anymore? ....

Letter No. 234.

The East, January 18, 1944

I have a bit more time this evening, so I want to quickly write you a few lines. Unfortunately, I didn't have time yesterday, as I had to fill in for a platoon leader here. Since I only got back this morning, writing was out of the question, of course.

Now I am back at base. I’ve just finished my patrol—along with Freia. It isn't cold outside at all. We’ve had a light thaw both yesterday and today; that’s how warm it is here. Otherwise, I’m still doing well. ...

Letter No. 236.

The East, January 20, 1944

... My dearest treasure, please forgive me for writing you such a short letter yesterday, but I was too tired to write any more.

Yesterday, we significantly improved and secured our position, and we spent half the night working on it. We couldn't do it during the day because the Russians would spot us. But now that is done, too.

My beloved treasure, how are you doing? I’m really not getting much mail. Do you have so much work, or are you perhaps sick? Oh, I want to hope for the best. As long as you are doing well.

I myself am doing quite well, too. We still have a thaw, and in some places the ground is already showing through again. The weather is glorious. There won't be too much more snow this year. It is a very mild winter.

What is the weather like back home? Oh, my dearest treasure, I hope you don't have to suffer too much from the cold. ...

Letter No. 237.

The East, January 21, 1944
My dearest H...!

The journey is the reward—even for a soldier. I am spending another night in a different bunker for the time being and am in command of the platoon as a replacement.

Well, tomorrow morning I’ll surely go back to my squad. Otherwise, I’m doing very well and feeling quite fit. The weather was pretty good today, too. ...

Letter No. 239.

The East, January 24, 1944

... We really have a great deal of work. The weather is very bad. It isn't cold, though; it’s actually real spring weather. It keeps thawing, and there is rain in between. We’ll be able to go swimming here soon, and there is certainly plenty to do. Otherwise, things are very quiet here. ...

Oh, my dearest treasure, I am so anxious because I haven’t had any news from you since January 14th. What on earth are you doing? Please be a dear and write to me a little more often. ...

Letter No. 241.

The East, January 27, 1944

...My dearest little treasure, I am still doing very well myself. Right now, I am serving as a platoon leader again. It is quite quiet here. The weather is still bearable, too. It has snowed a tiny bit again, but generally the weather is still warm, and most of the snow has melted away again.

My dearly beloved little treasure, things are moving right along with the leave arrangements. Today, four more passes arrived— two for January 30th and two for February 2nd. Unfortunately, however, about ten men have now been placed ahead of me—men who have joined us in the meantime. They were on leave before me last year, so naturally, they are coming up in the proper order.

But since we are still being well supplied with passes, it doesn't matter much. I am quite certain that I will be with you by March, or perhaps even a little sooner. ...

My dearest little treasure, my Freia is doing very well. She has grown quite big now. Oh, she really is such a sweet, lovely creature. She got some hard candies today, and she is especially crazy about those.

My dearest little treasure, you can believe me when I say she is doing just fine. She sleeps right next to me every night, too. And now I want to get some sleep myself. ...

Letter No. 242.

The East, January 28, 1944

... My dearest little treasure, I will of course try everything so that I can bring Freia home with me. Oh, I have so much fun with her. I go for a "walk" every day, and she always gets to come along. ...

Letter No. 243.

The East, January 30, 1944

... Well, I was out on a mission again. Yesterday at midday we went over to the Ivans, and this morning we returned from a successful raid with three prisoners. There was even an officer among them. Now, however, I am tired and am about to go to sleep. ...