A Story

[Matt L]

A friend just sent me the link to this story- that of a woman who lost her husband in the war, but amazingly, with information from the WASt and the help of the VDK and most wonderfully the local people, actually found his field grave in Latvia last year. It's truly a touching story and one I thought I'd share it with you:

http://kurlandkessel.cybton.com/kriegerwitwe/story.html

As I've written in a number of other threads, I have several friends who have played at least some part in discovering and recovering hitherto unknown field graves of German soldiers- and until I read this story I really only had an idea of how it might have affected the families of these men missing so long ago to have them back.

Matt

[douglynn]

what a great story

[Gaspare]

Yes, very interesting, excellent! ,thanks Matt. , G.

[Shawn Hall]

Hats off to those people who bring peace to others like this.

[Simon O.]

Great story, very touching. I wonder how many more still lie lost out there on the old battlefields?

[Si1964]

Matt Hi,
Thanks for posting this story for us, I found it very interesting with a happy ending for Frau Ochssner {if you can use such a phrase}.

[Edward]

Ah, that explains it. Biedermann and the 132nd Division. The book based on Biedermann's wartime service should be on everyone's shelf. Good story Matt.

Regards

[IMPERIAL QUEST]

Very touching indeed. Reading stories like that always remind me of the human element behind what we collect.

[Hans N]

Yes, a very touching story! Thanks for sharing it to us Matt

[Matt L]

This story made me think of something my Dad told me a couple of years ago- he had just received the service record information from the WASt for my Oma's cousin Walter, who had not come back from the war- it stated that he had been wounded by shell splinters on one date but had died at the main dressing station only on the next day; this really bothered my Oma quite a lot because she had always thought, presumably from the letter from Walter's Leutnant that our family still has, that he'd been killed instantly. It surprised me that something from so long ago could still have a very profound effect on someone even now...

[Matt L]

Very touching indeed. Reading stories like that always remind me of the human element behind what we collect.

Exactly- this is why I try to not think of these things as simply objects- but things that were carried by real people. I often wish I could know who the former owner was, what his experiences were and so on...

One of the neatest pieces in my collection is an identity disc that is from the very same unit in which my Oma's cousin Walter I mentioned above was in- and the serial number on it is only 20 or so away from Walter's- it makes me wonder if he and the man who carried the disc I have knew one another or were friends...

Matt