This letter was written by a German named Herbert Behrendt. He had been captured sometime in the war and was brought over to the United States and kept in a POW camp in Camp Grant, Illinois. The camp was opened in 1941 and would go on to hold 2,500 German Prisoners of War, mostly captured in North Africa. Prisoners were allowed to work to make a wage they could use to purchase items at the camp store.
In this letter, Herbert was writing to his Aunt, who actually lived in the U.S. in Long Island, New York. The letter reads:
“ Camp Grant
31st May 1945
Dear aunt Emma!
The War is over, but how? We can’t help it. But I am glad that it’s over. I am well so far. But how are the things at home? I didn’t get letter since the last I wrote you about. I hope we will soon get back home. You can see why. I guess. Could I possibly see you before we leave? I don’t know. May be you know. We read and hear many things we didn’t hear before and sometimes I think that many things are impossible.
The spring is here, we have nice weather. In the evening I study sometimes the storms. It is quite interesting. I wonder you are doing dear aunt Emma, I think you aren’t painting anymore. May be you are working in the garden. How is uncle Ludwig and jr. , and Amy and the Mullers? I hope this letter will reach you soon. So long, your Herbert. “
I personally found it interesting that he mentions hearing and reading things he hadn’t seen or heard before and that he finds them “impossible”. Around that time, as the war had came to an end, News reports, photographs, and firsthand accounts from soldiers and journalists who witnessed the atrocities of the Holocaust began to be shared widespread to the American public via newspapers, magazines and radio broadcasts. It makes me wonder if Herbert was referencing these details that would have been coming out at that time.
Camp Grant would close in 1946 and German prisoners would be shipped back home.
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This letter was written by a German named Herbert Behrendt. He had been captured sometime in the war and was brought over to the United States and kept in a POW camp in Camp Grant, Illinois. The camp was opened in 1941 and would go on to hold 2,500 German Prisoners of War, mostly captured in North Africa. Prisoners were allowed to work to make a wage they could use to purchase items at the camp store.
In this letter, Herbert was writing to his Aunt, who actually lived in the U.S. in Long Island, New York. The letter reads:
“ Camp Grant
31st May 1945
Dear aunt Emma!
The War is over, but how? We can’t help it. But I am glad that it’s over. I am well so far. But how are the things at home? I didn’t get letter since the last I wrote you about. I hope we will soon get back home. You can see why. I guess. Could I possibly see you before we leave? I don’t know. May be you know. We read and hear many things we didn’t hear before and sometimes I think that many things are impossible.
The spring is here, we have nice weather. In the evening I study sometimes the storms. It is quite interesting. I wonder you are doing dear aunt Emma, I think you aren’t painting anymore. May be you are working in the garden. How is uncle Ludwig and jr. , and Amy and the Mullers? I hope this letter will reach you soon. So long, your Herbert. “
I personally found it interesting that he mentions hearing and reading things he hadn’t seen or heard before and that he finds them “impossible”. Around that time, as the war had came to an end, News reports, photographs, and firsthand accounts from soldiers and journalists who witnessed the atrocities of the Holocaust began to be shared widespread to the American public via newspapers, magazines and radio broadcasts. It makes me wonder if Herbert was referencing these details that would have been coming out at that time.
Camp Grant would close in 1946 and German prisoners would be shipped back home.