EXPLICIT LETTERS FROM EASTERN FRONT MIA

EXPLICIT LETTERS FROM EASTERN FRONT MIA
Excellent letter group written by German Wehrmacht soldier Privat Willi Hasberg, who eventually went missing-in-action in Africa. Hasberg hailed from Muellemich, near Cologne, and was born in 1919. His letters home date from 1940 to 1943. Included are approx. 24 letters and cards, partially transcribed and typed in German, with short annotations. Included are three letters from official offices regarding the whereabouts of Willi Hasberg. 25.6.1940: He writes 'Last week we were sworn in...now we are real soldiers...the war won't last much longer...we will wear out the English...' 11.9.40: The letter's stamp has been camouflage and Hasberg's unit has been transferred to another barracks in Detmold and a comrade stole Feldpost packages. 9.10.41: Hasberg was promoted and became a part of the Stabskompanie Inf. Ers. Batl. 473 Aachen, '...40 men will leave the Stabskompanie tomorrow...and will be outfitted, where will they go, probably Russia...and when I won't come back then everything is over.' Russia, 20.11.1941: As he assumed Hasberg is now in Russia, 'Tomorrow we will go back to our old Kompanie. Now we will get into the shit. Our regiment is back in battle.' Russia, 5.12.41: Hasberg is wounded almost 14 days later, 'Greeting from the war field hospital your son Willi. I'm not doing that well...I got something again, damnit. It is exasperating at the front...day after day we are in foxholes...The Russki gave us so much artillery fire we couldn't show our nose. It is a misery here. It is very cold, some boys have frozen hands and feet. I don't know if I'm coming back to Germany.' 29.12.1941: Written from an injured collection point in Krakow, 'Dear mother, I'm on my way to a hospital in Germany.' 15.3.42: After the stay at the hospital, Hasberg is being transferred for ski training at Elsenborn at the Belgian border. Wilna, 5.4.1942: 'Dear mother, we left Dusseldorf and were in Wilna/Lithuania on Saturday and onwards to Smolensk...' For the second time Hasberg has to go to the Eastern Front. Minsk, 23.4.42: Hasberg states he is at a field hospital in Minsk with pneumonia. 2.5.42: Hasberg left Minsk and arrives in Annaberg, Upper Silesia on a hospital train. After his illness, he didn't return to the Eastern Front. Instead, he arrived in Saarburg and was transferred to the Gren.Ers.Batl.90 (mot) Hamburg. 4.2.43: '...Tonight there were more planes here...We will move from here to Italy. 14.3.43: 'Dear mother, we have already been one week in Sicily..to my surprise I realized that the Italians are depraved people. It is unbelievable that Adolf Hitler has such a dirty ally.' 17.2.43: 'Dear mother...tomorrow we leave for the South.' 31.3.43: '...We have moved to another camp high up in the mountains...last week I was in Palermo and then the planes came [and] bombarded the city and the shreds flew around my ears. Luckily we were not harmed.' 1.4.43: Last letter from Sicily, with a note from the mother on the envelope, '...Unfortunately there are no coffee beans available here in Sicily...it looks bad for me over in Africa, because the English have the upper hand, in the air, on the water, and on land. But we will hope for the best that we will see each other.' Excellent grouping with good content, should be translated in full.