An Nsdap "Homeland Letters" Sent As Feldpost To Cpl. Buck; Artillerie-Regiment 178

Homeland letters” to lance corporal Karl Buck, 8 pp., 20.9 x 29.5 cm. Date of item: 1940. Condition: good, signs of aging, slight rips.

A volume, #4 of July 1940, of the propaganda magazine “Heimatbriefe” (Homeland Letters), sent to lance corporal Karl Buck. His Feldpostnummer (field mail number) is 03470A, indicating that he served in the Stab I. Abteilung (Staff 1st Detachment) Artillerie-Regiment 178, at that time stationed near Reims in northern France.

The Heimatbriefe were printed by the local authorities, in this case the Gau (state) of Württemberg-Hohenzollern in southwest Germany, published by Gau leader Wilhelm Murr. They were sent to the soldiers at the front to instill a feeling of connection with their homes and convince them to fight to protect that home. Usually the letters would contain news about local events, marriages, obituaries, etc.

This letter includes a propaganda piece by one Otto Klein, talking about how the whole of Germany is fighting as one for the inevitable victory. The soldiers at the front are backed by the Nazi Party, contrary to WWI when, as propaganda states, the socialist movement betrayed the front soldiers by giving up the war prematurely (stab-in-the-back myth). The next page talks about how the Gau leader visits wounded soldiers who all can’t wait to join the fight again. It goes on to talk in an article about how a good soldier is politically engaged as well. The remaining pages hold short articles about life and events in the district of Münsingen.