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May 30, 1945

René doesn’t know it yet, but on May 30, 1945, his second cousin Yvette Baumann Bernard returned to Paris. Sixteen months earlier (on January 28, 1944) she and her husband Jean Guy Bernard, ranking members of the French Resistance, had been arrested by the Gestapo at their apartment in Paris. Yvette spent 3 months in […]

May 25, 1945

May 25, 1945Heidenheim, GermanyNo. 36 (conclusion) Dear Folksies,            Here we are getting bogged down in this swamp and are looking for a better spot, buildings preferred, in this general locale. Last nite the gang had a party, but I did not feel like going – saw “Gaslight” instead, and enjoyed […]

May 24, 1945

May 24, 1945Heidenheim, GermanyNo. 36 Dear Folksies,             Again feel terribly ashamed for having let so many days slip by between letters. I hope that my laxity hasn’t been any cause for worry for you. Guess I just haven’t felt like writing at the times that I have had the opportunity and vice-versa.            Have […]

May 18, 1945

May 18, 1945Heidenheim, GermanyNo. 35 (conclusion) Dear Folksies,          You probably wonder why Bish and the Colonel are both away.  Well, they’ve really got a job on their hands!  They’re not the only ones away — their staff at the moment includes Cohn, Sewell Brown, Nelson Bell, Kuzell, Malone and Schwartz.  They are the bosses […]

May 17, 1945

May 17, 1945Heidenheim, GermanyNo. 35 (continued) Dear Folksies,                 A couple of days ago had to go back up Heidelberg way for PX rations and then the last two days was busy with selling of the rations. Quite a little business, it is. That was also quite a ride back after those rations. We […]

May 16, 1945

May 16, 1945Heidenheim, GermanyNo. 35 Dear Folksies,                     Feel very much ashamed for not having written these last 7 days – gosh, I really slipped, more than I had realized!  Have, however, been kept busy despite the fact that we have been closed.          They made me procurement officer, though on paper Bish has […]

May 10, 1945

Here are some reflections from Dr. Philip Westdahl on May 9, 1945, about the end of the War in Europe. This is from the last entry in my copy of his journal. On Tuesday, May 8, 1945 the “Stars and Stripes” was published with headlines two inches high covering half a page: “ETOWARENDS” So there […]

May 9, 1945

May 9, 1945Heidenheim, GermanyNo. 34 (conclusion) Dear Folksies,                Frank and Roy were in Munich a few days ago and reported that we ain’t seen nothing yet when it comes to wrecked cities.  It’s hard to believe that any city could be more wrecked than some of the large ones we’ve already seen, but […]

May 8, 1945

May 8, 1945Heidenheim, GermanyNo. 34V-E Day Dear Folksies,                     So today is the day which we have all been waiting for so long, and actually now that it has come it sort of is nothing more than an anti-climax and everyone is just sweating out the next few months — the question of whether […]

May 7, 1945

Here – on May 7, 1945 – are some reflections from Dr. Philip Westdahl about awaiting the formal end to the War in Europe. The BBC told of the plans being made in London to celebrate the great announcement — the ringing of bells, the blaring of sirens and the gleam of searchlights. Such celebrations […]

May 6, 1945

May 6, 1945Heidenheim, GermanyNo. 33 (conclusion) Dear Folksies,                      One wonders just where all this is going to end — I don’t see where there can ever be anything but a vicious circle.  This war was partly a result of the feeling in Germany that they had been given a raw deal in the […]

May 5, 1945

May 5, 1945Heidenheim, GermanyNo. 33 (continued) Dear Folksies,                     The trip that the Colonel, Mattie, and Wally took was apparently a most enjoyable one for all, particularly for Mattie.  They visited Jena and Weimar.  Mattie, you see, had gone to school there not so many years ago.  He said he was dismayed when he […]

May 4, 1945

May 4, 1945Heidenheim, GermanyNo. 33 Dear Folksies,                The past few days have certainly been filled with startling changes in the world.  The news has been amazing at almost every turn.  First comes Musso’s demise [April 29] and then the announcement of Hitler’s [April 30], followed rapidly by the capitulation in Italy [May 1] […]

May 1, 1945

Here – on May 1, 1945 – is an excerpt from the journal of Dr. Philip Westdahl … During this period, the usual rumors of the war’s end and the capture or death of Hitler were rife. The United Nations Conference was proceeding in San Francisco and Himler was supposed to have offered unconditional surrender […]