Sad grouping to Family Zahn. Wehrpass – Issued to Erwin Zahn – Born 1924 – Holder of HJ Sport Badge – did his RAD service in Graz – called up in December 1942 – joined his frontline unit in September 1943. Grenadier Regiment 348 – 216 Infanterie Division In July 1943, the 216th Infantry Division participated in the Battle of Kursk, where it sustained heavy casualties while fighting on the northern shoulder of the Kursk salient as part of Generalfeldmarschall Model’s Ninth Army. The division was disbanded on 17 November 1943 after suffering heavy casualties during the retreat to the Dnieper River Defensive Line. Zahns death card and Iron Cross Second Class Certificate, one spare photo in the back pouch as well as his death certificate. He will killed on the 12.11.1943 – the letter to his mother Anna reads:  Lieutenant Leber,Field Post No. 21360 O.U., 14 April 1944 Mrs. Anna Zahn,Kowald No. 4,Voitsberg / Stmk. Dear Mrs. Zahn, Only today am I able to reply to your letter of 17.12.43. Due to operations, relocations, and my longer absence from the company, it was not possible for me to respond earlier. I spoke about your son with Sergeant Droste, the leader of the bicycle platoon to which your son belonged as a light machine gunner. On 12.11.43, the bicycle platoon was in reserve and carrying out entrenching work. Suddenly, enemy artillery fire began. A shell struck the pit in which your son and another comrade were working. Your son was fatally struck by multiple shell fragments. Sergeant Droste was in the immediate vicinity and ran to him at once, but he could provide no further help. A few hours later, after the enemy artillery fire subsided, your son was buried with Sergeant Droste and his comrades in a field grave on a hill in a small woodland west of Borschtschownka, a heavily destroyed small village. It was not possible to move your son further in order to bury him in a “heroes’ cemetery,” as the combat situation no longer allowed it. Since there was also no camera available, unfortunately no photographs of the grave could be taken. Soon after, this section of the front was abandoned. Your son was very popular with his immediate superiors and with all his comrades for his open, sincere nature and his always comradely conduct. It is with heavy hearts that we had to part from him! With best regards,Your [signature: Leber] The letter from the Doctor dated in 1945 relates to Annas Brother who was also Killed in Action.  Dr. Bantz, Staff Doctor Deputy Chief Doctor Field Post Number: 36 77 0 O.U., 29 January 1945 Dear Mrs. Zahn, It is my sad duty to inform you that your dear brother, Oberjäger Peter Zeltmeister, died on 28.1.1945 after being admitted to our field hospital. Your brother had sustained a severe head wound with brain involvement. Death occurred during transport to the hospital. For more detailed information, I would kindly ask you to contact the last field unit of your brother. Please accept my sincere condolences on this grievous loss. Your dear brother made the ultimate sacrifice for the Fatherland and homeland in heavy fighting. His comrades will remember him as a good soldier, and I ask you also to preserve a worthy memory of him. The deceased will be laid to rest on 30.1.1945, in a dignified ceremony, alongside his comrades in a single grave at the soldiers’ cemetery in Csatkornya (Hungary). All personal belongings found with the deceased will be forwarded to you. Heil Hitler! Yours, [signature] Dr. Bantz Staff Doctor and Deputy Chief Doctor Interestingly two POW Letters are included and are from Annas Sister Hedwig, who for some reason was in an all female POW on the Isle of Man – the only such camp for females in WWII! Port Erin Women’s Detention Camp was a World War II internment camp on the Isle of Man at Port Erin. It was Europe’s only all-female internment camp. Notable internees included Dora Diamant, the lover of Franz Kafka in the last year of his life, and Fay Taylour, champion motorcycle, speedway and racing car driver. See more on the camp here: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-isle-of-man-32810383 Translations: 26.4.1943 My dear sister Anna, Many thanks for your letter of 28.1.43, which unfortunately arrived so late that I could not reply sooner. Dear Anna, I believe this heavy burden is even harder for you and your family than it already is. Instead of resigning yourself to the inevitable and trying to make the best of it, you lament and cry and thereby suffer much more. But apparently that is the way of millions of mothers. They have to bear much heavier sorrows. But Anna, I am sorry, yet I do not blame you. On the one hand, you have a cheerful spirit that often helps you to bear much adversity. For you and others like you, only sorrow and pain come again and again. But you, with heart and soul, must stand by the Fatherland in this difficult time, whether or not you believe in it. Believe me, Anna, I have seen much among friends, and it is only about one Fatherland — one Germany — defending our cause. If sacrifices are demanded, then one day everything will be good again. With love for Hilda, my Fatherland. Your sister, H Another Letter translated: “AVEN HOLME.” G.H. Post Erin I.O.M. 26.4.1943 My dear sister Anna, Many thanks for your letter of 28.1.43, which unfortunately arrived so late. Dear Anna, I believe you and your loved ones are making life even harder for yourselves than it already is. Instead of accepting the inevitable and trying to make the best of it, you lament and weep, and in doing so you suffer much more. Yet it seems that this is the way of millions of mothers, who must bear even heavier sorrows. Anna, I am sorry, but I do not reproach you. On the one hand, you always keep a cheerful…

Soldbuch issued in 1941 to Stone Mason Master from the area of Braunau (CZ), Arno Ringel. Frontline Units: Landesschützen Batl 554  The Landesschützen Battalion IV/VIII was established during mobilization on August 26, 1939, in Görlitz, in Wehrkreis VIII. The battalion was formed from the Infantry Replacement Battalion 406. The battalion was apparently deployed to Reichenbach during the winter of 1939/40. On April 1, 1940, the battalion was renamed Landesschützen Battalion 554. The battalion was subordinated to Division z.b.V. 408. From there, the battalion was deployed to the Commander of the VIII Prisoners of War. Feldkommandantur 1013 Field Command 1013 was established on August 22, 1943, in Military District VIII. Subsequently, the staff was subordinate to the General Staff of the 14th Army and then to the Plenipotentiary General of Italy and was located in Milan. Regiments Gruppe 348 – (102 Infanterie Division) Wounded in May 1944 – Bullet wound!! Interestingly the unit is mentioned here: https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gliederungen/Divisionsgruppe/DivGruppe216.htm Field Post Numbers: The units (Staff, Regimental Groups, and 14th Company) were all registered in the field post overview as parts of Divisional Group 216 from January 10, 1944. The 13th Company followed on March 22, 1944. The 13th and 14th Companies were then assigned to Regimental Group 348 from May 22, 1944. The regimental groups and the staff were renamed parts of Grenadier Regiment 216 between November 23 and 29, 1944. Grenadier Regiment 216 ( 216 Infanterie Division) – Seems this was his last unit. From August onward, the division continued its retreat across the Lessna, the Bug, and the Narew Rivers to the East Prussian defensive position until January 1945. At the end of 1944, Division Group 216 was renamed Grenadier Regiment 216. After the costly battle for East Prussia, the remnants of the division withdrew via Sensburg and Heilsberg to the Königsberg area. The division was finally smashed in the Rosenberg-Balga-Heiligenbeil pocket. Remnants managed to escape across the Frisches Haff to Pillau. These remnants continued fighting in Western Pomerania as Division Group 102, surrendering to the Americans at Trave on May 5, 1945. Awards: War Merit Cross with Swords, Second Class, Jan, 1944, April 1944 – Iron Cross Second Class and Wounds Badge in Black, February 1945 – Iron Cross First Class – 102 Infanterie Division. He seemed to have defaced the Nazi Symbol on the entry with a smoke. Equipment: P38 Pistol,  Compass, Lamp Diverse Paperwork Included: Drivers Licence, Permit to Drive in Milan Italy with his own car. Entry for bottle of Sparking wine, and Führer Present in Hospital June 1944. Border Crossing Permit to Denmark in 1943 on his way to Copenhagen in May of 1943! A POW Paper Issued by the Military Government of France. Condition: Missing Pages 5 – 7 – Addresses , not really critical on this one as not much information was lost, its possible he used it to prove his residence for Repatriation  in June 1945 (See below) Final Comments It seems that Ringel was an experienced and battle-hardened Officer, he was awarded the Iron Cross First Class in February of 1945, and he managed to escape the hell in Eastern Prussia (likely only with some sort of boat!) Making it back to the Western Front he was by June of 1945 he was in a French POW Camp, mentioned in pencil is that he was repatriated by the American XXII Corps to return to the former occupied region of the Czech Republic, where he was from. Overall this is a desirable Soldbuch of a frontline Officer who survived the Western and Eastern Fronts.