Original WWII German Wehrpass Grouping – Gefreiter Erwin Zahn – Grenadier Regiment 348 – 216 Infanterie Division – Iron Cross – Letters Fully Translated – Isle of Man Link! Rare

Description

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 spirit, which helps you in many ways. But in these times, so many hardships come upon you. You, with heart and soul, must stand by our Fatherland in this difficult time. Whether or not you believe it, Anna, I tell you: I have seen much among friends, and it is all about one Fatherland — one Germany. Our task is to defend it. Our cause is a just one, and even if it requires sacrifices, one day everything will be good again.

With faithful love for Hilda, my Fatherland.
Your sister,
[Signature, 26.4.43]