Letters

Letters sent by Raisa Pogorelova from Germany to her family in occupied Kyiv, 1942–1944. Written on postcards (letters were returned by censors), with Nazi eagle stamps and “Ab” censor marks.

Transcriptions are from the original handwritten Russian. Words marked [неразборчиво] were illegible in the scans.

• Unknown (pre-war?) Unknown Date — Green Pencil Letter to Sister — Letter fragment in green pencil to 'dear sister' about stomach weakness and a baby who 'opens his little mouth like a baby bird.'
• ~1942 1942 — Fodder Beets and Garden Instructions — Postkarte with practical gardening advice: growing fodder beets for goats and rabbits. 'Grandma will teach you — please all work together in the garden.'
• ~February 1942 Late February 1942 — First Parcel Home — Raisa sends her first parcel: silk stockings for Anya, socks for Motik, a mirror for the boys. "Firmly squeeze your working little paws."
• June 15, 1942 June 15, 1942 — First Detailed Letter from the Farm — Raisa describes farm life in vivid detail — slaughtering a 196kg pig, riding horses Pani and Ladi, and Eduard the wounded soldier. 'I hope to be home by winter.'
• September 6, 1942 September 6, 1942 — Threshing with Serbs — Letter to school friend Natasha. Raisa earns 17 marks/month, works the threshing machine alongside Serbian POW Kordan. 'Write soon, write, write, write.'
• ~1942 Unknown Date — Ludwig Hunts at Dawn, Seeds for Home — Farmer Ludwig hunts at 5am after mowing clover, kills a 57kg roe deer. Raisa sends seeds home for the family garden and asks about their harvest.
• September 30, 1942 September 30, 1942 — Stories from Bolotnik — Letter to Grandma Anya, Galitsa, and Grishka mentioning children from Bolotnik and mushroom-pickers. Mail delay of 19 days documented.
• September 4, 1942 September 4, 1942 — Everyone Rides a Bicycle — Raisa learns to ride a bike and discusses photos, swimming, family correspondence. "Here even 3-year-olds ride bikes, and the elderly and disabled — absolutely everyone."
• ~1942 1942 — 'I'll Tell You Wonders' — Postkarte promising stories: 'When I come home I'll tell you wonders you've not only never heard of, but never even read about.'
• ~late 1942 1942 — 'Wild Horror' at the Factories — Raisa counts her blessings: 'God gave us the fortune not to be at a factory. It's horror there — wild horror.' Host confirmed as Walter Schönreich.
• February 14, 1943 February 14, 1943 — Photos Still Not Ready After Six Months — Valentine's Day letter: 'I miss you terribly and beloved Kyiv.' Six months waiting for photos in Ebrach. Describes New Year photo in green dress and hat.
• September 28, 1942 September 28, 1942 — Harvest, Hope, and Philosophy — "Our family is split in half." Raisa plows 5 hectares, mows for 17 cows, and shares her philosophy of hope.
• May 5, 1943 May 5, 1943 — Wage Increase to 35 Marks — Wage doubled to 35 marks per two weeks. 'If things are hard for you, I'll send this money too — I need nothing. Write everything truthfully.'
• October 18, 1942 October 18, 1942 — Beet Harvest and Kurban's Tears — Assembly-line beet harvesting described like ethnography. Serbian laborer Kurban weeps over his family photo — 'a man with a truly broken life.'
• ~1943 Unknown Date — How Long Must I Keep Writing? — 'How long must one keep writing? When will I finally be able to return to the old homeland?' Signs as 'full of heartfelt hopes.'
• ~December 1942 December 1942 — Christmas Tree and Freezing Nights — Raisa cuts a Christmas tree, decorates it with nuts and cookies. 'Without blankets I was still freezing and couldn't sleep.'
• ~winter 1942-43 Winter 1942–43 — Spring Sun, No Snow — A mild winter: 'No snow at all — it fell and melted again.' Raisa sends 'flaming greetings' to friends and squeezes their 'working hands.'
• December 24, 1942 December 24, 1942 — Christmas Eve — Christmas in Germany. Raisa sends 50 marks and two parcels home. Explains plowing to little Grisha.
• September 1, 1943 September 1, 1943 — From Hannover Factory — First letter from Hannover. Raisa has been moved to factory work on Podbielskistraße 100, working shifts. 'I was on the second shift and didn't know I had to write.'
• December 24, 1942 December 24, 1942 — Returned Letters and 'The Obedient Machine' — Letters returned with 'Zurück!' stamps — only postcards now allowed to Ukraine. 'Their power over us — we are an obedient machine.'
• ~February 1943 February 1943 — After Stalingrad — "The masters are fussing — soon we'll show them!" The war turns. Wounded soldiers return without arms and legs.
• January 4, 1943 January 4, 1943 — New Year's by the Hot Stove — Christmas sledding and sewing saves her from forest work. 'Thousands, thousands of everyone think as one' — longing for Kyiv's blue Dnieper.
• January 4, 1943 January 4, 1943 — Tears on Nata's Letter — To school friend Nata: 'My heart clenched and tears fell onto your letter.' Raisa dreams of celebrating New Year 1944 in victory.
• January 24, 1943 January 24, 1943 — Fox Furs for Soldiers — The host hunts 12 foxes and countless hares. Fox furs go to soldiers for winter coats. Raisa translates family letters for her German friends Getwikh and Mada.
• ~July 10, 1943 July 1943 — Eduard Goes to War — Eduard deploys to the front via Frankfurt. Only 4 days home. Schön sits beside Raisa as she writes, calling her "my little pear, my plum, my apple."
• ~August 10, 1943 August 10, 1943 — 500 Bombers — Air raid visible from 100 km away. 500+ bombers, 13 shot down. The war comes to Franconia.
• February 5, 1943 February 5, 1943 — A Dress in Three Evenings — Raisa sews herself a dress in three evenings. 'My thoughts and everything I have will always be ours together.'
• ~1943 1943 — Sewing for Pay, Sending Matches and Saccharin — Raisa earns matches and saccharin by sewing skirts, dresses, and robes for Germans. She gets a tooth filled. Signs as 'Раеса.'
• April 13, 1943 April 13, 1943 — Dear Little Papa-Man Grishunok — Letter to young Grisha about rabbits and Germany. He asks her to describe the journey — 'in a person's life it's impossible to describe on such...'
• May 5, 1943 May 5, 1943 — The Parcel: Saccharin, Scissors, and 'Money Is Nothing' — Raisa packs a 1kg parcel for home, listing every item. She earns goods by sewing for Germans. 'Use everything carefully — money is nothing now.'
• May 7, 1943 May 7, 1943 — Double Postcards and Sunday Sewing — Raisa sends double postcards so her family has paper to write back on. Contents of another parcel: washing powder, thread, pencils, erasers.
• June 12, 1943 June 12, 1943 — The Rabbit Cage Diagram — Raisa draws a rabbit cage diagram to help the boys. She walks through forests picking wild strawberries and listening to birdsong. 'I've become a completely different person.'
• June 13, 1943 June 13, 1943 — Pentecost Cherries and Ukrainian Books — Raisa and Raya pick cherries, read Ukrainian books, and play with a blue-eyed baby. Girls from Silendorf visit. 'I'm afraid about the photos — they can't be sent.'
• ~1945-1946 Post-War — Mother and Son — Fragment signed 'Mother and Son' giving directions: '3rd floor, right of entrance.' Different paper and pencil suggest post-war period.
• June 21, 1943 June 21, 1943 — May Day Dresses and Good Shoes — On May 1st they received dresses and good shoes for 8 marks. 'We are alive and quite healthy, provided for absolutely in everything.'
• July 25, 1943 July 25, 1943 — Swimming Pool and Sewing Blouses — 10+ postcards in one week. Raisa sews blouses, dyes dresses, and plans to swim in a woolen swimsuit. Everyone writes except Tolik.
• ~1943 1943 — Another 50 Marks and Tea Candies — Raisa plans to send another 50 marks home. 'Don't worry, children — I need nothing, I only worry about you.'
• August 25, 1943 August 25, 1943 — Sunday Night Theft — Someone robbed the family in Kyiv on a Sunday night — a cat and other things stolen. Raisa is 'upset to tears.'
• June 21, 1942 June 21, 1942 — Dream of Home and Photos with Hedwig — First dream in Germany — a Cossack girl says 'let's go back.' Photos with Hedwig and Eduard. Signs her name in Ukrainian: Раїса.
• July 26, 1942 July 26, 1942 — First Letter to Natasha, Kurban's Full Name — Kurban revealed as Vladislav Kurbanbaiev — Serbian, married, two children. Schönaich is '46 km south of Würzburg, inside a forest.'
• July 26, 1942 July 26, 1942 — Passport Photos at Ebrach & Tagebuch Revealed — Passport photos at Ebrach, berries in the forest, Polish accordion players — and Raisa reveals she keeps a diary: 'a terrible record of my adventures.'
• September 6, 1942 September 6, 1942 — Fifty Marks and a Fox Hunt — Raisa has saved 50 marks but can't buy anything without ration points. Ludwig kills a fox with 'a huge fluffy tail.'
• October 25, 1942 October 25, 1942 — Denied Clothing Rations — Refused clothing ration cards, told to request winter clothes from occupied Kyiv. 'Where is my father, where is my mother?'
• November 1, 1942 November 1, 1942 — Years Fly Like a Bullet — Philosophical exchange between two 18-year-olds: 'These years flew by like a bullet after a shot. The future will be brighter.'
• November 30, 1942 November 30, 1942 — Anna's 22nd Birthday — Birthday card confirms Anna is Raisa's SISTER, not mother. 'Dear sister Anna, I congratulate you on your 22nd birthday.'
• approximately December 1942 December 1942 — Ded Moroz and Shura Bodrova in Magdeburg — Making a Ded Moroz for the German children who follow her everywhere. Shura Bodrova writes from Magdeburg — Ostarbeiter networks across Germany.
• July 18, 1943 July 18, 1943 — Tears Like Hail — Extraordinary emotional letter to Natasha: 'You need a heart of steel... tears, young, hot, big as hail, without my will they slowly begin.'
• approximately July 20, 1943 July 1943 — Schön, German Fluency, and Eduard's Departure — People mistake Raisa for a German. Schön calls her 'my pear, my plum, my apple' and sits beside her as she writes.
• approximately 1942-1943 Undated — Songs of Hope: Russian Victory Song and German Love Song — A page of songs — Russian soldiers returning victorious, and a German love song in phonetic spelling: 'Herze, du bleib bei mir.'
• May 11, 1942 May 11, 1942 — The Earliest Letter: Travel Route to Germany — Raisa's first letter from Germany — 'After I left my liebe Kyiv... we traveled 8 days'
• August 16, 1942 August 16, 1942 — Turning 18 in Germany — Raisa confides in her friend Natasha — 'At 18, the slightest memory of homeland tightens my chest with sobbing'
• September 2, 1942 September 2, 1942 — Three Letters and Ration Cards — Three letters in one week — 'Here you can't even buy needles without a card, absolutely everything is rationed'
• October 17, 1942 October 17, 1942 — Happy 18th Birthday, Natasha! — Birthday letter to a friend — 'Beets here weigh 2.5-3 kg each, we dig 5 cartloads a day'