in the case of POW’s correspondence, there are two types of sources, institutional or mixed (institutional and private).
The example Todesanzeige – death notice “ – a document of an official correspondence. It was addressed to the registry office in Wołowni in Suwalki district (then incorporated into East Prussia). In this particular case it informed on the death of a prisoner of war treated at a military hospital in Giżycko (Lötzen). The document concerns a soldier that died in September (it is worth adding that about 10 thousand of veterans died in POW camps and hospitals in the September campaign as result of inflicted wounds). In addition to personal information, cause of death (infection of a gunshot wound in the head) and the placement of the military prisoner it contained the names of his immediate family. In this case his placement was in the 41 Suwałki Infantry Regiment, 2nd company of Sanitation (29th Infantry Division Army “Prussia”).
The sources of historical personal correspondence are both institutional and private. Its institutional component formalized the rules and regulations which limited correspondence. After the first registration of the prisoners in Stalag, there was a special card issued, printed with bilingual (Polish and German) instruction. It was intended to inform the relatives of the fact that one was in captivity and on his health status. It contained his full name and his military rank.
This was the first letter from a imprisoned soldier. This was often the very first contact since the capture of a prisoner after he was put into a temporary camp, Durchgangslager. There was no possibility of correspondence. Then once a week a POW could receive a special card with only 25 lines. In 1940, the standardized form of correspondence was in a double-sheet with 21 lines, on which the addressee could also write a response. This sheet also contained information about the procedure of writing the letter and did not require the use of envelopes. The letters were made out of chalk paper, in order to make it easier to detect writing with invisible ink. The part for personal information was restricted to the third part of the letter. It was limited due to procedural rules. The personal part was the 3rd content of the letter, and was limited due to a procedural rule regarding how the format of the letter could be. In contrast to the correspondence of the concentration camps these letters were written in the native language, but were similarly subjected to censorship. The censorship was performed by native Germans, as well as Volksdeutsche (ethnic Germans) and sometimes Ukrainians. The letters and cards containing information on the situation in the camp, supplies, military affairs, were confiscated and destroyed. The prisoner who wrote these letters was held responsible and would be punished. Censored correspondence was marked with a stamp reading Geprüft – “verified”. A circular stamp on a letter meant that the letter had gone through additional censorship, where they made a research on the mood of the prisioner and work. Shipments that came from the outside were put through censorship. Letters from Oflags and Stalags were sent for free, being especially marked with a string which read Kriegsgefangenenpost – POW’s mail. When a prisoner was posted to a ‘Nebenlager’ (a “sub-camp”), correspondence went through the ‘general’ camp. The correspondence was guaranteed by the Geneva Convention of 1929.
