Letter 408

Dec 14° 1942 Cguces™9

Dear Parents and Margarete!

Thank you for the letter from November 28th , I am also glad to read that the parcels with tobacco and cigarettes got home alright. I hate it if anything gets lost in the mail. I will not be able to send anything to smoke in the near future from now on, we don’t get Cigars, Tobacco very seldom. And the Cigarettes I need myself for swapping for other things. I still don’t smoke. So therefore I can not send you any Christmas Cigars. I am happy to read that you will send a parcel but I I would rather have you at home use the food , you need it more than I do. I have enough here , I can assure you. That you borrowed the parcel stamp from Ellerbi I can understand but I will reimburse them one day. I have already told them not to send me anything. But if you got the stamps from Erhard, give the stamps back to Ellerbi, but do me one favor, never borrow any parcel stamps to send me a parcel. These times of cheap parcel sending are over now, please don’t take this as an offence, but just take it as I said. I am still in the old place here, waiting to move, but if things go like they are going now, I will be with my old Comp by the end of January. By then the winter will be almost over, we have mild weather here now, we had 2 foot of snow but most of it has already melted. Also it is not very cold and I still have winter clothing from last winter. I am glad that I got through so far without any problems. I wont mention here the situation on the front and the state of war, at least not me, once before I was the victim of a big mistake , now come what may, nobody can see into my brain and knows what I think. have enough writing paper for now, I am well and hope you too, I hope you will have a peaceful Christmas, my thoughts will be with you. I shall make myself a comfortable Christmas, according to circumstances here. Anew year is coming soon but to my own reckoning, there wont be much

happiness and expectations about in 1943. But let us not lose our hope, stay happy, stay in good health, until we see each other again.

Greetings Erich.

From: Corp. Erich Köhler, FP # 08 439 = Grenadier Regt 394

To: Family Richard Kohler. Chemnitz, Leopoldstr 4