Field post letters from hans koch, vienna, world war ii, eastern front, 1922-1945 previous letter (1943-04-09) letter no. 155 (1943-04-11) next letter (1943-04-13) east, april 11, 1943 my beloved mum! greetings and kisses from the heart again. Today is sunday and i also want to do a little less. Three of us are sleeping, one is sewing and i'm writing; outside our artillery is firing and the windows are rattling; war knows no sundays! now i want to touch on a really great chapter for us here, holidays! i wrote to you in my last letter that it would probably be my turn soon, but a lot has changed again. There are always holiday lists here; i was fifth on the last one! i would have arrived at the end of this month or at the beginning of may! as of today, on orders from above, a new list has been issued and please don't be alarmed, i am in 87th place on this list!! you can imagine that i am defeated. Everyone who has been in russia continuously since 22nd june 1941 has now been included. Of us infantrymen who are always lying in the trenches at the front, there are very few because almost all of us were wounded or became ill during this time, but we received a lot of replacements from the supply columns who have been able to hold out at the back the whole time. Those who always led a quiet life at the back are now driving ahead of us again. For us who are recovering, they say "you were in germany for so long anyway". So what can a poor soldier do if he gets wounded or ill?! you always see that whoever is at the front is always getting screwed! maybe there will be more leave cards now each month - there were three this month. If three come every month and i'm in 87th place, you can work out when i'll be coming home. Well, we don't want to be too pessimistic and let our heads hang down, maybe the list will be changed again by then. Date: 11 April 1943.
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