In January 1943, as the German 6th Army was being annihilated at Stalingrad, the Wehrmacht organized a final airlift of mail from the encircled troops. Over 100,000 letters were collected. They were supposed to be the last communication these soldiers would send to their families. Most never arrived — the plane carrying them was shot down.

Some of the letters were recovered. German historian Walter Bähr published a collection of them in 1952, and they remain among the most haunting documents of the war.

The Letters

One lieutenant wrote to his wife: "I have the horrible certainty that the sacrifices we have made here served no purpose at all. I cannot rid myself of the feeling that we have been betrayed." He died at Stalingrad.

A corporal wrote to his young daughter: "When you are older, you will understand. Your father was neither a hero nor a coward. He was just a man who wanted to come home to you." His body was never found.

A medical officer wrote: "I have treated so many wounds that my hands no longer shake. But last night I dreamed of the garden behind our house, and when I woke up my hands were trembling." He died of typhus in captivity.

The Undelivered

An analysis of the recovered letters found that the soldiers' faith in the Nazi regime had largely collapsed by the end. Many explicitly denounced Hitler. One wrote: "He sits in safety while we freeze and die for his madness." Another: "We were told we were fighting for civilization. We are dying for nothing."

Of the approximately 91,000 German soldiers who surrendered at Stalingrad, only about 5,000 returned home — most not until 1955, a full decade after the war ended. For many families, those last letters from January 1943 were the final words they ever received from their sons, husbands, and fathers.