"ARADO" Flugzeugwerke Wittenberg HJ grouping .

Joe B

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I obtained an absolutley fabulous grouping of photos , documents , letters and helmet that was issued to an HJ boy who worked at the Arado aircraft factory.
This grouping belonged to : Otto Herbert Graupner .
Graupner was born on 19 February of 1924 . It looks like he went to special schools in aviation mechanics . Apon graduation he was assigned to the ARADO aircraft factory in Wittenberg Germany . I believe he worked at ARADO from April 1 of 1939 to at least the 30th of September of 1942 when around that time he was drafted into the Waffen SS .
Otto Graupner was listed as Killed in Action in the area of Schitomir Russia on the 20th of December of 1943. The last document in this grouping is a death certificate dated 23 February of 1959 with this confirmation.
I am asking anyone of you out there who can read German to translate the letters Otto Graupner sent to his parents from the front lines in Russia ... the letters are dated November 12 1943 , November 26 1943 and sadly the last letter is dated December 10 1943 , problibly his last letter home . My mother read them to me once as she is German , from what I can remember the letters were describing the total misery with the conditions at the front lines and dealing with the death of comrades . My mother said she could not finish translating as it brought back to many horrible memories of the war .

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Documents I

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Documents II

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Letter: November 12 1943

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Letter : November 26 1943

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Letter : December 10 1943

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Arado Factory helmet


By far this is the best grouping I have seen from an HJ boy who worked in an Aircraft factory , I hope you all enjoy this .

I have two requests .... I know it is asking alot , however ; with further documentation ... it would will make this a truly great thread .

1) For those who can read German ... please translate the letters and with (Reply With Quote) on each letter and post them to this thread .
2) If anyone has access to the BUNDSARCHIVE ...can you see if there are records for SS Mann : Otto Herbert GRAUPNER , geboren 19 Febuary 1924 and post what you have found to this thread .

Thank you , Joe

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Letter : November 26 1943
That has to be one of the saddest things i`ve read, poor guy. Reading this takes you back to the naked reality of the last war years, hell on earth!

The letter from Russia (post 5) is saying:


He has finally found time to write (to his family – loved ones), that he has been on-duty for some time now, saying how that by this stage, all of his good friends had been killed, and how he has had many narrow escapes himself, and thanks God that he is still alive. Saying how (his loved ones) could not image what he was going through, or what he looks like. He doesn’t know when he last had a wash, and he has had the same clothes on for 4 weeks now, his body is covered from head to toe with lice/louse bites, he is not living like a human, how often he thinks of home and regrets a lot, says that a War reporter took a picture/film of him and a few friends, and maybe they will see him back home (at the movies I guess) He ends with sorry for the bad handwriting, but he is in a hurry!

Thats the GB version, but to read it in German, you can feel the moment..cold, desolate. poor chaps, this was November 1943 in Russia... :sad:
 
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Thanks for showing the set Joe. Very interesting and as Jo says, very sad too.
 
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