Overview
- Description
- Contains a letter written by Sergeant Martin M. West of the U.S. Army's 4th Armored Division, to his family in the United States, dated June 11, 1945. The letter is written on the back of a handbill depicting corpses stacked at the Mauthausen concentration camp.
Transcription letter:
verso: black ink; "Helen return this back please./I want you to see it./June-11.-45/Dearest one an son/Hi kid will try an write you a few lines to night an let you know I am ok I know you waunt think mutch of the paper I am writing on But this is what I have seen that why I am writing on it I want to see for my self an will [never] will for get what I seen or waunt for give the ones that did it I am sinding this so you waunt field sorry for these people I think we are to good to them as it is what do you think this is people they kill to keep us from noing what they did to them they dont look like they ever had any thing to eat for mounths I dont waunt my boy to go through what I have bin in an he waunt if I can do any good over here this is a real pi pictur of one of the places an I dont know how many places that was like this Well kid I know you waunt to know how long I will be here I dont know yet But I am in hope to know in about three week I got 79 points an it take 85 to get out so that all I can let you know now oh yes I got five Battle stars if they all come through Well kid I am about to run out of the paper so I will close hoping to get a [illegible] letter from you an C.M. soon/With all my love./Dad. - Date
-
creation:
1945 June 11
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Claude West
- Collection Creator
- Martin M. West
Physical Details
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- There are no known restrictions on access to this material.
- Conditions on Use
- The Museum is in the process of determining the possible use restrictions that may apply to material(s) in this collection.
Keywords & Subjects
- Corporate Name
- United States. Army
Administrative Notes
- Holder of Originals
-
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- Handbill obtained by Sergeant Martin West in Austria or Germany in Spring of 1945. Mailed by Martin West to his wife and son, Claude West, in June of 1945. Donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1994 by Claude West.
- Record last modified:
- 2023-08-25 18:01:53
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn25784
Download & Licensing
- Copyright Not Evaluated
- Terms of Use
- This record is not digitized and cannot be downloaded online.
In-Person Research
- Request 7 Days in Advance of Visit
- Plan a Research Visit
-
Request in Shapell Center Reading Room
Bowie, MD
