Hidden letters discovered in old desk reveal tragic story of WWII you haven't heard

[Sanguine]

“The Russians kicked the door down and they grabbed the little girl," said Tim Mallad, who discovered the letters in an old desk he bought at an estate sale.



Author: Jason Whitely
Published: 10:19 PM CDT July 23, 2019
Updated: 2:56 PM CDT July 24, 2019

DALLAS — The hand-written letter is dated Oct. 14, 1946.

The 73-year-old sheet of stationary, in good condition considering its age, captures the humanity of history.

But it is a letter that might have been lost forever if it weren’t for Tim Mallad, 53.

The story starts when he got an old desk at an estate sale years ago.

“When we carried it upstairs, the shelves were rattling," Mallad recalled. "I got my drill and started to drill right here and thought, 'That’s strange. I wonder why they’re loose,' and gave it a tug."...

https://www.kcentv.com/article/features/hidden-letters-discovered-in-old-desk-reveal-tragic-story-of-wwii-you-havent-heard/500-9a8e3d07-5b16-4ea5-a792-39b997026d30

Heartbreaking.

And, it's not "paranoia" when it's about Russian soldiers.

[TomSea]

Fascinating story. It's always said that the "Soviet" soldiers, maybe better put, did rape a lot of German women when they invaded. This affirms that. Unfortunately, that's war and let's not forget how many were killed in the Soviet Union. "Russians" if one wants to say that I'm sure is largely accurate but there were others in there too.

[berdie]

I saw this on the news the other night @Sanguine .

Tragic story.

[dfwgator]

For every story like this,  how many Russians endured even worse from the invading Germans?

War is Hell, don't start them.

[mountaineer]

Just horrible. 

[Sanguine]

For every story like this,  how many Russians endured even worse from the invading Germans?

War is Hell, don't start them.

The Russians were special as far as atrocities go. 

[Jazzhead]

Russian soldiers took sick delight in raping and killing German women and girls as Germany fell,  and in the months thereafter.   These atrocities are recounted in horrifying detail in the book "Germay 1945:  From War to Peace" by Richard Bessell),  a comprehensive account of what happened in Germany during the chaos that followed "liberation".    The Russians were, simply put, animals.

[PeteS in CA]

For every story like this,  how many Russians endured even worse from the invading Germans?

War is Hell, don't start them.

I do not think the 13 year-old girl who was gang-raped and committed suicide before a second gang-raping had anything to do with starting WW2. For that matter, the Russians did, as they partitioned Poland in partnership with Nazi Germany in 1939. The USSR never restored the territory it took from Poland:





I was going to point out the old saying that two wrongs don't make a right, but Russia's partnership with Hitler was a third wrong. And that's where it stops, three wrongs just make three wrongs. Somehow the French divisions who served with American and British armies in the west don't seem to have gone on killing-raping sprees when they went through Swabia and Bavaria.

For me personally, between the Nazis and the Soviets, it's "a pox o' both your houses". My Dad was 4-F but his brother Erwin served in the US Army in North Africa and Italy. OTOH, their Mother lost several brothers who had not left Russia when she and her husband did and ceased responding to letters in the late 1920s.

[Bill Cipher]

For every story like this,  how many Russians endured even worse from the invading Germans?

War is Hell, don't start them.

How many?

[dfwgator]

Russian soldiers took sick delight in raping and killing German women and girls as Germany fell,  and in the months thereafter.   These atrocities are recounted in horrifying detail in the book "1945",  a comprehensive account of what happened in Germany during the chaos that followed "liberation".    The Russians were, simply put, animals.

Germans were just as bad if not worse in Russia,   watch the movie "Come and See" if you have the stomach for it.

[sneakypete]

The Russians were special as far as atrocities go.

@Sanguine

Not really. Most of the atrocities were committed by the Mongol "shock troops",but they were under White Russian leadership.

The big difference between the Soviets and the Nazi's when it came to atrocities is with the Soviets it was the privates that did most of the rape and murder,and with the Nazi's it was planned by senior officers and political leaders,and in at least some cases (chemo brain) the Nazi's used eastern European troops that had been brutalized by the communists since 1917 as guards and workers in the labor and death camps.

And....,truth to tell,I don't think either approached the brutality of the Japanese.

[Sanguine]

Germans were just as bad if not worse in Russia,   watch the movie "Come and See" if you have the stomach for it.

That is your opinion. I disagree.  There was no equivalence here.

[sneakypete]

I do not think the 13 year-old girl who was gang-raped and committed suicide before a second gang-raping had anything to do with starting WW2. For that matter, the Russians did, as they partitioned Poland in partnership with Nazi Germany in 1939. The USSR never restored the territory it took from Poland:





I was going to point out the old saying that two wrongs don't make a right, but Russia's partnership with Hitler was a third wrong. And that's where it stops, three wrongs just make three wrongs. Somehow the French divisions who served with American and British armies in the west don't seem to have gone on killing-raping sprees when they went through Swabia and Bavaria.

For me personally, between the Nazis and the Soviets, it's "a pox o' both your houses". My Dad was 4-F but his brother Erwin served in the US Army in North Africa and Italy. OTOH, their Mother lost several brothers who had not left Russia when she and her husband did and ceased responding to letters in the late 1920s.

@PeteS in CA

I have always found it odd how few people know the Soviets and Nazi's were allies right up to the moment that Hitler ordered the Invasion of Russia. Suddenly,overnight,the Nazi's because "evil capitalistic bastards" instead of the "socialist brothers" they had been the day before.

Funny how that works out,ain't it?

[dfwgator]

@PeteS in CA

I have always found it odd how few people know the Soviets and Nazi's were allies right up to the moment that Hitler ordered the Invasion of Russia. Suddenly,overnight,the Nazi's because "evil capitalistic bastards" instead of the "socialist brothers" they had been the day before.

Funny how that works out,ain't it?

And the Left in this country were all for staying out of the war, until their beloved Soviet Union was invaded, and then they demanded we get into the war.

[sneakypete]

And the Left in this country were all for staying out of the war, until their beloved Soviet Union was invaded, and then they demanded we get into the war.

@dfwgator

Yup!

[truth_seeker]

Fascinating story. It's always said that the "Soviet" soldiers, maybe better put, did rape a lot of German women when they invaded. This affirms that. Unfortunately, that's war and let's not forget how many were killed in the Soviet Union. "Russians" if one wants to say that I'm sure is largely accurate but there were others in there too.

I have read that the advancing Red Army was hell bent for some pay back, for the German's behavior hen Germany invaded, the USSR.

 

[PeteS in CA]

@PeteS in CA

I have always found it odd how few people know the Soviets and Nazi's were allies right up to the moment that Hitler ordered the Invasion of Russia. Suddenly,overnight,the Nazi's because "evil capitalistic bastards" instead of the "socialist brothers" they had been the day before.

Funny how that works out,ain't it?

And the Left in this country were all for staying out of the war, until their beloved Soviet Union was invaded, and then they demanded we get into the war.

Maybe it's pathetic, but I learned both of these from reading Wouk's historical novels Winds of War and War and Remembrance, especially that the country of Poland got shifted westward, as the Soviets kept the Polish territory they conquered and Poland annexed previously German territory. I went through elementary and secondary school in the 60s into the 70s, and WW2 got short shrift due to the teacher running out of school year before running out of textbook. The teachers also either were of military age or were in school during WW2, so maybe WW2 had unpleasant memories for them (e.g. my 7th/8th Grade band teacher had a concentration camp tattoo).

[sneakypete]

I have read that the advancing Red Army was hell bent for some pay back, for the German's behavior hen Germany invaded, the USSR.

@truth_seeker

Lots of people thought that,but they were wrong. Almost all the Soviet troops pouring into Germany at the end of the war were Asians,and lived so far away from where the fighting was that none of their homes or families ever suffered. It is true that the Soviet political officers and probably most of the senior officers were "White Russians",but the foot soldiers were Asians,and the White Russians actually encouraged them to rape their way through Germany. I read/heard that was due to Stalin's orders because it would make the Germans quickly understand that they were no longer in charge of anything.

[sneakypete]

Maybe it's pathetic, but I learned both of these from reading Wouk's historical novels Winds of War and War and Remembrance, 

@PeterS

Why would that be pathetic? Knowledge is knowledge,regardless of the source it came from. Wouk's books were excellent reads,on top of that.

BTW,there were tv mini-series of both books back in the (I THINK) 70's,and they were excellent,too.

[Joe Wooten]

@PeteS in CA

I have always found it odd how few people know the Soviets and Nazi's were allies right up to the moment that Hitler ordered the Invasion of Russia. Suddenly,overnight,the Nazi's because "evil capitalistic bastards" instead of the "socialist brothers" they had been the day before.

Funny how that works out,ain't it?

What is even funnier is that Stalin was planning a double cross on Germany too, but Hitler beat him to the punch. For years, many military historians wondered why the bulk of the Red Army was stationed on or near the Western border with huge munitions dumps. When the USSR collapsed, the invasion planning Stalin had the Stavka doing came to light. The USSR was planning to invade Germany in Spring 1942.

[dfwgator]

@PeterS

Why would that be pathetic? Knowledge is knowledge,regardless of the source it came from. Wouk's books were excellent reads,on top of that.

BTW,there were tv mini-series of both books back in the (I THINK) 70's,and they were excellent,too.

In the 80s, and IMHO it probably had the most devastating portrayal of The Holocaust ever put on film.