Can anyone give me a better idea of what this is? Thanks!
Can anyone give me a better idea of what this is? Thanks!
Anyone?
Yep..it does, indeed, appear to be a Wehrmacht soldiers train ticket. "Part 2", so I am assuming it it his return ticket portion. July 24,1943 at 11:45 PM. Train car #508. Gefreiter Georg Kronawetter was "on vacation" and travelling 3rd Class. Can't quite make out the cities to and from, as they are under the cancellation stamp. William
William
"Much that once was, is lost. For none now live who remember it."
I'm happy you posted this and if you don't mind my intruding I have a few of those that I may copy next week.
The above is pretty correct. It was however not a "vacation" as much as a R&R ... rest and recoop.
If I tried to explain it would take forever. I'm sure it will be translated soon.
BTW, I like those kind of doc's. Makes me wonder what was going through this mans mind sitting on a p.o.s. rail car. Love I would imagin.
Hope he had a few more.
"It's not getting any smarter out there. You have to come to terms with stupidity & make it work for you."
Frank Zappa
Rudy my brother has much to add on this and nice one Jay...
Eric
[h=3]e plu·ri·bus u·num[/h]
And it was quite a train journey our soldier had to make...
The entries state that the ticket was valid for a journey from Dünaburg to Wien via Wilna-Wirballen. The train to be used was passenger train no. 508 departing from Wilna on 1145 hrs. on 24 July 1943 and going to Eydtkau. Let's have a look at those places:
- Dünaburg is the German name for the city of Daugavpils in south-eastern Latvia.
- Wilna is the German name for the Lithuanian capital Vilnius.
- Wirballen (or Wyrballen) is the German name for Virbalis (Lithuanian name) or Wierzbołów (Polish name) a Lithuanian town formerly part of Northern East Prussia.
- Eydtkau (or Eydtkuhnen) is the German name for Chernyshevskoye/Чернышевское (Russian name) or Eitkūnai (Lithuanian name) a settlement in the Russian Kaliningrad Oblast, near the Lithuanian border; it neighbors Wirballen. Up until 1945, Eydtkau was the final destination operated by the Prussian Eastern Railway.
- Wien, of course, is Vienna, the Austrian capital.
By road, that is a trip of more than 1,400 kilometers. Now imagine this, sitting on Third-Class Coach wooden benches while riding steamtrains operating under wartime conditions. Sure, it beats being in combat and no doubt the man was grateful for his R&R time, but still...
A really interesting document, that tells a story!
Great translation as usual HPL
Nick
"In all my years as a soldier, I have never seen men fight so hard." - SS Obergruppenfuhrer Wilhelm Bittrich - Arnhem
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