4.1944 - 1.lovački zdrug to Gemischte Ausbildungs Abteilung Kroat.Ausb.Brigade

 30.4.1944 letter mailed from a member of Ratni Sud 1.lovačkog zdruga in Doboj(Military court of 1.Jäger brigade) to member of Gemischte Ausbildungs Abteilung Kroatische Ausbildungs Brigade Fp.59875 C.  This number with letter C was used by Abteilungs 2.kompanie - engineers. German machine censorhip cancel. Text is Croatian, with usual greetings writers informs recipient that Zagreb was bombed on 15.04.

2.1945 card to Polizei Freiwilligen Regiment 5 (Kroat.)

 15.02.1945 cover sent from Bad Salzungen in the Reich to Fp.27880 D - II.battalion, 7.Kompanie, Polizei Freiwilligen Regiment 5 (Kroat.) and cancelled there. Then the card was rerouted to Fp.24083 - Regimentsstab, Polizei Freiwilligen Regiment 5 (Kroat.). Very late use in mid-February 1945.

5.1944 letter to Truppenübungsplatz Slavonski Brod

 22.05.1944 letter with contents from Kamenica na Dunavu to a sergeant serving with Fp.43370 B or Truppenübungsplatz Kommandantur Slavonski Brod. Usual German censorship marks are on the front and on the back of the cover, and typical German censorship marks are also on the contents paper.

Truppenübungsplatz Slavonski Brod was formed by the Wehrmacht in April-May 1943 (Military training ground Sl.Brod or Četno vježbalište Brod in Croatian). It was located in Vučjak, 14 km south of Brod na Savi. Its main purpose was to train NCOs (Unteroffizire, Dočasnici) for Jager Brigades (Lovački Zdrugovi) of Domobranstvo. Domobran units included in the Truppen Ubungsplatz formation were Školska bojna Brod (Lehrbatallion Brod) with HQ company, 2 rifle companies, an MG company, and one artillery company with a total of 700 recruits to be trained for NCOs.  One battery of field howitzers was formed from 3.bitnica VIII. topnički sklop(3.battery of VIII artillery battalion). A half-battery of mountain guns was formed from gorski vod of VII.topnički sklop(mountain battery of VII artillery battalion). Pioneer Company was formed from 2.satnija II.opkoparska bojna (2.company of 2.pioneer battalion). A military court was also formed on the Truppenübungsplatz. On April 1st, 1943, Major General Gustav Suschnig was appointed as the first commander of training grounds only to be relieved from this position in August 1943 due to lack of suitability.

05.1944 Luftwaffe official mail to Dubrovnik

 25.05.1944 official letter from Fp. L 12159 or Fliegerhorst-Kommandantur 212/XVII to Erste Kroatische Sparkasse in Dubrovnik. Fliegerhorst-Kommandantur 212/XVII was stationed in Mostar and it operated Mostar military airfields.

2.1943 SS.feldpost from 'Fürsorge SS-Führer Kroatien'

 05.02.1943 SS-feldpost  letter to Graz in  Steiermark (today Austria) from Fp. 03161 - Fürsorge SS-Führer Kroatien, SS-Poststelle Esseg und Ersatz-Kommando Südost der Waffen-SS Nebenstelle Esseg. After Fp.number there is no additional letter hence this number was used by the first unit listed "Fürsorge SS-Führer Kroatien". Fürsorge means welfare in English, but what was exact units duty I'm not sure.

2.1944 - LXIX. Reservekorps to Vukovar, Croatia.

18.02.1944 cover mailed from Command of LXIX.(69) Reservekorps  Fp.57500 to Vukovar Croatia. The LXIX Reserve Corps was formed on 8 July 1943 and deployed in Croatia, it was part of the 2nd Panzer Army under Army Group F.  Corps units in June 1944 were 1st Cossack Cavalry Division and 373rd Croatian Infantry Division.  Cover has usual Feldpost, unit and censorship markings.

6.1944 card from Polizei Freiwilligen Rgt. (Kroatien) to Samobor

 12.06.1944 Feldpost card from Fp.00691 - 'Regiments stab Polizei Freiwilligen Regiment (Kroatien)' (Rgt.3) to Ivan Sudnik in Samobor, Croatia. Nice unit, feldpost and green censor AS3 cancels. Text in German is inquiry about Fountain pen left for repair with watchmaker Ivan Sudnik and casual greetings.

Ivan (Ivica) Sudnik 1910-2002 was founder of local museum in Samobor, by profession he was watchmaker. He was at first a photographer later collector of old items and from his collection a Samobor museum was formed. He is still the only person named honorary Mayor of Samobor.

10.1943 Croat in Luftwaffe, Flugzeugführerschule A/B 123

 28.10.1943 postcard mailed from Croatian pilot in training from Flugzeugführerschule C 19 in Gleiwitz to his former instructor in Flugzeugführerschule A/B 123 (FFS A/B 123)  in Graz-Thalerhof airport.

Marked as feldpost, card was mailed via civilian post office Gleiwitz, text is in Croatian. Cadet writes that other Croats will arrive for further training in FFS C 19 but lessons haven't started because they are waiting for a translator to arrive.

FFS A/B 123 was first Luftwaffe pilot school formed in Croatia that trained German and Croatian pilots, Croat cadets formed a separate detachment and were trained by Croatian and German instructors. Receiver of this card Captain Pažameta was one of the Croatian instructors.

FFS A/B 123 was stationed on Borongaj airport, Zagreb from 10.05.1941 to 06.05.1943 when it  was transfered to Graz due to war conditions in Croatia. In this school many Croatian pilots were trained. 

FFS C 19 was located  13.9.41 - 26.6.44 in Ohlau with satellite airfields in  Woisselsdorf, Gleiwitz and Märzdorf. 

FFS A/B offered  basic pilot training

FFS C offered advanced pilot training  for multi-engine aircraft (bomber and reconnaissance airplanes)

Best book about Croatian airforce that also mentiones Captain Pažameta in FFS A/B 123 is

3.1944 letter from 3.Staffel Kampf-Geschwader 40 in Norway to Croatia

 21.03.1944 feldpost letter from Fp. L30872 to Semlin, Kroatien (Zemun, Croatia). Fp.L30872  was used by Luftwaffe unit, 3.Staffel Kampf-Geschwader 40.  This unit moved to Trondheim - Vaernes airfield in Norway in 11.1943 with Focke-Wulf 200C airplanes. It stayed in Norway until 10.1944. This is a rare Wehrmacht feldpost from Norway to Croatia. Present are clear feldpost, unit and multiple censorship cancels. Written by and mailed to Croatian Volksdeutsche.

09.1943 Kroatische Ausbildungs Brigade to Domobran school in Varaždin

 

18.09.1943 letter with contents mailed from Fp.56478 B - 1.company  1st. Battalion Kroatische Ausbildungs Brigade to 1.prva bitnica topničkog sklopa Domobranska Središnja Škola (1.section of artillery battery of  Central Army School) in Varaždin, Croatia. School trained reserve army officers. Feldpost cancel 18.09.1943 at was used in Stockerau Austria. German censorship, content was marked by the same green censor cancel bearing numbers as was the cover. Text is in Croatian, sender unusually for the war time describes a day boat trip on Danube on which cadets were sent.

1944 - Italians in Wehrmacht feldpost to Istria, Croatia

When Italy surrendered in 9.1943 Croatia took back control over most of Dalmatia and sought to incorporate central and eastern Istria with Croatian majority to Croatia but Istria was left under Italian control of new fascist republic "Republica Socialista Italiana"(RSI) better known as Republic of Salo. To support its claim Croatia formed new Istria Domobran regiment. In January 1945 Germans agreed to transfer Istria to Croatian control, but this never happened as Croatia was battling Communist rebellion and invasion from the east. In autumn 1943 Germans imposed military control in Istria by forming Operationszone Adriatisches Küstenland (OZAK), civil control remained Italian under RSI. Italians lived mostly on the western coast of Istria where they were in majority and they served in RSI military units while some joined Wehrmacht. Below follow 3 feldpost letters mailed home from Italians in Wehrmacht to a places in western Istria. I found such mail to be quite rare.

 15.11.1944 letter from Wehrmacht, Fp.number badly visible, possibly Fp.81874 B(?)-Italianische Bau Batallion 33  to Umago, Pola  today Umag in Istria, Croatia.  German censor cancels in red.

24.02.1944 letter from Wehrmacht, Fp.39626 - 2. Italienisches Nebel Bataillon(Marine) - to Fasana d'Istria near Pola today Fažana, Croatia. German censor cancels in red. Arrival cancel Fasana d Istria Pola 3.3.1944. 

Italian 'Nebel' units were obcure military units armed with fog/smoke producing equipment. This fog was used to camouflage navy or army units from air raids. 2.Nebel Battalion was formed in Italy in 1942, later stationed in Reich on the Baltic sea, in Gotenhafen with outposts in Pillau and Memel.

23.01.1944 letter from Wehrmacht, Fp.24808 T  - to Valle d'Istria, Pola today Bale, Croatia. Bale is on the road from Rovinj to Pula. Fp.24808 was Sammelfeldpostnummer such a feldpost number was used by a various units in an area, usually a letter in the end denoted certain unit in the area. Fp 24808 was used in Orleans area in France and Fp.24808 T was used by Italienische Stellungsbau Pionier Kompanie 13.

German censor cancels in red.

1.1943 - 106.Infanterie-Division of Wehrmacht to Osijek, Croatia.

 

15.01.1943 Feldpost letter from Fp.05130 D to Osijek Croatia. Fp.05130D was used by  3. Kompanie, I.Bataillon, Grenadier Regiment 239 of  106.Infanterie-Division. 106.Infantry division was withdrawn from the Eastern front in May 1942 and relocated to France for replenishment in the St. Omer, Calais, Boulogne-sur-Mer area, on the La Manche coast . In February 1943, it returned to the Eastern Front in the Kharkov area.

This letter was mailed by Croatian Volksdeutsche soldier to home in Osijek,  Croatia, just before transfer from France back to Russian front.  Text is in German. Regular german censorship marks are both on the cover and the letter sheet, also on both pieces are present blue marks of chemical censorship. Arrival cancel Osijek 26.01. is on the backside.

7.1944 - Regiment 1.Brandenburg in Croatia(Dalmatia) to Berlin.

 

30.07.1944 letter from Fp.25722 C - 6.kompanie II. Batallion of Regiment 1. Brandenburg Division to Berlin. In March 1944 Regiment 1. Brandenburg with II and III. batallion was transfered from Greece to Croatia, in area between Knin - Benkovac - Trogir in northern Dalmatia, I. Batallion arrived two months later. Regiment served as a mobile reserve in case of anticipated Allied landing on Croatian Adriatic coast that never happened. Therefore Brangerburger's were solely used in counterinsurgency actions against Partisan communist guerillas. In September 1944  Regiment 1. Branderburg was transfered out of Croatia to Serbia to fight advancing  Red Army.

12.1943 Wehrmacht Reserve Pionier Bataillon 27. in Ukraine to Zagreb

 11.12.1943 cover of a Feldpost letter from Fp.14515 A to Agram(Zagreb) Croatia. Franked with two Germans stamps overprinted UKRAINE . Stamps are cancelled with Deutsches Dienstpost Ukraine - Zwiahel , cancel. Censored by OKW censors. Zviahel is a city in Zhytomyr Oblast, northern Ukraine. Fp.14515 A was used by Stab of the Reserve Pionier Bataillon 27. of the 147.Reserve Division. Battalion and the Division were formed on 01.10.1942 in the Reich and then relocated to Zwiahel, Ukraine.

Burgenland-kroate(Croat) in Wehrmacht, Gradišćanski hrvat u Wehrmacht-u

 Burgenland Croats settled in todays Austria almost 500 years ago. Estimated 100 000 people arrived there as refugees from Turkish conquest. They survived there until today  with a consciousness of being Croats. Today they number around 35 000 people. Burgenland Croats were always loyal to Austria and men served in its armies during history. In World War 2 , they served loyally in Wehrmacht on all fronts with some even in the Waffen-SS. Mostly they served on the Balkan front, as they speak arhaic Croatian laguage that can be understood by people in the Balkan. It is known that they were used as translators in the Kroatische Ausbildung Brigade. Some 17,500 Burgenland Croats died fighting in the Wehrmacht. 

Some time ago I aquired a collection of letters written by a Burgenland Croat man serving in the Werhmacht.  His name was Thomas Simon, he was from the village Kleinmutschen (croat.Pervane) near Unterpullendorf (croat.Dolnje Pulje), still today these villages are populated by Burgenland Croats. When Thomas writes home to his Simon family he writes in Burgenland Croatian, I was able to read it with some minor problems.

His story in Wehrmacht seen through his mail follows:

21.12.1941 Thomas Christmas card in German mailed home from Troppau(today Opava Czech republic), still civilan on his way to R.A.D unit.

27.12.1941 letter in Croatian without cover, from Gratz uber Troppau(today Hradec nad Moravicí, Czech republic), all letters start with 'Dragi Starlji', dear parents. From R.A.D.

04.01.1942 letter home,text in Croatian, from RAD abteilung K 6/381 from Gratz uber Troppau

01.04.1942 Thomas joined Wehrmacht , cover marked as Feldpost, text in Croatian. Postal cancel Mahrich-Ostrau, Deutsche Dienstpost - Bohmen und Mahren,and big red cancel: Durch Deutsche Dienstpost Bohmen und Mahren. Units cancel Schutzen-Ersatz-bataillon 10/Briefstempel. Thomas adds on the cover  1.kompanie in Frankenstadt, Protektorat.

09.04.1942 letter home, all markings same as above

19.07.1942 letter in Croatian without cover. Place of writing Dillingen, there are no clues in the text what was he doing there. 

02.11.1942 Mahrich Weißkirchen/Hranica(in Czech republic today) to home, text in Croatian. Applied are Postal cancel and units cancel: Pz.Gren.Ers.Btl.2(Panzer Grenadire Ersatz Bataillon 2.) Marschkompanie.

25.11.1942 Mahrich Weißkirchen/Hranica to home. Text in Croatian, he writes he is laeving this place  with marchkompanie, and thinks he is not going to Russian front. Cancels same as above.

26.11.1942 Frankfurt an Oder to home, cover in bad condition. Postal cancel and purple cancel Bahnhofs offizier/ Briefstempel are present. Thomas writes he is travelling to Frankfurt an Oder, probably written on a train.

29.11.1943 (date in text) ,mail via civilian post office to home. Thomas writes that his unit will be transfered to France after training completes. Civilian cancel Zielenzig(today Sulecin in Poland), he writes adress Wandern bei Frankfurt an oder,Lager Narvik

30.11.1942 letter to home with postal cancel Wandern Narvik Lager uber Zielenzig. Truppenübungsplatz Wandern was a  military training camp ,today village Wedrzyn in western Poland.

21.12.1942 letter home from 4.komp. Bau Pionire Ersatz Ausbildungs Bataillon 17 in Engerau ND. (today part of Bratislava,Slovakia). Thomas writes he will be moving to France after Christams

09.05.1943 Feldpost letter from Fp.06224 C - Grenadier Regiment 8. Regiment was formed on 01.03.1943 in France in Pyrenees region. It was part of 3.PANZERGRENADIER DIVISION. In July 1943 division moved from Lyon area in France to Italy, north of Rome. After Italian capitulation division moved south of Rome and was involved in defensive fighting against Americans around Volturno river. This letter writen in Croatian was mailed from France.

18.10.1943 Fp.06224 C to home. Text in Croatian, note on top "Italien 16.10.1943.", at the time 3.Pz.Grenad. divison was fighting on Volturno line.

22.10.1943 letter from home to Thomas on Fp.06224 C . Postal cancel Unter Pullendorf. In red pencil and black cancel noted: "Zuruck"-  back(return) ,  "Neue Anschrift abwarten" -wait for new adress. 

04.11.1943 cover only without content, sent from Thomas Fp.06224 C to home . During this time 3.Pz.Grenad.divison was holding defensive positions on Barbara line.  Battle for this line was fought from 01-09.11.1943 , when German forces retreated to next defensive lines: Bernhard and Gustav lines.

04.11.1943, mail date same as letter above but mailed in opposite direction, from home to Thomas. Postal cancel Unter Pullendorf. In red pencil and black cancel noted: "Zuruck"-  back(return) ,  "Neue Anschrift abwarten" -wait for new adress. Most likely undelivered due to fighting on the front

11.11.1943 last letter from Thomas mailed home. He writtes that soldiers cant sleep during a day or night as Americans can come to their positions. He sends usual greetings home.

19.11.1943 last letter in collection. Mailed from home to Thomas.  Letter was never delivered to Thomas, in red ink is written "Zurück - Empfänger gefallen für Großdeutschland." , (return)back - Receiver fallen for Greater Germany. It seems Thomas died on the Italian front fighting Americans, far from his Gradišće. This is the only letter in collection that was censored.