Fuchs, Martina/Rella, Christoph (Hrsg.) Ein "ganz normaler" Soldat?. Die Feldpostbriefe eines Wiener Unteroffiziers. Von Polen bis Stalingrad

The "quite normal" soldier Karl Wintereder took part in a total of three campaigns during his three and a half years of military service in the German Wehrmacht - Poland in 1939, France in 1940 and the Soviet Union in 1941-1943. The "kitchen sergeant's" last place of deployment was Stalingrad, where he probably perished in the last days of the encirclement.

Born in Lower Austria in 1916, the trained locksmith lived with his parents and sisters in Vienna: the working-class family, originally social-democratic, turned to National Socialism at an early age; Karl's attitude to the Nazi state and the Wehrmacht consequently shows a consistent sense of loyalty and a high willingness to make sacrifices. Field post letters were the only way to stay in touch with home, and Karl wrote diligently; nearly 100 of his letters and postcards have survived: Most of these are reprinted in this volume and provide an almost intimate insight into the soul life of a compatriot of simple origins. Optimistic to the end, he dreamed of his native mountains and his future, for which he had great plans. The central theme is also his sometimes dramatic relationships with women, and his reflections on the war, the countries conquered or occupied by the Wehrmacht and their inhabitants are of interest in terms of the history of mentality. All in all, Karl's letters differ in many ways from other known soldiers' correspondence.