Your Loyal and Loving Son

Your Loyal and Loving Son: The Letters of Tank Gunner Karl Fuchs, 1937-41, edited and translated by Horst Fuchs Richardson, Historical Commentary by Dennis E. Showalter, Brassey's, Inc., Washington D.C., 2003, 163 pp., $18.95

These are the letters of a young German, Karl Fuchs, who becomes a Wehrmacht tank gunner during World War II. His published letters begin on 6 April 1937.

In considering this book, three issues come to mind: the translation; the completeness of the collection; and censorship. The first two can be addressed quickly. While there is no copy of the original German text for comparison (and I would need someone skilled to translate), one can safely assume that the translation is accurate, because the translator is the son of the letter writer, and thus motivated to do a good job. Further, this book is its second printing, and if there were any problems with translation, they would have been corrected by now. As for the completeness of the collection: were any significant letters omitted? The reader is told on page 3 that these are not all the letters; however, the letters in the book tell a well-connected story, so the majority of them must be included in the book.

The question of censorship is not so easily answered, but I think it is an important factor, and I'll get to that a little later.

The main reason the letters became a story is that the ones selected are essentially to just three people, the writer's mother, father, and his fiancee (later wife). Understandably, it is to her that he writes his longest letters. Later in his letters he refers to his newborn son, Horstie (who is to become the translator of these letters).

The letters present a snapshot of life in Germany just prior to the war, beginning with Karl Fuchs leaving his home village of Rosstal to be in National Labor Service (Arbeitsdienst). As a soldier-worker he has drill, inspections, and guard duty, and does work such as road building and dredging. It is a six-month tour, and at the time he is 20 years old. Life is austere and, as his fellow workers do, he makes and sleeps in a straw bed. Financially, he depends on help from home.

After this, he goes to teacher training at the University of Wurzburg, where admission depends on satisfactory completion of work service, there are difficulties finding housing, and he must continue to ask for financial help from home. In one letter home, he asks his mother to send his SA (storm troopers) uniform to him. The book's commentator states that it was common for all young men to be in the SA, and if he had not been in the SA, he would have stood out in an undesirable way. This reflects a militarizing of society that is pervasive and fosters a standardizing of attitude, which has found its way even into university life.

There seems to be an underlying connection between this "in-sync" attitude, the effects of propaganda, and censorship. Establishing this attitude creates a fertile ground for propaganda, which then creates a sort of self-censorship. Overt censorship, or the result of it, is likely found in the fact that there are no detailed battle descriptions in the letters (there is one battle description in the book--a report that Karl writes, not a letter).

Karl becomes an elementary school teacher for a brief time, but then is drafted into the army to be a tank gunner. His father, Hans, has already returned to service in the air force, having previously served in the Luftwaffe during World War I. Karl is enthusiastic about his military life, but in time, his letters contain the usual soldier's complaints about training and his desire to get into the fighting. He maintains his interest in sports and cultural affairs, is an accomplished musician and singer, and at one point, wants his violin from home.

There are also political remarks in the letters, and it is these remarks that make one think about censorship, because one cannot help but feel that these comments were written for readers other than the writer's father, mother, or wife. While his anti-semantic comments were expected, the venom he displays toward the British is most startling. He refers to England as the arch enemy. He rails against the British for using incendiary bombs on the German countryside (according to an army report). This seems hardly likely to have happened, at least not on purpose, since the countryside would not be a priority target.

There are only two references to Americans, one occurring while he is on occupation duty in France. He states that he is on guard at a chateau owned by an American. The other occurs when he refers to "poor Churchill and Roosevelt." However, the most striking thing about the attitude revealed in the letters is the incongruity between what Karl Fuchs the letter writer states are his beliefs, and what his actions are. He lectures against hate, yet despises the British, Russians, and those who are Jewish. He complains about the war and wants it over, yet fails to recognize that Germany invaded France, Russia, and had plans to invade England.

After duty in France, in June 1941, he is sent to the Eastern Front. In a short time, he receives his first decoration, the tank assault medal, which is described in the book as being roughly similar to the U.S. Army's Combat Infantryman Badge. Thus, the German Wehrmacht had a combat recognition badge for its tankers during World War II, while the establishment of such a badge for the U.S. Army's armor forces is currently the subject of ongoing debate. He later receives the Iron Cross, Second Class. By this time, he will have taken part in twelve attacks.

By September 1941, it is raining in Russia, an ominous development, as it creates so much mud that Karl feels horses would be more useful. By October, it is snowing. In November, he writes a report on a tank battle at Vyazma (which occurred in October), during which four Wehrmacht tanks successfully defeated seven Russian tanks that were more heavily armored. The rounds from the German tanks simply bounced off the Russian tanks, but he says the Germans outmaneuvered them. By this time, he has been promoted to sergeant. This is the only detailed tank battle description in the book.

By mid-November, temperatures are as low as -25[degrees] centigrade, and even though things have recently been going badly for German forces and Karl has lost friends in the fighting, he still believes the end of the war is in sight. He is killed in a tank battle just outside of Moscow on 21 November 1941. The United States had not yet entered the war.

If you like biographies as I do, then you will find this book interesting. It provides an excellent depiction of life in Germany in the Wehrmacht just before World War II. Most importantly, it reinforces the value of a free press. There are photographs of both family life and life in the army; Mr. Showalter's notes are excellent, and there is a glossary of German terms.

COPYRIGHT 2005 U.S. Army Armor Center
COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group