Letters Home: The Story of an American Military Family in Occupied Germany 1946?1949 [Paperback]

Mark Falzini (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 24, 2004

Letters Home is a unique account of daily life for a military family living in Occupied Germany as they experienced the aftermath of World War II and the dawning of the Cold War. Through extensive letters written home to family left behind in America and supplemented by interviews with the family, the reader will discover insights not seen elsewhere.Few books about the postwar period mention American families living in Germany, yet thousands were relocated and there was an extensive system of high schools-including sports teams, dances, and other everyday aspects of American life.The historically significant letters are part travelogue, part eyewitness account to the War Crimes Trials, part brand new material on the plight of the DPs-the refugees unwelcome in Germany and unable to go back to their homelands for fear of what the Russians would do to them.A marvelous piece of Americana with a touch of Innocents Abroad, Letters Home adds a human angle to the turbulent years of 1946?1949-a human aspect to events not available in any other source on the occupation.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Mark W. Falzini grew-up listening to the stories of the Kale family adventures in post-war Germany as told by his mother, uncles and grandparents. He has an M.L.S. from Rutgers University and a B.A. in history from Trenton State College. Mark Falzini is the archivist for the New Jersey State Police Museum and is a recognized expert on the Lindbergh Kidnapping Case. An avid bagpiper and family historian, he lives in West Trenton, New Jersey.

Product Details

• Paperback: 268 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse (March 24, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595312454
• ISBN-13: 978-0595312450
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,366,204 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Valuable and Historically Significant, July 11, 2004

By 

K. A. Thompson "thmprwrx" (Vacaville, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Letters Home: The Story of an American Military Family in Occupied Germany 1946?1949 (Paperback)

Mark Falzini, a noted and respected archivist with an expertise in the Lindbergh kidnapping case, has put into the public hands a valuable look at life in post-WWII Germany. "Letters Home" brings to view the lives of Americans living overseas during the years following the war, a glimpse of life rarely seen in other historical books and documents written about the era.

For any American who has lived in there, these letters home will bring back vivid memories of Germany, and a fresh outlook on what families of military members went through simply to create a life of normalcy.

Few books provide the slice of America Overseas that "Letters Home" does. For any history buff, this book is a must-have, providing eye witness accounts of a significant time in history.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Letters Home: Postwar Germany from an American Military Family's Point of View, January 16, 2007

By 

Robert McQuitty (Tahlequah, OK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Letters Home: The Story of an American Military Family in Occupied Germany 1946?1949 (Paperback)

Letters Home will be of interest to the history buff and especially to anyone who lived overseas in the years immediately after World War II.

The military family of the title is the Kales, stationed in Würzburg, four of whose seven children attended the Nürnberg (Area) American High School, located at 19 Tannenstrasse in Fürth. "Barby" Kale was one of four seniors in the first NHS graduating class, 1948. Don and Dick Kale were underclassmen. Herbert "Bub" Kale, graduated in the NHS class of 1949. The parents were Major Samuel S. Kale, the Displaced Persons Officer for the Unterfranken area, and Julia Kale.

All of the Kales wrote letters to their relatives back in New Jersey. Dad and Mom's letters are short, mostly personal, dealing with family matters. Barbie, Don, and Dick wrote only obligatory letters to their grandparents. Bub is the prolific letter writer. His letters are lengthy, filled with details, and reflect his many interests. His letters make this book historically significant.

Mark Falzini, son of Barbara (Kale) Falzini and a professional archivist, summarizes the historical backdrop for the letters in Part I of the book. His ten-page account of those first school days in a dependent school will be of interest to any Military Brat, whether from those early days or from the last days in the 90s.

He explains how the Kale children commuted between the town their parents lived in and the town where they went to high school, as did most of the high schoolers. Barby remembers her first dorm room in Erlangen. "There were two other girls that shared my room, and at about six o'clock in the morning, this little German man would come into our room and fix our stove--you know, stoke the coal so that it gets warmer. He used to bump my bed all the time. We had army cots with metal at the end." The families paid $2.00 per month for dormitory expenses. There was a monthly charge for meals, $1.00 per day. In Erlangen the boys ate Sunday dinner at the Kaiserhof. During dinner, a German would stroll among all the tables playing his violin. Some of the boys would put Jello on their spoons and flip them up, trying to get the jello into the chandeliers.

In the much longer Part II of the book, Falzini prints the actual letters, edited only for relevance. In an early letter, Bub gives us a candid portrait of his English teacher: "Miss Leamer is a whopper. She's pretty (etc) but her looks deceive you and she's bowlegged. She laid her cards on the table the first class she had. . . . [S]he told us her pet peeves--1) using pencil sharpeners, 2) forgetting anything, 3) not doing lessons and on and on. . . . She told us that she works all weeks always but on Fri & Sat she quits and goes out and has a swell time--no matter what. She scared us to death right away--but maybe we'll learn something."

In other letters, Bub tells of his bird watching (he later got a Ph.D. in orinthology), his work with the Boy Scouts in the displaced persons camps (he arranged for used Scout uniforms to be sent from the States for the Lithuanian Scouts), three family sightseeing trips (one to Belgium and the Netherlands, a second to Southern Germany and Austria, and a third to France), and much more.

After returning from Holland in the summer of 1947, Bub writes, "It [was] a relief to be out of Germany. You never know how much you dislike Germany until you leave it and go see one of its neighbors! In Holland you do not feel that depressing condition that prevails in Germany, where the people are just plain poor. They have virtually nothing and they stare at you all the time no matter how many times they have seen you. . . . The Germans pity themselves, they wonder why they are starving--and are almost always angry." No, the Germany the Kales experienced was not the Germany that many later residents and visitors remember.

Scholars will find Letters Home a valuable primary source. Many will find it valuable as validation of their time overseas as a Military Brat.