Desperate in Aussig – Dutch Woman’s Letters, 1944–45

Two original letters, one envelope and two shoe-repair coupons, documenting the desperate situation of a Dutch woman working in a laundry in Aussig (Ústí nad Labem) during the final months of the Second World War.

In her letter of 4 December 1944, addressed to Frans, she explains that she was taken to Aussig to work under false pretences. She desperately asks him to bring her back to the Netherlands. She describes working long and hard days, from half past seven in the morning until eight in the evening, and writes that she feels abandoned by the “high gentlemen”.

In her second letter, dated 21 January 1945 and addressed to her brother-in-law Koos, her desperation has reached an even more disturbing level. She writes that she has asked Frans to come and get her and threatens to end her life if he does not:

“If he does not do it, then I will end my life... I will simply walk into the Elbe in the dark and then I will be gone.”

The lot also includes two shoe-repair coupons and a nicely stamped envelope bearing, among other markings, SS Feldpost geprüft stamps.

A highly personal glimpse into the experiences of a Dutch woman working in Nazi-controlled territory during the final months of the war.

Good and historically important original material.