Link to Family Tree to understand family relationships.
Today we see a postcard from prisoner of war Erich Zerzawy in eastern Siberia to his family in Brüx, Bohemia.
8./X.17.
My dear ones!
Finally, some cards from you again. I’m so happy that all of you are happy and well. I’ve already congratulated Paul. If this lasts longer, surely he will become a general. But it did make me very happy. It’s so much the same all the time for me. But time flies, and soon we will have winter. At the moment, we still have beautiful fall weather, but in two weeks that can….[censored…]
With many sincere kisses.
Your Erich
Greetings extended… Greetings to all who remember me, and also to the niece of the above-mentioned Fraulein Erlers who sent me greetings.
This letter has both Russian and Viennese censorship stamps on the front and is the only one in my archive that was clearly censored. The stamp on the message side says “Deleted Abroad”. The postscript may have been written by another person.
Erich mentions that he congratulated Paul - on his October 2 birthday perhaps but also on a promotion?
It is hard to imagine enduring a Siberian winter. Particularly as a prisoner of war in the early 20th century. According to Wikipedia, the average annual temperature in Siberia is 23 °F, an average for January of −13 °F. During the search, I discovered something important about my family’s experience during wartime. It was an extremely cold winter all over Europe during December 1916-February 1917. And it happened again during the winter of 1939-1940. We saw letters earlier this year where Helene writes of burning furniture to keep warm in Vienna. See February 22 post. So in addition to the “normal” hardship and deprivation of war for prisoners, soldiers, and civilians, they also had to brave the bitter cold.