It’s interesting how powerful letters can be, and how much depth they can hold with an ink pen and a piece of paper. How much they carry a soul across the ocean to a man that is fighting a bloody war. Throughout human history, we place our men on the front lines of war and never bat an eye or draw a brow when we say, “Go and Fight for Us” in the name of the patriots. Nameless soldiers fought battles after battles, bodies pow on thousands of bodies after the next. War isn’t a pretty event, it is filled with countless amounts of bloodshed, and economic backslides for a whole nation, with returning young men from war scared with battle scars of mind and body. Mind-numbing sights of glory, grief, and chaos. Simple words written on paper, it seems impossible to imagine them as anything but written words. Yet they reveal a depth of emotions. Since words could be written on paper and sent far across land and oceans, soldiers wrote and received letters in hope of eternal sanctum from the horrific acts of war. Letters written by soldiers in WW2 like James A Hemstreets and prisoners of war like Elie Barsimantov were their lifeline, their escape from insanity.
From birthday letters to married announcements, each one holds special importance to the woman and men in the fight. They were excited to hear their name on the mails call, it was what everyone was looking for. The soldiers would be so excited to receive a letter from mom or dad or a neighbor even, some even got ten letters in from back home. The soldiers liked receiving the letters but also liked writing and sending letters to their loved ones even if they censored themselves for military safety. They felt comfortable in letting their loved ones know they were ok and still alive, decreasing their worries of a no-return home, like James A Hemstreet. JamesHemstreet was a Navy soldier that enlisted in World War 2 when America declared war on Japan and entered the war in 1941. He was a college senior at Muhlenberg college when he enlisted in the war in 1944. James was a highly involved student at Muhlenberg, from working as a Business staff on the campus newspaper to being president of Alpha Tau Omega; Omicron Delta Kappa, and Phi Alpha Theta, fraternity. He was so close to the school that, while fighting in the war on between battles. He wrote consistently to the school admission office director, Gordan Fister. In the letters, James is always happy about Gordan sending his newspapers and updates on what is happening back home.
“Your lastest issue of the alumni magazine just arrived and it was certainly welcome. Muhlenberg seems to be going places, and the success of the college is good new to all of us. “– James A Hemstreet . 09-18-1944
In that quote in James’ letter, he is stationed in Europe, and he and his friend Denny took a trip to the city of Cannes, France. Writing to Gordon about their new adventure and the French fancy people he has seen there. Gordon has been sending James Alumni Magazine, this quote was taken from one of the many letters James sent to Gordon. For they kept in contact throughout James’ service. He wanted to hear any and everything about Muhlenberg to still feel connected to the campus and Gordon wanted that too.
For two-three years James and Gordon kept writing to one another. With James clearing any worry his friends back home on campus may have about his living status, Gordon gives James information and updates on the world back home till James retired back home after the end of the war in 1945. However, not all letters written were as heartfelt and joyful as James and Gordon’s embrace with one another. Such as Elie and his wife Sarah Barsimantov.
“I embrace you and our darling Jacques with all my strength. I am leaving on Monday morning.” Elie 8-23-1942,
That was the last sentence in a Postcard that Sarah Barsimantov received from her husband, Elie Barsimantov. Like James and Gordon, Elie and Sarah wrote to one another every chance they could. Elie was born in Turkey in 1900 but immigrated to France in 1922 and there he met his wife Sarah Gabai and had their son Jacques in 1935 after a year they married. He was arrested and taken to Drancy camp in 1941 then was planned to be deported from the Drancy camp to be transported to Auschwitz in 1942. Elie’s postcard is so surreal. Being the last he would ever write to his family the emotions in his writing was intense, as he consoles his wife and asks for her to be brave in their depressing situation. From his postcard, Eli displayed how much of a lovely heart he had for his family members. He wanted his wife to be strong and brave for their son, telling her to keep her spirits up. He wanted to reunite with them, put the war behind them, and continue their life before WW2. Imagine how heartbreaking it must be when Elie realized he wasn’t returning to his family, and how Sarah must have been devastated from not receiving any more letters from her beloved husband. The realization that death is staring down at your loved ones or those you share a bond with and you can’t save them. You feel powerless, and sometimes you just are powerless as Elie never returns to his family. Sarah never saw her beloved handwritten again,
We as humans like to believe we are indeed protected from the reality of death but we are not. You build a connection even knowing the truth of what happened. That is what many innocent men and Soldiers like Eli and James had to do. Build a connection with letters sent far from home, to escape highly likely of their death, and lessen their loved ones’ worry. Even today, mailing and sending care packages and letters to those in service is still pretty big even with the advanced technology since the 1940s. Those who serve even today still look forward to their name being a call for mail. The letters the soldiers were receiving were their sanity in the war, as they allowed them to escape from “a world of death” as pilot Quentin Aanenson stated in his letter to his girlfriend back home in the States during the WW2 to rejoice in the news of their family and friends back home.
