PFC. ZEMBSCH WRITES FROM NAZI PRISON CAMP - Pfc. Francis Zembsch, 33, son of Simon Zembsch of Cherokee, was disclosed Thursday to be in a prison camp in Germany.
Captured
February 17, 1943, in North African fighting, he was last heard from in
an Italian prison camp. He was transferred early in October, some
time after the Italian capitulation. In a letter to his father
dated Oct 8, Pfc. Zembsch tells of his arrival in Germany and asks for
supplies as well as letters from his family and friends.
Here is his letter, written on official German prisoner of war stationery: | |
"Dear
Dad: Hope you and all are in good health. We are not doing
badly. We are having bad weather. Cold and rainy.
Are
now in Germany. There is a vast difference both in climate and
terrain; here there are immense prairie lands dotted with large
acreages of pin trees and good looking stucco farm houses.
We
saw quite a bit of the Alps. Their steepness can hardly be
exaggerated. They have strewn with grass and timber..probably the
first I have seen since coming to the two continents. Been here
but a few days. Met a couple of fellows I knew back in the
Army. They've been in Germany for some time. They tell us
we will do farm work here. I don't know just how it is
arranged. We don't mind it so much now. The American has it
in him to make the best of any circumstance in the field or prison
camp.
Received Red Cross boxes here and
the cigarets and coffee were a treat. You now come to the gimme
part. I'm in need of socks, gloves, blades, tooth brush and a few
smokes wouldn't be bad. This letter is jumbled up but I hope you
can make it out. Tell friends and folks "hello" and to write."
Pfc.
Zembsch was in Stalag B-2, Germany. While in the Italian
prison camp, Pfc. Zembsch contracted pneumonia, his father said, but
has since recovered.
Source: Cherokee
County Historical Society Newsletter, Vol 15, Num 1, Jan 1980, Sec V,
Pg 4. From the Cherokee Daily Times of Jan. 6, 1944.
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