Collection Search

Letter from Graf Von Schmettow to Alexander Coutanche [undated but presumed to have been written in the months following the Liberation of Jersey]. He gives his location as a hospital in the remote Austrial Alps and requests information about the fate of his subordinates and about the fate of the Island. He also writes that Baroness Aufsess and her three infant children are also living in the same place and that the Baroness also wishes to be remembered. He is deeply concerned about the fate of Barons Helldorf and Aufsess, and he writes of the bitterness of being removed from his position and from the Islands and that he earnestly entreated his successor to carry on in the same spirit and method that he had followed. He worries that discipline and decent behaviour have been maintained to the end... . He hopes that the restrictions imposed by the war will soon be lifed and that the Island can return to its normal peacful course. He has no communication with his relations residing in the Russian occupied regions. He knows of one daughter who is a refugee in Salzburg and she will try to get the letter through via the Red Cross or the British Liason Officer in Salzburg. He askes for an enclosed letter to be forwarded to Miss White of Samares Manor [catalogued as A/A12/3]. He ends with greetings to the Attorney General Mr Aubin and warmest wishes for the future of the entire population of the Channel Islands. The reverse of the envelope is annoted Rudolf Graf Schmettow and the address of Hospital 907

There is a PDF file associated with this item. To view it, you can subscribe to the system, which gives you access to all the resources, or you can purchase access to this item individually.