Martín Claus, 14, writes from Buenos Aires, Friday, March 28, 2003 to ask how he can contact WW2 German veterans

How can I contact the veterans of WW2?

I WRITE you to tell you that your biography about Rommel fascinated me. I read it twice, and once and again I read it I think that I know Rommel.He was a great person, and it seems to me like an excellent soldier and general. That’s the reason because your biography impressed me. What did you fell meeting people like Speidel, Ruge, Bayerlein, people who knew Rommel very well?

I love History, and someday I would like to be a historian like you ( I also want to be a war reporter ). One of my hobbies is writing, and in the future I’m going to write war stories or soldier’s war memories.

That’s one of the reasons because I’m trying to contact WWII veterans ( especially I want to contact Günther Halm, the first German soldier who received the Iron Cross, if he’s alive ).

I would like to write a book, or a lot of books, in the future, compiling memories of war. I’ll do that because I think that the memories of the people who fought there, the terrible things of the past, the worst things that the mankind have done in the WWII, and in all wars, must survive to the posterity, because it mustn’t repeat again. Their stories of war, personal experiences and anecdotes are very important for the coming generations of people, especially in times like the World is living now.

I also write you because you’re an experienced historian, and like one I think maybe you can help me telling me how can I get me in touch with World War Two veterans.

I’m investigating in Internet, and I found a page called “Die Stänge des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes” ( I don’t know what it means ) in which appear the names of the decorated German soldiers and officers during WWII. With their names, I think I can contact veterans.

I have to investigate a lot, and the time runs very quickly. WWII veterans won’t live much more time. That’s because I want to contact them and write their stories.

Martín Claus

I WAS very impressed by your letter and I am sending it to a friend in Illinois, USA, who runs a very big military bookstore, World War II Books; he has thousands of old military books and I am sure he can tell you how to locate these officers. if he does not, please do write to me again and I will “put on my thinking cap.”