Letters To Home - January 6, 1952

In my Letters To Home dated December 23, 1951 and December 27, 1951, I told about my first Christmas in Germany, spent with a German family. This letter tells about my spending New Year's Eve with the same German family, and my being chosen to spend a few weeks at T. I. & E. School (Troop Information and Education School) in Dachau, Germany

This letter is out of sequence, but I will get back in sync soon.

Dachau, Germany
January 6, 1952

I'm now living on the fourth floor of a very large brick building, and this is where I will be going to school for the next two weeks. I came off a week-end pass to Frankfurt, found that I was to get my gear, including my carbine, and catch the next train to Munich for schooling.

I left Schweinfurt at 12:35 a.m. today, travelling on orders so that it wouldn't cost me any fare. The train ride to Munich was very confortable. I am beginning to like the German railway system more and more as time goes by. I arrived at Munich about 6:30 this morning, arrived here in Dachau at 7:20. Dachau is about a 20-minute train ride from Munich, and the trains run about every hour. I'll probably try to look up Bernie one of these days, if he is still in Munich.

The camp here is quite small. Part of this building is being used by the 43rd Division for a leadership school, another part is taken over by the 201st Field Artillery (a 155 m.m. outfit), and the rest is the T. I. & E. School. The dining hall is on the first floor. The meals, so far, seem quite a bit better than the average army meal, probably because all the cooks are German women. All my classes will be held in this building, so I really won't have to go outside for any reason. It looks like it is going to be an interesting two weeks. In the second week, I understand that we will take a whole afternoon tour of the Dachau death camp.

My New Year's Eve party was really something to remember. I got to the house about 7:30 p.m., and from then until 5:30 the next morning we did nothing but eat and drink and dance. The father of the house, Mr. Thain, is quite a character. He and his two brothers-in-law started feeling happy, started putting on some of the old German beer hall acts, with quite a bit of singing, too. The German radio stations seem to play some very good dance music after midnight. The German people seem to celebrate New Year's Eve as some of us do; many fire crackers, flares, noise makers, etc. There were 12 of us at the party; all friendly and good-natured to a stranger.
The women cooked up a punch that I want to make some day. Four bottles of red wine poured into a kettle. Heat the wine over a low heat, add some black tea, orange peels and cinnamon. Simmer the mixture for about an hour. When finished, strain to remove the peels and any other residue. It is supposed to be as good cold as warm. You have to watch it, though; sneaks up on one without warming.

The evening, before I left for Munich, I went to a movie with the German family. The film was in German. I think I'm starting to understand the German language a bit more than I thought. I get along much better than before with my conversations with my German family, but, maybe, they are learning some English from me, too. I'm supposed to teach them English in exchange for them teaching me German. I think that will be fine.

The weather here in Dachau is the coldest I've seen yet in Germany. It's a very dry cold, and the frost hangs in the air like fog. The country here appears to be quite flat and swampy. A little bit of snow on the ground, too. Lots of the German travelers appear to be going skiing somewhere; many skis being carried, with much winter clothing. I understand the Alps aren't that far away.

The address I'm putting on the envelope is my address at the school, but I think the 44th will forward my mail to me here, so I guess you had better use my old address when you write. Classes start tomorrow, so now I think I'll catch some sleep.