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Gopruft 12 Front Stalag 194 -German help if poss, please

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  • Gopruft 12 Front Stalag 194 -German help if poss, please

    I have a copy of a long letter written by my aunt in 1944 from a residential address in Berlin and sent, I think to Tost Internment Camp.

    Each page of the letter has been stamped as follows :-

    Gopruft
    12
    Front-Stalag 194



    I just wondered whether anyone might know what this might mean please - I have googled and not come up with anything.

    Thanks
    Joan died in July 2020.

  • #2
    Guess - something to do with censorship?

    I think it may mean the censor (number 12) has read each page.

    OC

    Comment


    • #3
      Thanks, OC - I am now beginning to wonder whether the first word is in fact
      GEpruft, which seems to exist as a word and not GOpruft which does not, and that the stamp was just overladen with ink!!

      Yes, it does sound like something to do with proof-reading or approval.
      Joan died in July 2020.

      Comment


      • #4
        Can't find gopruft or gepruft in my old school German dictionary, or stalag either, though I think its a camp. Front means front or head.
        ~ with love from Little Nell~
        Chowns, Dunt, Emms, Mealing, Purvey & Smoothy

        Comment


        • #5
          Possibly geprusst - the germanic long s looks like a lower case f or even a p.

          All the camps were prefixed Stalag.

          OC

          Comment


          • #6
            Joan, does it have two dots over the u (like ü) ? If so, from what I can remember of my school German it could be the past participle of prüfen, and that would mean tried, examined or approved, according to my little dictionary.
            So it probably is a censor's mark as has been suggested.

            Happy New Year

            Roger

            Comment


            • #7
              Hi Roger -

              Yes, there are two dots over the u (an umlaut?)

              OC, thanks - it's definitely an "f" - at least on the stamp

              Thanks

              and Happy New Year to you both too.
              Last edited by Muggins in Sussex; 31-12-07, 16:46.
              Joan died in July 2020.

              Comment


              • #8
                I must say that my immediate reaction was that it would have been "geprüft" - checked.

                Christine
                Researching: BENNETT (Leics/Birmingham-ish) - incl. Leonard BENNETT in Detroit & Florida ; WARR/WOR, STRATFORD & GARDNER/GARNAR (Oxon); CHRISTMAS, RUSSELL, PAFOOT/PAFFORD (Hants); BIGWOOD, HAYLER/HAILOR (Sussex); LANCASTER (Beds, Berks, Wilts) - plus - COCKS (Spitalfields, Liverpool, Plymouth); RUSE/ROWSE, TREMEER, WADLIN(G)/WADLETON (Devonport, E Cornwall); GOULD (S Devon); CHAPMAN, HALL/HOLE, HORN (N Devon); BARRON, SCANTLEBURY (Mevagissey)...

                Comment


                • #9
                  Thank you Christine

                  That makes sense

                  I guess " Front -Stalag 194" - is then the identity of the particular camp
                  Joan died in July 2020.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    I googled and found this: Stalag 194 Châlons-sur-Marne
                    on this page : The Wartime Memories Project - Prisoner of War Camps

                    But there's nothing to suggest that that is one of the ones with "memories" attached.
                    Researching: BENNETT (Leics/Birmingham-ish) - incl. Leonard BENNETT in Detroit & Florida ; WARR/WOR, STRATFORD & GARDNER/GARNAR (Oxon); CHRISTMAS, RUSSELL, PAFOOT/PAFFORD (Hants); BIGWOOD, HAYLER/HAILOR (Sussex); LANCASTER (Beds, Berks, Wilts) - plus - COCKS (Spitalfields, Liverpool, Plymouth); RUSE/ROWSE, TREMEER, WADLIN(G)/WADLETON (Devonport, E Cornwall); GOULD (S Devon); CHAPMAN, HALL/HOLE, HORN (N Devon); BARRON, SCANTLEBURY (Mevagissey)...

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Here are some other links with the relevant words:
                      Les Troubadours - Leurs Vies - Leurs Oeuvres - Leur Influence - ANGLADE, JOSEPH
                      = item 613 on this link: Eastleach Books - Rare, used, out-of-print books

                      Feldpostnummer 19375 - Lexikon der Wehrmacht

                      LE FORUM DE LA SECONDE GUERRE MONDIALE -- Voir le sujet - Evasions !!
                      Researching: BENNETT (Leics/Birmingham-ish) - incl. Leonard BENNETT in Detroit & Florida ; WARR/WOR, STRATFORD & GARDNER/GARNAR (Oxon); CHRISTMAS, RUSSELL, PAFOOT/PAFFORD (Hants); BIGWOOD, HAYLER/HAILOR (Sussex); LANCASTER (Beds, Berks, Wilts) - plus - COCKS (Spitalfields, Liverpool, Plymouth); RUSE/ROWSE, TREMEER, WADLIN(G)/WADLETON (Devonport, E Cornwall); GOULD (S Devon); CHAPMAN, HALL/HOLE, HORN (N Devon); BARRON, SCANTLEBURY (Mevagissey)...

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Thank you Christine - I'll have a look
                        Joan died in July 2020.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          We cross-posted! Have got loads to look at now - thank you, Christine
                          Joan died in July 2020.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Summary of the POW camp related sites
                            POW Camps, WW2 Europe wide locations [Archive] - UK Urban Exploration Forums
                            Silcoates School War Memorials
                            German POW Camp (Kriegsgefangenenlager) Lists. Part of the Fleet Air Arm POW Roll of Honour.

                            Wehrkreis I - but this refers to one in Germany, rather than France (and isn't "Front-Stalag 194")
                            Standort Offenburg
                            Researching: BENNETT (Leics/Birmingham-ish) - incl. Leonard BENNETT in Detroit & Florida ; WARR/WOR, STRATFORD & GARDNER/GARNAR (Oxon); CHRISTMAS, RUSSELL, PAFOOT/PAFFORD (Hants); BIGWOOD, HAYLER/HAILOR (Sussex); LANCASTER (Beds, Berks, Wilts) - plus - COCKS (Spitalfields, Liverpool, Plymouth); RUSE/ROWSE, TREMEER, WADLIN(G)/WADLETON (Devonport, E Cornwall); GOULD (S Devon); CHAPMAN, HALL/HOLE, HORN (N Devon); BARRON, SCANTLEBURY (Mevagissey)...

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Many thanks again, Christine - off to investigate - I had thought the camp was in Poland, but now not so sure

                              Thanks again
                              Joan died in July 2020.

                              Comment


                              • #16
                                Here's the list of Frontstalag camps - it looks as though there were several 194s in France, plus one each in Germany and Luxembourg:

                                German Frontstalag Camps

                                Comment


                                • #17
                                  Thank you Mary and thanks again Christine.

                                  Having investigated all those links, and re-read the papers I have, I am pretty sure it must have been the Camp at Gottenheim.
                                  Joan died in July 2020.

                                  Comment


                                  • #18
                                    STALAG 194 has been a war prison camp Châlons-sur-Marne. Front Stalag means, that this war prison camp was nearby the front or clashes.
                                    Every post was checked ( in German = geprüft ). This stamp imprint therefore is also at the letters or postcards. Words were blackened now and then.

                                    Wolf (from Germany.)

                                    Comment


                                    • #19
                                      Thank you very much, Wolf

                                      That is very helpful, and helps to fill a gap I had.

                                      Best wishes
                                      Joan died in July 2020.

                                      Comment

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