Flucht-Briefe (Januar bis April 1945)/Thüringer Briefe (Juni 1946 bis Februar 1948). Buchvorstellung und Gespräch mit Dietrich Kleppi

We all know that the time when we can speak directly with eyewitnesses about flight and expulsion from the historic German East and their immediate consequences is coming to an end. This is certainly a painful reality, but it is a reality nonetheless. This makes it all the more important not to neglect other, complementary sources of history. Presumably, there are still quite a few “family archives”—whatever their condition may be—that contain untapped “treasures,” that is, records that will endure and could be of lasting value. One “only” needs to preserve them and make them accessible to others. Yet this is hindered by many and very diverse obstacles, some of a practical nature, others of a very personal nature. Dietrich Kleppi has done just that—in an exemplary manner: He has not only preserved the letters from his immediate family circle but also published them. Thus, an extraordinarily vivid, unvarnished, and moving picture has been preserved—the picture of “just” one family amid the catastrophes of the war’s end and the early postwar period, and yet one that speaks volumes. Dietrich Kleppi presents his edition of the letters and recounts the long journey that led to its creation.