The times of World War II have long remained in history. Fewer and fewer people today who remember these terrible years. But the echo of war does not cease. Undamaged shells are still found on the battlefields, and military letters-triangles and postcards are stored in family archives as a memory of the heroism of our fathers and grandfathers.
Front-line mail
Even at the beginning of the war, the USSR government paid special attention to the connection of front-line soldiers with their relatives. But the only way to do this in the early 40s was through mail. It was believed that a letter from home at times increases the military strength of a soldier. Therefore, a mail message was organized. Machines for transporting correspondence were forbidden to use for other purposes. Mail cars had the same priority as ammunition cars. Therefore, they were allowed to cling to any compositions so that war letters-triangles from the front would reach the addressees.
All correspondence to the front and rear was free. The only exceptions were packages. But not always letters arrived on time. There were cases that triangles came in ten and twenty years after the end of the war.
Kind of correspondence
Due to the great need for letters, the national economy began to widely publish envelopes, postcards and blanks for letters. They had a colorful decoration of a patriotic character. For example, caricatures of Germans were printed on postcards and they were signed with beautiful slogans: “I shoot so that not a bullet is in the Germans”, “Death to the German invaders”.
But to the front, these preparations practically did not reach. And plain paper for letters was not always enough. Therefore, military letters-triangles became widespread. Even a child knew how to fold them, since then there were practically no envelopes.
Newspapers and leaflets came to the soldiers, which raised morale and narrated the news that had happened in the rear and on other fronts. But this information was always scarce and not regular, since wartime required caution. And with the message, everything was not always excellent, since mail machines were often ambushed and plundered.
Triangle letters
Today it may not be clear why triangular war letters were sent. This form seems meaningless and not practical. As the practice of the war years has shown, this is completely wrong. The uncomplicated form allowed to refuse envelopes and send free letters to any cities of the motherland.
Each soldier sent home a war letter in a triangle. Even a novice in military affairs knew how to fold it. To do this, a rectangular sheet of paper was folded diagonally from right to left, and then in half from left to right. Since the sheets were rectangular, there was always a narrow strip at the bottom. It served as a kind of valve, which refuel inside a triangle with pre-bent corners.
The letters were not sealed and did not require stamps. Addresses were written on the front side, and the back was left clean. All the rest of the sheet was written in small handwriting so that as much information as possible about myself could be communicated to loved ones, because letters were not frequent.
“Verified by censorship”
Since time was war, letters could fall into the hands of the enemy. In order not to reveal secrets with them, censorship checked military letters-triangles. It just becomes clear why they were not sealed, but simply wrapped in a special way. So censorship was easier to read, so as not to damage the paper, and with it valuable information for relatives.
There were times when fighters could accidentally describe the place of their position, the number of troops or plans for further maneuvers. Such information was carefully sketched in black paint so that no one could read it.
To circumvent censorship and hint to relatives about their condition or place of stay, soldiers put small clues in letters. There are cases when relatives came with triangles with wormwood branches, which hinted at the bitter life in the field. Clippings from leaflet newspapers were also used as hints.
On the letters approved for sending, the stamp “Verified by censorship” was put, which allowed its further sending to the addressee.
The special meaning of a triangle letter
During the war years, the delivery address was almost always a problem. First, people in the rear often moved to flee the fighting. Secondly, military units also did not stand still. Third, recipients often died or went missing. In such cases, military letters-triangles became a peculiar signal of joyful or sad news. History knows many cases when they arrived with a delay much later than the official “funeral”. This gave hope to the family that the soldier was alive and well and would return home soon.
In the event that the addressee died in the war, the delivery address was crossed out, and the letter was returned back. This equated to a funeral, which might never have come. It is for this reason that letters were never returned, the addressee of which moved to an unknown address or the hospital also ended up, and in which particular mail it did not know.
Today, museums store various unreceived military letters-triangles. Their photos serve as a source for studying the history of the Great Patriotic War, since the sheets of paper themselves are already dilapidated and can be destroyed by frequent contact.
Subject of letters
Since there was strict censorship at the front, military letters-triangles had a special style. Fighters rarely told sad details about themselves. They were brave and expressed great optimism about the imminent end of the war.
In response, they asked to tell about relatives, news that took place at home. Often, soldiers expressed concern about the health of relatives. The tone of almost all letters is solemn. And the messages themselves are filled with sincerity, which is read in every word.
Today we know that if the fighters did not know how to make a war letter-triangle, we would not know what the war really was. After all, it is no secret to anyone that official data did not always coincide with real events.