SOLDIERS READ GERMAN PROPAGANDA, RATE IT AS “BALONEY”
Mrs. Delbert Farrington Receives Souvenir From Her Husband
Mrs. Delbert Farrington, who is employed at the A.A.A. office, has received a letter from her husband, who is in the Army, and now in Germany, enclosing a copy of a German propaganda leaflet. He apparently didn’t take it very seriously, as he not only did not surrender as the leaflet suggested, but wrote on the top of it: “This is a bunch of Boloney.”
The leaflet, shot over the American lines in shells or dropped from a plane says:
“No HOPE.”
“The game is up. You are encircled and there isn’t the slightest chance of escape. You are cut off from all supplies and communications and are literally left in the cold.”
“Doughboy! Even the bravest soldier can find himself in a situation where any further resistance is sheer nonsense.”
“That exactly is the situation that you are in now.”
“Now what are you going to do? There are two possibilities: Either you go on fighting and are killed in action for a hopeless cause or you take your chance into your own hands and make an end to this nightmare.”
“You boys know that Germany has signed the Geneva Convention and that she’ll stick to it. We treat POWs exactly as we expect our prisoners to be treated by you.”
“When you are sick and tired of the whole mess remember what you have to do.”
“Lay down your arms, get near the German lines, hold up your hands and wave a handkerchief or a piece of paper. If you thus make it clear that you don’t come as an enemy, you can be sure no German soldier will fire on you.”
“When there are a number of boys who think alike, send a man over to the German lines, who should request to be taken to a German officer so that further details can be agreed upon.”
“WE WANT TO AVOID USELESS BLOODSHED! DON’T WAIT UNTIL IT IS TOO LATE. BE SMART AND ACT QUICKLY.”
Source: LeMars Globe-Post, April 12, 1945
***Further Research:
Delbert Lindsay “Del" Farrington was born Dec. 7, 1920 to George and Lillie Hill Farrington. He died July 31, 2004 and is buried in Calvary Cemetery, LeMars, IA.
Source: ancestry.com
