After Adolph Spemann was killed at the battle of Fricourt , 19 year-old Sgt Brysch wrote a detailed and moving letter of condolence to Spemann ’ s mother in Germany , a note of maturity and compassion that belied his youth . The image above shows an excerpt from the letter , the part in which Brysch recalls how Adolf spoke of Samoa .
English translation of yellow marking : “ Quite often I saw him sitting with a photo of his loved ones in his hand . Yes , this ‘ photo ’ he very often showed to me , too , and said , “ one child is in Munich and the others are with the wife in
Samoa ,” his beloved land of Samoa of which he told us so much about his plantations and the work , the men and his lovely family . When we were bored in the trenches he entertained us with his stories . I would have loved to take the photo after his death to forward it but I could not find it on him . He will have had it for sure in his knapsack which he left like all of us in the second trench .”
( This letter is in the possession of the Spemann family and is possibly retyped from the original . The translation was prepared in 2013 by Reinhard Wendt .)
Adolf was awarded a posthumous Iron Cross ( actual medal pictured ).
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