“Too Much of my Beloved Parents ...”, Original Letters from the First World War, sent by Iacob Matei from Chiherul de Jos Cover Image

„Prea mult ai mei doriți părinți...”, scrisori inedite din Primul Război Mondial, trimise de Iacob Matei din Chiherul de Jos
“Too Much of my Beloved Parents ...”, Original Letters from the First World War, sent by Iacob Matei from Chiherul de Jos

Author(s): Laura Pop
Subject(s): Local History / Microhistory, Pre-WW I & WW I (1900 -1919)
Published by: Editura Academiei Române
Keywords: First World War; Austro-Hungarian Field Post; Family Archive; Private War Correspondence; Transylvania; Mureş County

Summary/Abstract: The letters on the front of Iacob Matei from the Transylvanian village Chiherul de Jos, dating from the First World War, have been recovered from a family archive in the cultural project named “People from Mureş County in the First World War trenches”, funded by the Ministry of Culture, through the National Cultural Fund Administration. Iacob Matei was a simple Romanian sanitary soldier from Transylvania, enrolled in the Austro-Hungarian army, from 1914, in the 22nd Honved Regiment, 9th Company. He send 27 letters to his father, Andrei Matei, which tell us more about his family then the war and the life on the front. After June 8, 1915, he was taken prisoner by Russian Army, like others of his comrades, and took in Tambov, a city in Russia, located on the Tsna Rivers, about 480 kilometers south-southeast of Moscow. His letters speak us about the emotional bounds between the soldier on the front and the family from home, behind the front. He always wants to know about all his family, especially about his brothers who fight in the war, too. Being the oldest brothers he is very preoccupied about the household and the agriculture works. To help his family, Iacob Matei sent them a lot of money by the field post. Normally, he could only send a small amount of money, but he had found a way to send more money by putting on the name of the other soldier. The correspondence with his family is more difficult during the Russian prison, but he is very hopeful because he escapes from the fight, and there were very good conditions for his life: a lot of foods, low prices, work in agriculture, like at home, and so he is very content about this.

  • Issue Year: LVII/2018
  • Issue No: 57
  • Page Range: 141-171
  • Page Count: 31
  • Language: Romanian