Document grouping - German POW / KIA, Yugoslavia 1944

Document and letter grouping for Unteroffizier / Offizier Anwärter (NCO / Officer cadet) Hans Fehmer, mainly correspondence sent to his family regarding his fate. Fehmer was aboard a “motorized sailboat” (Motoersegler) that was sailing from Zara to Fiume, along the Croatian coastline, in late February 1944. His ship was apparently intercepted by partisans (first time I’ve read about Tito’s men operating vessels in the Adriatic…) and he was taken prisoner. He and over 100 German POW’s were kept on the Croatian island of Lissa by the partisans. Some of these POW’s were released in a prisoner exchange, one such released POW wrote letters to Fehmer’s family. Most of the remaining prisoners were alleged to have been murdered by the partisans after failed attempts at further prisoner exchanges. Interestingly, there were several British soldiers among the Yugoslav partisans on the island of Lissa, some of whom provided medical assistance to the wounded German POW’s. According to a released POW, Fehmer had a “99% chance of having been killed”. 

The grouping consists of letters from the German military authorities (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht), the German Red Cross (DRK), as well as letters from released POW’s who interacted with Offizier Anwärter Fehmer. They are all dated between Spring 1944 and February 1945. The details given regarding the Yugoslav partisans and the German POW camp on the Adriatic island are fairly interesting.