Transcript of Letter from Katherine Fite to Mr. and Mrs. Emerson Fite

15 Nuremberg, Oct. 8 TRUMAN "IMATIONAL APCHINGS AND Dearest Mother and Daddy, RECOROS Your letter of last Sunday, actually postmarked the lst, i.e. Monday, at 2 A.M. reached me Saturday, the 6th, the quickest, I thin that any letter has come through this way though I believe some of my lett ters from London reached Washington in as short a time. Trouble is, when they come through quickly, I have to wait that much longer for the next. Yesterday was a lovely, clear, cold autumn day and I went on a trip to Bayreuth. The weather has heretofore been abominable - cold and dark and rain y and you've no idea how depressing it becomes with all the ruins and the dirt and the dust and the cold, stone buildings. But as I was saying, the sun shoni yesterday (and today) and we set off in command cars, which are big brothers to the jeeps. We went across country - not up the autobahn - through the weed: woods, up and down the hills and winding through the villages. The latter looked like little toy villages I seem to remember as a child, mayge Alexandra Marghetic had some. The trees are turning yellow, not rea The hills and near mountains seem to me about the hei ght of the Berkshires north of Salisbury, but there are more of them. And you could feel in the clear cold ait that we were high up. Bayreuth lies to the northeast, and I imagine it is not more than 30 or 40 miles from the Czech frontier. (I talked to a man today who went over to Pilsenty The Czechs are turning out all the Sudeten Germans, making them wear armbands and shipping them into the Russian zone for forced labor. We live in a cruel world). I thought the Germans in Bayreuth looked less bitter than here- but they suffered not nearly so much damage. Still, they're a hard, evil looking lot. They've sold their souls to the Devil long ago. And yet we saw dozens of lit- tle girls in white dresses with white wreaths on their hair going into a Cath- olic Church. The Festival House is a hideous structure on the outside, but WE couldn't see the interior which Wagner designed (maybe the outside too becasi there was a concert going on (for Americans and Germans) We saw Wagner's houles half gone, apparently a direct hit - and his tomb - unkempt right now - in the garden, his son's house, Liszt's house, and then a nice 18th Century balace out in the country where Der Fuehrer used to stay. Then home by the autobahn at 60 miles per hour until we sighted MP's. The officers aren( allowed to drive - the enlisted men do all the driving. Back in Nuremberg we got lost- and wandered arbund about half an hour. Few street lights - no people- empty ruins- it gives you a feeling of desolation. Coming back, we had a snack of K rations - I think we ate the lunch packabe - crackers - cheese - excellent cheese chocolates - lemonade powder - granulated sugar - 4 cigarettes (some standard brand) and toilet paper: Other packages have meat spreads and I think bouillon preparations. The indictment has been signed and will be in the papers before this realch es you. The Justice is in Berlin now- but my travelling days are over, I gupa They vill be back shortly and how soon they will go to trial I don't know. Some say 4 weeks.