Christoph, You are right! A great find!
More is coming - I am trying to be very methodical and copy and file everything. i am also trying to contact some of the different Bomber Squadrons where we now know the name of the unit the men were in. Maybe, just maybe, a few of the men are still alive. I tried finding contact information on a couple of them but no luck today - maybe tomorrow. What a race against time - the aging issue.
I can hardly wait to send you some of the German documents - filled out in German! Very impressive and professionally prepared medical reports - all done in German. Regrettably the volume of records is so sparse because again - the fire.
The amount of work that NARA had to do is staggering so that I could even review what they could piece together. Frayed and burned and faded and torn papers each put in separate cellophane like folders. And nothing can be pulled out of the folders or touched. If a document has staples in it, you must go to the counter and have an attendant remove the staple. As they should, you are watched at all times. One woman was making a fuss because she could not wear into the room her bulky sweater with a zipper in the front of it. I am glad they are strict. 2 people can not look at the same folder at the same time. I would finish with a folder and then give it back to the person at the desk where it got logged in and then it got logged out by my husband when he was ready to do the copying.
More to follow,
Jean J