Marcel Heuzé, a toolmaker and turner, was one of hundreds of thousands of Frenchmen and women France’s collaborationist Vichy regime requisitioned and deported to Germany in 1942 to help the Nazi war effort in its Compulsory Work Service.
Between 1942 and 1944, Heuzé sent dozens of letters to his wife and three daughters from Marienfelde, southwest Berlin, where he worked at the Daimler-Benz factory to produce tanks, aero-engines and armoured vehicles.
Missing them terribly, he would start his messages off with “mes petites chéries” (my little darlings), “mon petit loup” (my little wolf) or “mon petit trésor” (my little treasure).
Many, however, never made it to his loved ones back in France, apparently confiscated by the German censors.
But by an amazing stroke of fate, they resurfaced at an antiques dealer in the northern American town of Stillwater, Minnesota. Intrigued by the French terms of affection, customer Carolyn Porter bought the batch.
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