These postcards were sent by a Reiter of the 5th Company of the German South West African Schutztruppe, Emil Hettich, to his sister, Elise in Stuttgart. They not only show interesting views of the desolate and arid countryside of South West Africa as it appeared at the time but also show his feelings as he writes to his family back home. The collection was discovered by Emil's great nephew, James Calaski who has generously allowed them to be shown on this website. By clicking on the small images below you can see larger versions of the postcards and also read what was written on the reverse.

All the images on this page are the sole copyright of James Calaski. Please respect his generosity in sharing these photographs with us by not reproducing them without prior permission. Translations of the postcards were by Niwre (of the Axis History Forum), James Calaski and Chris Dale with help from Greg Gerardi and Johannes Sundermann.

(Click on the pictures below to enlarge and read the reverse)