Letters from Potsdam

The Editor's father, Colonel John S. Wise, was a member of General George C. Marshall's staff. He accompanied Marshall to the July-August 1945 Potsdam Conference, outside of Berlin, where he served as the U.S. Army's liaison officer.

Col. Wise wrote sixteen detailed letters to his wife, Elizabeth Thompson Wise, describing not only the day-to-day events of the Potsdam Conference, but also his observations of how a defeated and destroyed Berlin appeared to Allied officials.

His letters contain detailed thumbnail sketches of the American delegation along with Army Signal Corps photographs. The Colonel's never before seen personal photos of conference participants and war-torn Berlin are informative, and his interpretations concerning both the Russians and the coming Cold War were incredibly prescient.