Letterlocking: Russian WWII Soldier Triangle Letter, Russia (1944) (UH0052)
Channel: Letterlocking videos
Date: 2016-03-20

Modelled after Simkin G.(/?) Russian triangle letter from Field PoBox 03142 to Simkin M.M., village Pinny (?), Northern Pecherskiy district, Kirovsk region, military base 274, (1944) found in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Libraries (MIT), Unlocking History Research Group archive, MC 0760. 

Before folding his letter into a distinct triangular letterpacket, this World War II Russian soldier wrote home to his parents, letting them know that he was well and that he had received their letter. He informed them that he had recently joined the Communist Party of Russian Workers and asked them to send more detailed news. 

After writing the letter, he created an edge fold by folding the left long edge in on itself about 35mm. Along that edge is what appears to be a loss from a burn. He then created a diagonal fold by aligning the top right corner of the paper with the opposite long edge. He created another diagonal fold, this time with the top left corner. These actions created a triangular-shaped pocket. He folded the bottom two corners of the letter, aligning one edge of each corner with the bottom edge of the larger triangle-shaped panels. The bottom trapezoid shaped panel tucked into the triangle-shaped pocket to create the letterpacket. 

Practical and economic qualities of letterlocking endured globally after the invention of the gummed envelope in the 1830s, including during and after World War II. This letterlocking variation features zero built-in security measures, perhaps for ultimate national security (the soldiers could not seal the letters or insert enclosures). The triangular formats made the packets easily identifiable and easy to open and close for censoring before returning to the refolded orientation for processing and transport through the postal system. 

This letter is essential to the study of letterlocking because it demonstrates that letters can remain unopened  and travel in the post without the use of adhesives such as sealing wax.

View our video of book artists’ Lucy May Schofield's work inspired by Russian Triangle letters,"Pis'ma-treigol'niki = Letters of triangles," England (2013 (UH0016). View our other war-time letterlocking videos showing aerogrammes, telegrams, and prisoner-of-war stationery:  WWII Prisoner of War (POW) Letter from a Son to his Mother, Oran, Algeria (1944 (UH0037)), Brienne Postal Archive: "I wish you 100,000 good nights,...", diamond letter Holland (1694 (UH0047), Brienne Postal Archive: Hate Mail?: A Diamond-shaped letter in the Brienne Postal Archive, Europe (1690–1711 (UH0051)), WWII Russian Soldier Triangle Letter with Drawing (c.1940s (UH0063)), Brienne Postal Archive: A POW letter: A son’s diamond-locked letter to his father France (1689 (UH0166)).

Produced by MIT Video Production. Directed by Jana Dambrogio. Funded by the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Libraries. Special thanks to Ayako Letizia who demonstrated this letterlocking variation and Sasha Kouznetsov for translating this letter into English. Special thanks to Camille Dekeyser and MIT Video Production staff. 

Citation information: Authors: Jana Dambrogio and Daniel Starza Smith. Title: "Russian WWII Soldier Triangle Letter, Russia (1944)," Letterlocking Instructional Videos. Unlocking History number 0052/Letterlocking Unique Video number: 052. Date filmed: December 2015. Duration: 1:33. Date posted: March 2016. Video URL: [Insert URL]. Date accessed: [Date].

Copyright 2015–present. Jana Dambrogio, the Unlocking History Research Group, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). All rights reserved. The following copyrighted material is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. Contact the MIT Technology Licensing Office for any other licensing inquiries.

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Vimeo URL: https://vimeo.com/letterlocking/russiantriangle1 or https://youtu.be/wuouh-TDO40