Origins of Slaughterhouse-Five, Signed
Letter in Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History, Fall 1991
Notes: For an issue of the Indiana Historical Society journal marking the 50th anniversary of the start of the Second World War, Vonnegut, then a private in the US Army, wrote home on May 29, 1945, from the Red Cross Club at the Le Havre P.O.W. Repatriation Camp after he was liberated from Dresden by the US Army. In two sentences he encapsulates what would be his best book, Slaughterhouse-Five: The US and British air forces' "combined labors killed 250,000 people in twenty-four hours and destroyed all of Dresden—possibly the world's most beautiful city. But not me."
This letter has been reprinted a number of times; this may be its first appearance in print.
Edition + Condition: A fine copy of the magazine. Signed by Vonnegut on the page where his letter starts.
Publication: Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, 1991.
Item No: #362382
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