German Propaganda Leaflet - Milap

It's almost a month. Hmmm!!! We needed a meeting to sort this out and continue blogging. So here is a leaflet called "Milap" meaning "meeting" or "being together". Ok, no puzzles :-) Let's start.

First of all, I would like to acknowledge the fact that I have taken text from Axis Propaganda site by Herbert Friedman. I could not have translated or expressed it better than what Friedman writes in his article. It's just beautifully expressed. Thus, most of writing below is taken directly from website with some minor addition by me.

Today's leaflet was issued by Germany, numbered LwP 100F and entitled "Milap".

This German leaflet depicts an Indian family thinking of their husband far away fighting the war. The title “Milap” can be translated as “union,” “meeting,” or “being together.”

The text on the front is:

UNION

After bidding farewell to you, we kept on looking for you on the horizon. We even looked for you in the direction where we were not supposed to.

The message is a poetic couplet and it is in the “gazal” form. Urdu is famous for this form of poetry which it borrowed from the Persian. It abundantly uses similes, exaggeration and sharp contrasts for expression. The second line “looked for you in the direction where we were not supposed to” ...sounds strange in English, but can be explained as: We have been so desperate that we know where you have gone and watch the way you are supposed to return home. But, not only in that direction; we look all around hoping that you might return from any direction.

The text on the back is:

Indian Brothers!

If you have a look at your situation, you will notice that your reunion (with your dear ones) is not just very difficult, but impossible. Thousands die everyday on the battlefield. Is it necessary that you also be one of them?

No, certainly not!

Why not to cross over to the German side whenever the opportunity arises? Thousands of your Indian brothers are leading a comfortable life in prisoner-of-war camps. The war is over for them. At the end of the war, they will certainly return to their relatives and be happy.

Think!

Don't waste your precious life for nothing.

At the end there is note section:

Note: You can cross over safely to German side showing this paper.
Here is correct translation of German text in English based on feedback from one of the readers. Thanks to indympm!

Indian soldiers who appeared to German lines and show the leaflet will be accepted as defectors and will be treated with decency, provided meals and guarded.