Letters from Benno and Ana Neuburger:

Munich: August 4, 1938

Dear Children,

Reading your letter I’m very happy to hear that you my dear Hani are so happy with your dear Ludwig and that you my dear Ludwig are so happy with your dear Hani. I wish so much to be with you and now that Fritz is with you – he’ll tell you all the news.

Dear Hani, you will let us know about everything and especially about Fritz how he’ll manage with his new life. I dearly wish to be with you there.

Dear Fritz,

I’m wishing you the best in such a faraway country and let us know how you are doing. We are very surprised about your being together with Hani. Yesterday Ms. Krauss and Julie stopped by to send you their greetings and congratulations from all your friends.

Aunt Verona is having a hard time with you being in New York but that’s only because she would love to be with you there. I wish I could do something for you, my dear Hani but I guess you’ll stay with Fritz. I can’t believe that I’m without children here but I’m happy that it worked out for you and now for Fritz as well. Even though the farewell was really hard. I will rest and take care of myself so that I’ll be able to join you some day. Hopefully my dear children, you will write to me often so that I can have some joy even though I can’t be with you.

Many greetings and kisses from your Mom.

Munich: August 1938

Dearest Children,

We received your letter, dear Hani, which you had sent on April 11. You would like me to come right away but that’s not possible. Herr Berger is saying that his properties don’t sell so fast and that he’s really not in a rush at all to go abroad. I would love to be with you as soon as possible and to come to New York. You are asking me if Zilli already left but this probably won’t happen before the fall. Ilse as well will probably stay here for now.

Today Kleri Weil came by and told me that she won’t be able to leave any time soon either but she’s sending greetings. Now my dear Hani you’ll have to take care of Fred’s laundry as well but when I’ll be there I’ll give you a hand in your household but only yours.

Dear Fred,

You’ve always been industrious and hardworking and so I’m happy that you’ll be taking a vacation. Your relatives will be happy to see you in Chicago.

This week I received a birthday card from aunt Palomo. I’m often longing for you and my thoughts are always with you, dear children. Clara also has sent me birthday wishes and Hansi has settled in well. I believe that Ledi will be joining you soon but the marriage will have to wait until things look better again.

Dear Hani, are you and Fred still going to the movies so often?

Dear Fred, I’m sure you are happy when you can rest on Sundays.

Greetings and kisses to all of you.

Your Mom

P.S. My loved ones, I’d like to add a few lines and greetings to your mom’s letter. We are always so happy to hear from you. Soon your loved ones will be with you but I’m not looking forward to the farewell even though I’ll wish for you to be altogether. Loving greetings from your aunt Mina.

Munich: September 1938

Dear Hanny,

We received your letter from August 27 and the postcard from August 12, which arrived just a little later than the letter. I’m very pleased to hear that you are so happy and that you’ve found a new home. Fritz must be very glad to be in such close proximity to you.

Your mom lets me know regularly how you are doing and everything seems to be great. We mostly talk about you guys and Kurt who, as you know, married fourteen days ago. It is the way it is – the children are doing their own thing now. Even though it’s hard at times to realize that. We still have to get used to the new daughter-in-law.

Luckily Fritz had just started his new position and there’s no doubt in my mind that he’ll be successful in whatever he sets his mind to. Being what he is — orderly, hardworking and smart.

Dear Hanny,

Thank you very much for writing me. I wish I could see with my own eyes how Loving your new home and house is. You are always advising your mom not to work so much but you know how she is — she just does it slowly, but she has to do it. There’s certainly no reason for her to rush.

Otherwise I don’t have any other news to report. I’d love to congratulate you on your birthday though. Wishing you all the best, my dear Hanny.

I’ll be sending Fritz two packs of Zimtsterne (Cinnamon stars, a pastry or large cookies!). Hopefully they’ll reach their destiny. I’m certain you are spoiling your family with the most delicious cuisine.

Loving greetings to both of you from L.Stauhs and Neumeier.

Dearest loved ones,

I just received the letter from Ludwig, and I wish and hope that your marriage will be blessed by God and that you’ll be happy and content for the rest of your lives together. A new life will begin for you and that’s even more important now in these sad times. The way you’ve gotten together will be a cornerstone for how life will play out for you in good and in bad times and that the love for each other will stand the test.

Munich: September 24, 1938

Dear children,

We received your letter, and we are happy to know that you are doing well. Regarding the consulate, it should be done next week with the corrected data. I was born on 03/04/1871 and mom on 04/15/1877. Please give this information to Aunt Salome and Morton since we haven’t sent anything to them yet. They wrote us that they are looking forward to it and that they would be grateful for it.

We are wondering if you could send us linen goods? It certainly would be great if you could get it for us.

I’m overjoyed that you Fred have found work. It’s always good to be making progress.

Please write us soon!

Loving greetings from your loving father.
Again wishing you a Happy Birthday!!!

Dear children,

Dear Hani,

We finally received your letter, and we’ll respond to you right away. We are doing fine and hopefully it’s the same for you. In regard to the B.W. brothers there won’t be anything we can do with them since we can’t go there.

You must be meeting new immigrants all the time since there are people leaving constantly.

Please write us soon.

Many greetings from your loving father.

Munich: September 28, 1938

Dear Children,

Since I haven’t heard from you this week I will update you on what’s going on here. We enjoyed the holidays even though we were alone. My thoughts were with you.

I also went to the synagogue. This morning Clara came by, but she will leave this evening.

How are you all doing? Fritz, are you well-adjusted with your new business? What’s Hani doing? With Dad I often go for long walks since the weather is so beautiful, but I hardly make it to the movies anymore. I’m sad that you didn’t write me during the holidays — I would’ve really appreciated it. Hopefully you’ll write me soon.

Hansi is still here — she hasn’t managed to leave yet. Ms. Preuss and Julia often ask for you. A lot of acquaintances often ask for you as well.

What kind of handbag did Hani get from Ms. Falk? I’m wondering if Kurt didn’t give it to her instead. I hardly ever get together with Ms. Falk. She would like to rent a room from us but this won’t be possible. After Hani married we haven’t really heard much of her. We are always so happy to hear from everyone.

I don’t have any news to report. Aunt Mina and uncle are writing very little as well. Hedi and Willi paid me a visit. I’m wondering if Benno is all alone at home now.

Please write me soon.

Greetings and kisses from your Mom

Munich: October 23, 1938

Dear children,

I’m happy to hear that you’re doing so well which is the same for us.

Dear Fritz,

We missed hearing from you this week.

Dear Hani,

You can’t write us enough, that’s how much we are looking forward to your Loving words. Me and dad celebrated your birthday today. We cooked a really nice dinner but of course missed being with you. How much would we have liked to celebrate with you at your house. Yesterday Ms. Lohmann sent you cookies and chocolate if you like them I’ll send you more.

Fritz,

I’m wondering if you had a chance to get together with Mr. Herz? I’m sure Mrs. Herz has already found work just as her husband. Do you know if they both are planning on staying in New York? Fritz, I’m sure you are quite busy in your store. What are you always doing on Sundays?

It’s getting cold.

Dear Hani,

Are you already wearing your fur coat? Clara and Hedi bought themselves a nice one as well. I’m sad that I haven’t heard anything from Clara in a long time and Traute is not sharing much either. Hansi is staying with us right now.

Nobody really knows when they’ll get away.

Dear Hani,
It certainly sounds like you have plenty of things to do keeping up with your household. By the way, when do Ludwig and Fritz come home after they’ve locked up the store and when do they leave in the morning?

Dear Fritz,
Did you get another room? Please send us some pictures. We’d love to see them.

Ilse told us over the phone that aunt Mina has written her a letter. It sounded like that she’s already getting ready for winter.

Greetings and kisses from your mom.

Dear children,

We are always enjoying reading your letters. Especially when you have good things to report.

We are doing well and are having a pretty good life. Lately I wrote you a lot about going away and then I also read in the newspaper about emigration. The article says that it would be difficult to live temporarily in a foreign country with a hot climate like Cuba. I just think it would be best to go straight to New York instead of having to live somewhere in transition. On top of that, it would cost a lot more to make two journeys instead of just one. Especially since you couldn’t really afford to pay for all of this anyway. We are still waiting for the money from the sale of our properties. As of now we can’t pay for any of these travel expenses until we receive payment. Nevertheless it would be better if we used all of our money, since we could hardly bring any money on the trip anyway.

Enjoy your life and don’t just work and save all your money for us. I’m just afraid that you will lose track of your career. As soon as we can get direct passage to New York we’ll leave right away. I’ve written you many times that we might have a chance to get directly to New York.

Dear Hani,

You wrote us that you might become a citizen quite soon and that’s probably going to help with our application. But just think what it would cost to spend time in Cuba until we could continue to New York. If we only had the money! In the Jewish paper there’s an article about Cuba. Mr. Mittelberger can’t wait to get away. He is consulting his son about his options. As soon as I hear something about that I’ll let you know. I’ll close this letter now.

Best regards,

Your loving father.

Munich: November 12, 1938

Dear Hani,
We have received your letter from November 4. We are happy that you children are doing so well. With myself everything is the same. I’m alone but dad will be getting home soon. Louis and Willi just came by. (Most likely the Holzer brothers, ed.) Rudi has been gone for a while.

Don’t worry about me – under these circumstances, I’m just fine. My dearest wish is just to be with you and dad of course as well. That’s all we are thinking about but when will it happen?

Dear Hani,

Can you remember how much money dad had? Louis, you must’ve seen the bill. I know it’s been a few years but maybe you can remember when you gave it back to dad. Please let me know either way. I will keep you updated regarding this matter.

My loved ones, (Letter from the Holzers)

As you can see we are still with your mom. Don’t worry she’s doing well considering the circumstances. We’ll remain here until we can return home. Of course the best thing would be to go to America right away. Maybe you could help us with a sponsorship. That would be highly appreciated. Marta is also in the hospital. We’ll be visiting her soon. Klara wrote us a letter today. She said that she would be staying with Simon for right now. She also wrote that she would be writing to you soon. Please write us soon!

Loving greetings from your cousin Hedi.

My dear ones,

It’s been great looking after your mom since we are still here anyway. I just wanted to tell you that we are living with our dad for the time being. We are hoping to emigrate soon, and we are indeed quite desperate to get to America. Unfortunately it’s taking longer than expected. I’m happy to hear that you like your new home. Your mom can’t wait to see you again.

Best regards from all of us.
Yours sincerely,
Hansi.

Dear Hani,

How is it being married? Are you enjoying it?

Dear Hanny and Dear Fritz,

Thank you so much for your Loving words. You must have received our letter as well. It’s a pleasure to know about your well-being. All we are wishing for is to be with you. We had to leave our home on Thursday. (Thursday, November 10 most likely, ed) That’s why we are staying with your mom now. She’s taking it quite well. God willing we will be able to bear all the hardships we are experiencing now. Who knows what the next days will bring. Unfortunately we won’t be able to send you the requested newspapers. They didn’t come this week. Clara called us from Vogel’s home yesterday and wanted to know how we are doing. She won’t come back.

Take care of yourselves and please write us soon!

Loving greetings from your Hedi.

P.S. Eight days ago we visited Masel. He’s doing fairly well considering the circumstances. We are hoping to leave with him sometime.

Munich: November 13, 1938

My Dear children,

It’s a pleasure writing you again today. I’m doing pretty well so please don’t worry about me.

Dad should be here any moment. My biggest wish is to be with you, my dear children. It looks like we are the only ones who stayed behind. Clara is gone and soon everyone will leave. I’m just happy that you, my dear children, got away in time. I got a letter from Aunt Mina today. She’s doing all right considering what she’s gone through. Well the main thing is that we all stay healthy.

Greetings from your mom.

PS I hope that these few lines will find you well and in good health. This is to be said for us as well even though my dear wife is still remaining in the hospital. Her left foot is in a cast and she’s still in quite a bit of pain. With God’s help it’ll be healed in fourteen days.
Alfred Holzer

Munich: November 25, 1938

Dear Fritz and Hani,

We received your letters from November the 11th and the 15th. We just wish we could already be with you. Dad is still out doing things. (Probably a reference to being in Dachau, ed.) Hopefully you can get your citizenship quickly. I’m sure things will get easier then. Every day we are waiting for mail from the authorities but nothing so far.

There’s so much to take care of. But in the meanwhile all we can do is wait. Yesterday Fritz’s friend was here. He’ll be leaving next week. Dad is trying to make things happen, but so far without luck. I’m just so happy that all of you children got away. We just have to wait to be reunited with you again. Every day I’m praying to the Almighty that we stay healthy until we get to you. How wonderful it would be if you could pick us up from the ship, you, standing at the shore and us waving from the ship.

My thoughts are always with you and I’m sure it’ll all work out in the end.

Greetings and kisses from your mom.

Munich: Nov. 25, 1938 (Letter had no year but this is the most likely one as it’s from the Holzer’s who were driven from their home in the events of November 9 -10)

Dear Aunt Emma,
Us sisters Holzer and your cousin as well as Aunt Anna noticed with delight over the years that you and my mom had a lively correspondence going on between the two of you. Now we’d like to ask you for a big favor. We are in big trouble here and we would like to emigrate to America. In order to do that though we need sponsors and we thought that you, your sons, our cousin Julius or maybe your brother Leo (from whom we heard a lot of good things) might be willing to do that for us. We would be forever thankful to you.

We are strongly hoping to get your help in this matter since it would mean life or death for us in our situation here. Karl Laemmle might be able to pull some strings as well. We are willing to do whatever work there is to do once we are in America. Our mom taught us not to be picky when it comes to earning a living.

Here are the dates for when we were born:

Father Willi Holzer born 07/03/1874
Benno Holzer born 01/10/1904
Hedwick Holzer born 02/17/1906
Maximilian Holzer born 12/28/1909
Alfred Holzer born 06/11/1907
Marta Holzer born 05/26/1907
Benno, Hedwick, Maximilian and Alfred were born in Traunstein whereas Marta was born in Bergzabern.

At this time we are all in Munich with our aunt Anna Neuburger and we are longing to hear from you as soon as possible.

Dear aunt,

Anna’s children Hani and Fritz have been in America now for a while and now they are trying to get sponsors for their parents. As soon as they have the documents they’d like to leave right away.

Our aunt Mina gave us your address and since we don’t have any other relatives in the U.S.A we are very much hoping to get your support in this life threatening situation.

Once again we are very much hoping that you can help us for which we would be indebted to you for the rest of our lives.

Thank you very much and many greetings from our family Holzer.

Loving greetings from Alfred and wife and Willi.

Greetings from Benno Holzer. Please help us in these difficult times.

P.S. Dear aunt,

Please have it in your heart to help your relatives. They’ll be very thankful to you. Loving greetings to everyone and I hope to see you again someday.

Your cousin, Anna.

Munich: December 11, 1938

Dear Children,
We received your letter. Hopefully we’ll be able to come to you soon. It’s both our dearest wish to join you as soon as possible. It would be so wonderful to live with all of you. I’m very grateful that you’ve been always nice to us. I’m looking forward to helping you with your household. What I’m able to do I’ll do. I can’t wait to cook for you, Hani.

You must be very busy since you started working. I’m just so happy that you found some work – just like Ludwig and Fred. It makes for a happy life.

Today Benno and Hedi stopped by to say “Hi”. They’ve been looking for their own apartment since our place is just not big enough with so many people living here.

As you know Dad doesn’t like to have so many people around. The good news is that Hansi, Paul and Margit are leaving the country tomorrow. They are so happy to get away.

Life just runs its course. When I receive something I will certainly let you know. Since you left everything changed. We are getting by — don’t you worry about it. When he was gone I was spending a lot of time with my cousin, and we had a great time. I would love to go to my brother, but it turns out to be very difficult. Now we are able to hang out again. Leni has written us regarding the bill of the fourth quarter. It arrived before the deadline, and it couldn’t be much anyway. Most unfortunately the Traunstein’s (must be the Holzers, ed) are staying with us. I won’t have to tell you that I could do without Willi’s and his children’s yelling. They truly believe that we should accommodate them in any matter regardless of the inconvenience. They just have no education and bad manners.

Munich: December 11, 1938

My loved ones,
We received your letter from November 30, 1938, and we are very happy with its contents. We’ll be so happy once we can leave. As you know we sold half of our properties in September, but we still have to receive the money for it.

Ilona 803 German Mark until November 30
Leni 157 German Mark
Frank not valid! Nothing has been paid for.

You really have no idea how things are. Just be happy that you got away. In the middle of October I wrote to Stuttgart.

Please write us soon! We are sending all of you our regards.

Your loving father
Munich: January 8, 1939

Dear children,

Even though I haven’t heard from you this week I hope everything is fine. We are doing quite well. So far there’s no answer from Stuttgart. Just wishing we could come soon. I’m wondering if you’ve gotten the packages of gingerbread and cookies. The chocolate is from Hedi. Yesterday Mrs. Neumeier stopped by and told us that her packages for you came back. It seems as if she had the address wrong. Just about everybody wants to leave now. Mr. and Mrs. Neumeier are going to see Kurt but we’ll see how long their emigration is going to take. I guess it’ll take a while.

Dear Hani,

I wish you’d write more often but I understand that you don’t have as much time anymore. Once I’m there I’ll help you with your household.

Dear Fred,

You are writing us that you’re enjoying Hani’s cooking. That’s wonderful! I can’t wait to cook for you as well.

Hedi is as always, industrious and I like having her around. That way I’m not always alone. Ilse is coming by less and less and Hansi hasn’t contacted us yet. I’m just wondering how things are for him but I just have to wait for him so that I can tell you about it. Please write us soon.

Greetings and kisses from your mom.

Dear children,

Just received your letter and I’m very happy to know that you are doing so well.

Dear Fred,

It’s nice to hear that you are satisfied with your life and that it seems to be going so well for you. Dad and myself are keeping the living-room heated. The younger people are living in the smaller rooms. They still haven’t found an apartment for themselves which is surprising to us. Dad is stubborn about how things are to be run about our emigration. He just gotta have his way – I’m just hoping that it will work out. Hopefully we can be with you soon.

Loving greetings again from your mom.

Munich: January 9, 1939

My loved ones,

Thank you very much for your letter. I’m happy to read that you are all well. The same goes for us.

I wrote to Stuttgart once but have not received an answer yet. Concerning immigration the officials in Stuttgart don’t seem to know how to do it. Simply just going there without an appointment doesn’t make sense because they won’t see you without one. That’s what people say anyway.

Now I’m sick and I have to rest.

I’ve done it without a lawyer and I’ve gotten 800 Reichsmark from Baumann and 157 Reichsmark from Leni. Also there is another 149 Reichsmark to be cleared by officials. Nobody knows why. I sold a bird and six goats but I still have yet to receive the money for them.

January 22, 1939

My dear children,

We happily received your letter from January 8th, 1939. It’s good to know that you’re doing so well.

It’s so depressing that we haven’t heard back from Stuttgart but chances are very slim anyway.

We certainly have written them plenty of times but without an invitation it’s almost impossible to get an answer. Hopefully something else materializes otherwise it doesn’t look too good.

Family Levis is trying to emigrate to Canada. So far it’s been taking a very long time as well, but their son is sponsoring them.

Dear Fred,

We are hoping that your business is doing well. Now that you’re still young and ambitious – this is the time to make it happen. As you know I have to be very stingy with my money. There’s just no way to earn any. Sure I could sell something but you can never be sure if you get paid or not.

A lot of people unfortunately are trying to take advantage of you. So many people are leaving but we, as Jews, have to wait. It’s a mess and it’s hard to know how to proceed next. Hopefully something is going to work out. It’s just too bad that I basically have no income anymore. I’m trying to get them to pay but I don’t have a lot of leverage. Levi is one of them who hasn’t paid yet and Baumann hasn’t paid back the 149 Marks either. I’ve almost given up hope that anyone will pay me back but if it does happen I will certainly let you know.

Munich: January 26, 1939

Dear children,

I’m writing you again this week. So far we haven’t heard anything from Stuttgart. Of course we can’t wait to receive some good news. You have no idea how dad can get all irritated about something but dear Hani and Fred, I think you know exactly what I’m talking about. You know how he can be. I just wish you were here to calm him down a little when he’s like that. It’s sometimes unbearable. I just wish we could come right away. My longing to see you is all I can think about sometimes. My dear children, I can’t wait to receive mail from you. If we could just emigrate to New York right away.

Dear Fred,
That you want us to go to Canada first is very nice.
My dear children, don’t worry so much about us! The main thing is that we all stay healthy. Instead of dad getting all anxious about our emigration plans I’ll try to stay calm. This week me and Hedi went shopping in the city and I bought a few things for myself. Pg 52

Today we got a letter from Clara. She’s saying that she likes her job and that she’s quite content over all. It looks like Hansi already arrived in New York – so that’s good.

Dear Hani,

We just received your letter from January 13th. It’s always nice to hear from you. Whatever dad wrote you – it’s fine with me. Just like you are saying, my dear children, it’s time for us to leave here. I’m glad you finally received the gingerbread – it sure took a long time. It sounds like you haven’t received the package from Hedi yet. Just as you wish, my dear Hani, I’ll wait to send it to you.

Aunt Salome wrote us this week as well. It’s wonderful to get so much mail all the sudden.

My best greetings to you from your mom.

Munich: March 31, 1939

Dearest children,
We received your letter from March 13th and are very happy to get mail from you so often.
My thoughts are always with you. Hopefully we’ll be together soon. Aunt Mina likes being here. She finds it easier here to take her mind off things for a little while. Since you’ve been gone, my children, I’ve had a lot of visitors who stay for a few days every so often. Your room, my dear Fred, has been occupied since you’ve left. Aunt Mina also likes to hang out with Hedi. Ilse and Fredi are enjoying our company quite often as well. Yesterday, Mrs. Neumeier came by. She became a grandma quite recently. Please tell Kurt to write us soon. His wife is a niece of Mrs. Berlinger. Her daughter hasn’t had much luck in leaving this country either.

Dear Fred,
You seem to be getting together with people all the time. As miserable as the situation here is there are people leaving daily. Of course we are wondering when it is our turn. The process of our leaving seems to have come to a stop. Herta will be spending the holidays at her parent’s house.

Dear Hani,
You are asking when Hedi will have her wedding. They won’t have it until they figure out where to leave to.
Dear Hani,
I can’t believe that you have to go to the dentist so often. He must have done a bad job fixing your teeth.

Dear Fred,
You must have a really nice apartment. Is Family Herz still living with you? What are they up to? How are they doing?

The weather has been really nice lately. I don’t have to use the heat anymore. I’ll be sending you a small package this week. I’d love to send you a bigger one but we are not allowed to anymore. I’m thinking of you all the time. God willing, we’ll be with you soon.

Greetings and kisses from your mom.

P.S. My dear ones, to spend the holidays with your loved ones is wonderful. We are wishing to hear only good news from you. I don’t have much to say about family Langheim. My circle of friends is getting smaller and smaller. Yesterday Ilse and her boy came by. He’s a good child.
I wish I could see Tilli more often but it’s hard for me to go out. But I’m very lucky to be here with your loved ones. This makes me happy! I’m wishing you the best of luck.

Yours, Aunt Mina.

Munich: April 1, 1939
Dearest children,

I received your letters from March 26th. I’m happy to hear that you’re doing so well. The same is true for us.

Dear Fred and Hani,

You are telling us to go to Cuba first but doesn’t that cost a lot of extra money. Are you sure you’ll be able to come up with the money? How much luggage can we bring along? Do you want us to bring along any furniture? I know it’s kind of early to be thinking about all this but I would just feel better if I’d know it in advance. You have no idea how much we are looking forward to seeing you again. Don’t worry, I’m following your advice. I’m really not working that much and then there’s Anna who helps me a great deal. By the way she’s always sending her regards. She especially liked Hani’s and Ludwig’s photo. Today has been quite a nice day. I’ve been spending a lot of time with Aunt Ida at Hadi’s house.

Many greetings from your mom.

Munich: April 2, 1939

You must have just gotten a letter from me but I’d like to keep you informed regarding Cuba (Havana). We would love to leave but it has to be done in a practical fashion. We’ll have to research what life is going to be in Cuba and how it’s going to be if we have to stay there for a longer period of time. It’s getting more difficult all the time to get a passage and we are asking ourselves what the best way is in regards of our luggage, the clothes, the porcelain, the bedding and other things. We have to make sure that it gets there. Would it be better if we send it first to Cuba or should we send it right away to New York? I’ll have to find out about it or I’ll find out in Cuba.

But at least I’ll have to get everything done regarding the sale of the properties.

Since you left nothing really has gotten resolved and they got sold in August and September. I’ll try to push it but there’s nothing much I can do. That’s how it is these days. We are more or less powerless.

I received your letter and I looked at the situation. As soon as the letter was sent off I went to work on dealing with the preparations of this matter.

Please make your own investigation and I’ll let you know if I’ll find out anything.

I hope that you are well and healthy just as much as we are.

Please write again soon! I’m sending my regards to all of you.

Your loving father

Dearest Children,

Since dad is writing you I’d like to add a few lines as well. It would be wonderful if you could arrange for us to come to you but I’m sure it’ll take a while before that will happen.

Dear Hani and Dear Fritz,

Thank you for writing so frequently. We highly appreciate it. I certainly understand if you don’t have as much time to write as we do. You probably will spend the holidays walking in the sun. Here is it already sunny in the morning.

Your mom

Munich: April 16, 1939

Dear Fritz,

As I told you already I subtracted the following amounts from your savings account (1793,70 Reichsmark):

-70 Reichsmark on 10/15/1938 to Frank Schur for delivery charges

-803,70 Reichsmark on 12/29/1938 to Mr. Bauman

-149,15 Reichsmark on 02/01/1939 to Mr. Bauman

-157,84 Reichsmark on 02/01/1939 to Mr. Lavi

This leaves the rest of 613 Reichsmark in your account!

Beginning in March I enquired about the 1100 Reichsmark, whether I need to report them as taxable income. Please let me know because I only have two notes and nothing else which makes it hard to know what to do with it. Those notes tell me that Mr. Bauman still owes us 1100 Reichsmark and that Mr. Lavi hasn’t paid anything. Please help me with it.

Munich: April 30, 1939

Dear children,

Thank you my dear Hani that you are writing us from Cuba. We received your letter dated on April 18. I guess you probably received our letter with the newspaper articles. As you can see from the articles the situation is not good.

As much as you like us to – we can’t just sit in Cuba for a couple of years. That will cost quite a bit of money and we think it’s better to wait until one of you has become a citizen so that we can come directly to the US.

We are hoping to get our letters answered soon. Please don’t mind uncle Louis. I think you know how he can be. He makes a big fuss out of nothing and all he wants is that I pay him interest for the 200 German marks he loaned to me three years ago. Even though I only had that money for a short period of time. Please give him 10 German marks and not the 30 he wants. With that it’s off the table.

To be quite honest it wasn’t necessary for mom to write about it. All she wanted to know is whether not more than the 200 German marks were paid back. That’s all.
Besides that, we are doing well, and we are hoping that you are enjoying a good life as well.

I wish I could travel to the World exhibition* but they won’t give us the necessary travel documents. We are just being treated differently. Please write us back soon.

Loving greetings from your loving father.

*A World’s Fair was held in New York opening April 30, 1939.

Munich: May 8, 1939

Dear Children,
Hooray, I received the letter from April 26 and as soon as I get everything taken care of – I will do everything to get away. Well, no. I can’t just abandon everything and leave. How am I supposed to do that? I have to get at least 8000 Reichsmark and to sell the properties – it’s just not that easy and to move to another country I need money. I really think that you haven’t understood my letters at all. I should know better how the situation here is, don’t you think? I need to organize my things and we always saved money and now I need money to finance this journey and to purchase the necessary things for travelling. In order to sell everything I’ll hire a lawyer and I also want to sell the Ledinger and Neuginger properties.

I have written to you already twice regarding the account and Baumann and I have to ask you again to write it on a blank piece of paper so that I know how much I have to pay for you to the IRS. A mere note in a private letter is not going to do it.
Page 42

You either took everything or destroyed it – so you have to tell me if the

MK 952
Fee 157
—————-
Total 1109

is already sold and what not. I can’t grasp that you don’t understand that I simply cannot know certain financial things since you took or destroyed all your financial records. If you sold it I won’t have to do it anymore. If I can’t take care of my finances soon I’ll just have to hire a lawyer.

Dr. F.A. Rothschild
200 Pinehurst Ave.
New York 33, N.Y.

You will have to let us know if you want us to bring some furniture along. Pg. 6

Dear Fred,
I will get the necessary clothes for myself. Please don’t worry! None of the furniture has been sold so far. Knowing your dad – he’s never in a hurry!

Tilli and Hermann went to Herlingen today*. I will visit Aunt Mina today.

I’ll write you again this week.

Greetings and kisses, Your mom

*Small town near Ulm.
Munich: September 9, 1939

Dearest Children,

Still haven’t heard from you this week but I’d like to let you know how things are. I hope Hani and everyone else is doing well. My thoughts are with you. We’re doing well – don’t worry about us. Today Anna is helping me. I can rest since the young woman makes her own room so that I don’t have any work with it. How are you doing Fred? Hope you’re keeping up with everything. I’ve been patiently waiting for your picture. Can’t wait to get it. I’m very much enjoying Hani’s and Ludwig’s picture. I love to look at it. The image is always with me.

Don’t worry about us. It will all work out. The aunt is still there.

Greetings and kisses from your mom.

We are just living our lives in hopes of getting away. Unfortunately it’s hard to get to places. We still haven’t gotten the promised pictures from you. Pg 33

But the main thing is that you are living a life full of joy and happiness and of health. We are so incredibly happy that you are where you are. Fate has been on your side.

Please write us soon and we will do the same.

Live a happy, contented, and respectful life.

Your loving father

Munich: September 14,1939

Dear children,

I just got done with all my ironing. Now I’d like to let you know how much I want to be with you.

Dear Hani,

Don’t worry we won’t lose our patience. Someday it’ll happen. Since you are asking, Hedi is not coming by that often anymore. She’s changed a lot the last past weeks and hasn’t really been visiting her relatives all that often either. Of course we’d love for her to come by more often. Right now Hedi’s husband is here, and he talks a lot about going away. It’s just not as easy as you think it is. Dad is not going to talk to L.W. – there’s nothing I can do about it. You know how stubborn he can be. Each week Dad gets together with his godfather for a glass of beer.

Dear Fred,

I’m happy to hear that you got over your cold. Do you still have such hot weather?

The heat here is quite bearable. The woman who’s renting a room in our apartment is most of the time at home. We do like it but we are just not used to it being in such a small apartment.

Dad is busy shopping and is already looking forward to do the same for you.

Dear Hani,

Are you still doing the same job? I’m just wondering where are you, Gustav (Ludwig?) and Fred going on vacation this year? It was so great last year when we all went together on vacation. The automobile tour with the Herz family was so enjoyable!

Aunt Clara is sending greetings. She would write herself but her hand is hurting her.

Best greetings and kisses from your mom!

September 26, 1939

Dear children,

I hope you are all well since I haven’t heard from you after I’ve received your last letter from September 22.

We are doing well and that’s a very good thing to say in these times. Please do some more research in regards of the sponsorships. Too bad that I didn’t have any luck in getting any money from our buyers nor was I successful in selling anything new.

People are leaving now all the time but I’m sure you hear the news as well. We are longing to hear good news of anything.
Loving greetings from your loving father.
Dear children, I like hearing the good things you are telling me. It’s nice to know that you are all well. But one thing worries me. We’ve heard in the news that there was an underground accident in Long Island. Please write me right away to let us know that you are all safe.
We’d love to get away from here but how are we supposed to live in Cuba? That’s going to cost a lot of money. How do you think about it? Please let us know your thoughts.Please write us soon!Best greetings from your loving father.
Dear children, We are so delighted to hear good news from you. It’s been going pretty well with us too.
Dear Fritz,

I’m sorry to say that none of your concerns have been dealt with yet. Nothing of the freight charges have been paid back so far. As soon as I hear something I’ll let you know.
 Finally, I was able to sell the Loci property. I’m including the official note which I sent to the consulate in Stuttgart yesterday. Please write us back soon!Loving greetings from your loving father.

Munich: October 12, 1939

My dear ones,

I was so joyous to receive your letter this morning. God willing, we’ll be with you soon. Once dad is home again I won’t feel so lonely anymore. It’s better when he’s here. Please make it happen so that we can come to New York this year. Aunt Mina is doing well.

My dear children, please don’t worry so much about me. I’m doing fine and my feet are a lot better as well. With God’s help we’ll be with you soon. We just have to stay optimistic.

Greetings from your mom.

PS Dad will probably be home tomorrow and then he’s going to write you as well.

Dear Hani,

Are you still in a lot of contact with Regina? Yes, I’m not surprised that you haven’t heard from Clara in a while. Our relatives down below haven’t heard from her in a month or so. After not seeing her for a while Tilli showed up yesterday. Unfortunately she won’t be getting away anytime soon either.
Dear Hani,

Haven’t you been together with Zilli lately? We are longing to hear from you. My thoughts are always with you, my dear children. Greetings and kisses from your mom.

Munich: Early November, 1939 
Dear children,

Dear Hani,

Yesterday we received your letter from October 25. I’m happy to hear that you are all doing so well. It gives me joy that Fred is spending a lot of time with you. I wish I could be there with you as well. I’m hopeful that the new year will bring us to you. Yesterday evening we spent time down at the apartment of our relatives, but dad didn’t last that long. We managed to go to bed by 11.
Dear Hani,

You probably won’t be going to bed that late anymore or are you still up late?
Dear Fred,

When you are up so late . . . do you study for the apprenticeship? It has gotten very cold lately.

Where would we get that from? Berlin advised us to pursue our matter locally but there’s no chance it’ll get resolved here. We tried without any success. Benno and Fredi did what they could here and have been to Berlin many times but nothing they did has helped the situation so far. Uncle Willi appreciated your letter very much. He felt very moved by your words.

I can imagine, my dear Hani, that you’re very busy – that’s why I’d love to help you with your chores as soon as I’ll get there. I would love to cook for you and whatever else I can help you with. This Sunday we’ll keep it simple. Hopefully there will be nice weather so that we can go outside.

Many greetings to you, my dear children, from your mom.

We rather wait than committing to a country where everything is uncertain. I can’t imagine living in a foreign country with a hot climate for two years. We are just too old for this kind of adventure and by the way we don’t want you to feel burdened by us. You can’t just work for us. Who knows we might get sick there and what are we going to do then? We probably would be completely without income over there – not knowing the language, the culture and the people. I think I would feel immensely lost and helpless.

So please let go of that plan all together. It won’t work. We won’t give up our life here for an uncertain future. Don’t get me wrong we certainly appreciate all your hard work in trying to help us. This is just not going to work – at least not for us.

For now I won’t do anything until I hear back from you. Let’s just discuss this in all detail before we rush into anything. So please be careful and check back with us before you spend any money.

People speak a lot about these things and you really don’t know who to believe. I think the best thing to do is to wait for now but not too long because the situation here is for sure not going to get any better soon. Please take all this in consideration before making any plans.

Write us soon!

Best greetings from your loving father.

P.S. My dear children, for today I’m only sending you my Loving greetings and kisses. Your mom.

Munich: December 26, 1939

Dear children,

It’s been a while since I’ve heard from you. Hope you are doing well. We are doing fine too. Dad is quite excited about becoming a grandpa. You have to let him know as soon as the child is born.

Dear Hani,

We are wishing you an easy birth and a healthy child. This Christmas we’ll be spending at our place.

Dear Fred and Hani,

You’ll be happy once I can help you with your household. We’ll just have to be patient. Someday we’ll be reunited. Lots of people are leaving the country. Just wishing to be one of them. Just like dad told you the sponsorships have to be renewed.

Dear Ludwig,

Please let us know as soon as you become a father. We’ll be waiting for news from you.

The relatives are all doing well. Hedi’s husband Benno just stopped by. He’s very happy to emigrate soon. This week we’ll be visiting Clara. It’s about time to see her again. She said that she plans on writing you soon.

Munich: December 31,1939

Dear children,

I’m happy to report that we are all well. Thanks for your letter from October 25th. We are glad to hear that you are doing fine. We are hoping that you enjoy your life as best as you can. Don’t miss out on any opportunities life has to offer to you. Please ask around regarding sponsorships and the necessary rules one has to follow. You might also need to contact Chicago to renew our sponsorships. I’m hoping to hear from you now more often since there are so many ships from America arriving in Genova these days. Please write us as much as possible. You are our only hope.

Loving greetings from your loving father.

P.S. On October 15 I received a postcard from Aunt Salome from Chicago. I’ll hurry to answer her.

February 1940

Dear Hani,

Hopefully you and the child are well. By the way you haven’t told us the name of the child yet — it would be nice if you would tell us soon.

Please write us soon and make sure you’ll investigate the necessary steps to be taken at the local immigration office. I’m afraid we are at a loss here.

Loving greetings from all of us.

Your loving father.
page 28

Dearest children,

I’d like to write you every week. We are doing well and hoping the same for you. How’s my little grandchild Karolina doing? My thoughts are often with you. Dear Hani I hope to get a picture of Karolina soon. Yesterday Ilse had her baby-boy. He’s a good-looking boy and she said that she wanted to send you a picture. How are you, Fred? I’m always happy to hear from you. You seem to be often at Hani and Ludwig’s. Soon your niece will be going for a walk with you as long as she continues her progress.

Dear Hani,

I’m sure you are very busy but please write us soon. Hopefully the time will come soon when we’ll see each other again.

Please stay healthy, my dear children.

Greetings and kisses,

Your mom.

I sent you twice a copy of a certificate of employment, once on the 20th and again on the 22nd of September as I stated in those letters. I had all those copies made and I’m just hoping that they’ll be good for something. Hopefully Washington will recognize them as valid. It’s been said that people under 60 are currently not allowed to leave anymore. So maybe our chances are better because of that even though there are plenty of old folks who are still here. We are not giving up on hope but of course we are asking ourselves if we’ll be able to leave.

We certainly don’t want you to suffer any kind of damages. This is not in our interest and it should be avoided whenever possible. Please make sure you’ll get the best advice possible so that you’ll know exactly what you are dealing with. Hopefully the Jewish organization is of some help in that matter.

Luckily mom and myself are enjoying good health. We’ll be writing again soon.

With best regards from your loving father.

PS We are happy that Karolina is doing so well. It’s just too bad that we didn’t receive the picture.

Munich: April 11, 1940

Dear children,

We received your letter from January 7, 1940. Now we know that you changed apartments within the same house. As always I can report that we are doing well, and I hope you are too. Regarding the sponsorship we haven’t heard anything new and really don’t know what’s going on. It’s hard to get a grip on how things work. Many factors are just so nebulous, and we don’t know if we keep the number they gave us. I’m wondering if Hani will become a citizen soon. Regarding the income from the sale of the properties, nothing really is moving forward and all we can do is wait and wait. For that reason we will be more than happy once this is all over and to leave this place.

Dear children,

I’m always happy to hear from you. Especially that you are doing so well which is the same for us. The main thing is that we all stay healthy. I promise I’ll be taking it easy just as dad. It’s wonderful to hear that Karolina is doing so well. Unfortunately we won’t be able to come for a while as much as we want to.

Dear Hani,
You are writing us that you, Ludwig, and the child are going to places a lot by car.

Dear Fred,
You seem to be away with Kati a lot as well. How much would we love to be at your home until you get back from your travels. One day we’ll be reunited. Until then we are full of hope that it will happen.

Hansi is sending her regards. Margit is happy to have her parents with her. Tilli won’t be emigrating anytime soon either but she’s doing well. Ilse and her wild sons are just fine as well. I’m just wondering if you heard anything from Clara? She should be coming soon. All the relatives as well as Heiner are sending their regards.

Dear Fred,

I’m sorry that you had to spent so much money on us when you probably could have used it for your business. This week Mr. Mittel came by again and dad had a good chat with him as he always does.

Dear children,

Please write us soon. For now I’m sending you Loving
greetings and kisses.

Your mom.

We are doing fine, and I hope it’s the same with you. Is little Karolina advancing in her abilities?

Mom is busy right now and I have to run some errands. Please write us soon! We’ll do the same.

Greetings from your mom and myself to all of you. We’ll write you soon- please do the same!

Once again many greetings from your father to all of you.

Your loving father

Munich: September 26, 1940

Dear children,

Thank you very much. I received the letter with the transcriptions of the sponsorships and I’m wondering if you still have a copy of those because there a several mistakes in it. Mom’s date of birth is not 1873, but April 15,1877, and in Bernstein’s letter from Chicago, it referred to Neuberger instead of Neuburger. But I’m sure this can be corrected with an explanation. I’m happy to hear that you all seem to be doing just fine. That’s wonderful. Our life has been pretty good as well. Thanks again for the pictures of Karolina. They have brought us a lot of joy.

Page 8b
It’ll take a lot longer to get away from here, but we are not giving up hope and the time will come eventually.

Gustaf’s parents just received the letter from August 20, and they are hoping to get mail from him more frequently.

His dad hopes that it’ll be possible for Frank to have his parents come to him.

We have been writing you every week now for months. It seems that you should be getting mail from us every week.

Anyway we are hoping to hear from you soon.

Many greetings to you from your loving father.

(Prior to October 3, 1940)
Dear children,

I’d like to get a letter to you before the holidays. We’ll celebrate it as cheerfully as we can without you. Every day I wish to be with you.

Dear Hani,

It would be wonderful if you’d write us more often. I’d love to have pictures of you and Fred and Karolina. Please send some as soon as you can. It would mean a lot to me.

Dear children,

We haven’t heard anything from you in a while. Is everything OK? We sure hope so. I can happily report that we are just doing fine.

Dear Hani,
I’d like to congratulate you to your birthday. We are wishing you lots of joy and many wonderful moments with your child. Our dearest wish is of course to be with you and to hold you in our arms. Please help us so that we can come to you. I know that you already have done so much for us but we just don’t want to give up our hope and we like to believe that it might work out after all. We are longing so much to be with you, our children.

Dear Fred,
I’m happy that your business is doing so well. We are always so happy to hear good news from you.

Karolina must be doing so well and I can only imagine how cute she looks. I’d love to send you something to play with for her. Who knows we might be with you soon. I believe Hansi will arrive in New York soon. How wonderful it will be for you to see her and vice versa.

Have you heard anything from Clara? Hopefully she’ll write you so that you can tell us all about her.

Greetings and kisses from your mom and Loving greetings to Karolina.

Dear Fred,

I’m constantly looking at your picture. Kati’s picture unfortunately turned out to be so small that it’s really hard to recognize her at all. Please send us a bigger one when you get a chance.

Dear Fred and Ludwig,

How’s the business doing? Hopefully things are fine. Wishing you well. All the family is asking for Clara. We just haven’t heard from her in a long time.

Hedi is working really hard like everyone else and she’s not feeling very well. How’s Hansi doing? Everyone is sending her their regards. Have to stop writing now – Clara wants to send it off today.

Many greetings and kisses to Karolina.

Loving greetings and kisses to all of you from your mom.

Dear Children,

We would like to write you once a week. It’s been going well so far and hoping that you’re doing just fine as well. Hopefully we’ll be with you soon. Next week Ms. Bahn will be leaving the country via Cuba while her son will be waiting for her in New York. We just have to keep our hope alive that it’ll happen for us someday as well.

Karolina has to be a big girl by now. I’m looking forward to a photo of her from you my dear Hani.

Dear Fred,

You must be with Kate on vacation right now according to your last letter. Are you happy with your business?

Ludwig,
My thoughts are with you. It’s been quite a rainy summer so far. Dad is gone quite a bit but he’s also home, a good amount of time. Beno Womser (Holzer?) usually stops by on Sundays. He hasn’t been able to leave either. Unfortunately I don’t get to go to our relatives very often since it’s a lot of work to make it happen.

Aunt Mina asked me to include this letter for you. Please write her back.

Dear Fred,

Have you been able to visit Ludwig?

Dear Hani,

You and Karolina must be out and about a lot.

Please stay healthy, my dear children!

Many greetings and kisses from your mom.

P.S. Loving greetings to Karolina.

Please find out about how much a passage would cost with that shipping company “United States Lines” and we are wondering if they take care of everything. As soon as we get your letter we’ll see. I’m very sorry that you are spending so much money for us without knowing if it really does any good. We are doing fine and hoping that the same holds true for you. We are always happy to hear how Karolina is doing. I guess we’ll soon hear from you in regards of Cuba. We are ready to make the journey there. Your last letter we received on October 9.

Loving greetings from your mom and your dad

P.S. You are writing that it would be good to ask Laringer Kunz how they got it done.

Munich: November 15,1940

Dear children,

You are probably wondering why I am writing you again since you must have just received a letter from me. Well, I’m writing you again because I don’t want you to waste your money. Please don’t buy the passages since it’s not sure that we’ll be able to leave at that time. I was wondering if you could send me some kind of confirmation which states that you pay for the passages as soon as it’s certain that we can leave. It’s just that if once the passages have been purchased and we can’t go at least 15% of the money would be gone for sure. Please make all necessary inquiries so that you don’t waste your hard earned money. Maybe it’s also possible to get insurance in case we can’t make the journey. Besides that, I’m still hoping to find an organization or benefactor who pays for our fares.

Did you write to Ida in Chicago? Just wondering if she’s able to pursue our case. I’m hoping that she is trying to work something out with the consulate.

Besides all that we are doing fine. Hopefully the same is true for you.

We received your last letter on October 20, and we are hoping to hear from you soon.

Greetings to all of you and especially to Karolina.

Your loving father.

Munich: December 14, 1940

Dear children,

Finally I received your letter from October 20. We are happy to report that Stuttgart has contacted Chicago and it looks like we’ll be able to leave earlier than expected. Stuttgart still has to send us a notification though so that we can then arrange for our departure. In regard to our sponsorships, mistakes have been made.

Fred has put in the wrong birth date for mom — instead of 1877 he put in 1873 and as well the wrong one for Ludwig. These are grave mistakes since it holds up the process.

Mr. Resurstein wrote a letter to Nauberger. I’m just wondering if Anton was in any way successful.

Fritz, could you please clarify in which way we should be cautious in regard to Chicago? We are doing well but we can’t wait to get away from here. There’s absolutely no point in staying any longer. I still haven’t received any money from the property sales but I’m still hoping to get it.

Regarding the passages we’ll have to wait until we know for sure that we are allowed to leave so that we don’t waste any money.

Nevertheless I’d like to ask you to send out a confirmation to Stuttgart that the passage will be paid as soon as the paperwork has gone through. This can be done by telegram after all. Please arrange everything ahead of time so that we don’t waste any money.

Hope you are all well, and please write us soon. If you tell us which letters you have received we can then know for sure which letters you’ve gotten. When we sent a letter to Clara there was also a letter for you enclosed.

Best greetings from your loving father.

We are wondering if you’ve heard anything from Clara. You would think she would come by for a visit.

How’s Hansi and Margit doing? It looks like you have them over more often. Please tell Hani to write us soon. It’s nice to know what’s going on with everyone. Many greetings to Hansi and Paul.

Please write to Aunt Mina it’s her birthday tomorrow. I’ve heard that Hansi wrote her a letter. She’s always so happy to hear from you. Hermine hasn’t written us in ages. I’m happy to report that Ms. Strauss and Stephan are doing well. They are sending their regards. That’s wonderful my dear Hani that you’ve gotten a new vacuum cleaner. I’d love to see your apartment as well as Fred and Kate’s.

Dear Hani,

You and Ludwig seem to be out and about a lot and I’m sure that Karolina is enjoying that very much as well.

My dear children, please stay healthy and write us soon!

Greetings and kisses from your mom.

How are you, my dear Fred? Are you traveling a lot? And how’s Ludwig doing?

My Loving Karolina will have made much progress by now. Please give my regards to Clara and tell her to write me soon. Unfortunately we never received the package with the coffee. That’s really too bad we were looking forward to it so much.

Mom just wrote to you, and she will write you again very soon.
Please write us as often as possible!

Many greetings to all of you from your most loving father and mom.

Munich: December 16, 1940

Dear children,

Since your last letter we haven’t received anything from you. Hope you’re all well. Dad and myself are fine as well. It’s a shame we haven’t heard anything from Stuttgart. Until they write we’ll just have to wait. The sponsorships from Auerstein will most likely have to be renewed because I don’t think that we’ll be successful before they expire. The best would be if you could go through Chicago and have it processed there again.

Regarding the passage, please make sure that all paperwork is completed before you spend a lot of money on it. We’ll try to help out with the costs, but we just don’t have a lot of money coming in these days. I’m sorry that it’s going to be so expensive.

Some properties I haven’t been able to sell and the ones I’ve sold I haven’t received any money yet. The best would be to leave this place. Mom really misses you all and especially Karolina. And of course I miss you too.

Greetings and kisses and please write us soon!

Your dad

Munich: February 20, 1941

Dear children,

It’s been a while since we heard from you, and we are hoping that there’s mail coming from you soon. There’s a rumor going around that up to 50,000 people will be allowed to emigrate within the next few months. Well I should say the ones who are in possession of a passage. Please make sure you talk to the right people about how to get a passage for us. It seems to me that the shipping lines should be quite busy bringing people over to the USA and therefore it might be easier to arrange something with them. I contacted Stuttgart once again to get the necessary advise but I haven’t heard back from them yet. As soon as I hear something I’ll let you know. Who knows, we might soon be reunited. That would be wonderful. We are doing well, and we are hoping the same is true for you. I’d like to ask you once again to carefully research all the options in getting us a passage. It has to be in a way so that Stuttgart approves it. Let’s not easily spend any money until we know how to do it right.

I’ll write you soon and please take care of yourselves.

Your loving father.

Munich: February 24,1941

Dear Children,

We just received a notice from Stuttgart. I’ll attach a copy of it. Tomorrow I’ll send out a telegram concerning the passage since I was just able to get it confirmed by the local authorities. They were so swamped with applications that it took longer than we’ve expected.

Hopefully we’ll be able to leave as soon as possible. I very much regret that you have to use your hard earned wages to pay for our passage. We’ll be happy to help you with anything you might need and hope to pay you back soon. We are looking forward to receiving a telegram from you in regards of the passage and hopefully this will settle the matter.

I’ll keep you updated since the sponsorships have to be renewed by June in order to stay valid.

Page 50
According to the officials in Stuttgart it’s advised to name the ship, the cabin number and to have a receipt for the payment of the passage. If those requirements are not fulfilled the visa will not be issued. Many applications are denied because people are not able to give the necessary information to the officials. So it’s better to do it right the first time.

Please research this matter closely for it’s very important not to make a mistake.

My dearest children,

As you can see out of dad’s letter that you should take the utmost care in this matter. Hopefully we’ll be able to join up soon. This would be my greatest joy!

Clara has probably joined you already. We hope to have a successful new beginning in the new land. Soon we will be all reunited. How is our cute Karolina doing? I’d love to see her. How are you Fred? You probably have to travel a lot. Hani, you must be taking the child with you a lot, don’t you?

Greetings and kisses for my Loving children from your mom.

Munich: March 6, 1941
Dear children,

Your last letter from January 20th I received right on my birthday. (March 4, ed.) So your timing was wonderful. Thank you very much for thinking of it.

Dear Fred,
Your engagement is a beautiful present for my birthday. We are wishing you and your fiancée a most wonderful time. May your life be blessed with fortune, good health, love and lots of children. The whole family is sending their regards including Hani and Ludwig.

I’m sure you received the telegram regarding the passage. We are waiting for your answer. Once this is settled we’ll be eager to come to you as soon as possible.
I’m hoping that you are still happy with your work. Actually another letter arrived today. This one was written on January 30th. As I said before I’m doing everything possible to make it happen. I have to say it again. We are extremely happy about your engagement and are hoping that everything works out wonderfully.

I’m wishing you and your fiancée the best. Your father will always love you.

P.S. Dear Fred,

Please make sure that the sponsorships are still valid. I know they have to be renewed soon. Since we don’t know when we’ll be able to leave – it’s better to renew them sooner rather than later. I’ll keep you updated and please write us often. I’ve

heard that the ships are going more frequently now.

I can’t give you any other information. Let’s hope for the best and it’s probably a good idea to keep your ears and eyes open for any news. In any case we’ll keep you updated in our letters to you. It’ll be nice to receive a steady flow of letters from you as well. As I mentioned before I’m appalled by the costs of our emigration. Please don’t worry about the finances. At this point all we can do is wait for an answer anyway. Page 60
We are looking forward to hear about the arrangements for your marriage. Unfortunately it’ll be of no use to send you a telegram since it wouldn’t arrive there on time.
We are doing fine and are always looking forward to hearing from you. Please tell us about your well-being and your work situation.

Many greetings and kisses from your loving father.

Mom is sending you her love as well.
As I said before we’ll be writing you from now on more often.

Prior to March 15, 1941

Dear children,

According to your letters from January 29 and February 7 the marriage will be held this Saturday. (March 15, ed.) We’d like to congratulate you from the bottom of our hearts and wishing you much happiness in your future life. Today we received a notification from the Jewish financial aid organization about a payment of $500. If our emigration is to succeed it will depend on a variety of things. Most of all how we can get the necessary money to pay for the passage. I still have between 7000 and 8000 Marks at my disposal from the sale of our property and I hope that I’ll be able to come up with most of it.

I’ll have to see how this is done in the most efficient way and I’ll let you know as soon as possible. I’m ordered to pay a capital tax and with that the sale of the properties from 1938 are all taken care of then.

March 14, 1941
Dearest children,

Dear Fred,

As I can see from your letter you are getting married tomorrow. I’m sending you much happiness and blessings for your wedding. May it bring you only good fortune!

Fred, I’m so happy that you and Kate are so much in love. If we could just be there with you on this special day, my children.

Thank you so much for the picture of you and Kate. Unfortunately you don’t look all that good in that picture. If you get a chance please send us a picture of Karolina. Hopefully we’ll be with you soon and we do regret terribly that you have to spend so much money on us.

Munich: March 15, 1941

Dear Children,

We are doing well. How are you? We would like to send you the most loving congratulations to your marriage. I just sent you a telegram because the sponsors have to guarantee the passage one more time.

Dear Fred,

Once again many thanks for the $500. Unfortunately it’s been getting far more expensive. I might just have to ask the financial aid organization to help with some of the costs but maybe you might be able to research that from there.

Hopefully they can help with some of the paper work so that we can finally take the passage. With the telegram I wanted to include congratulations to your marriage but they didn’t allow it as well as the congratulations to Morton’s marriage.

I will wait for your answer because otherwise I will have to give my money to the aid organization. As I’ve written you before, Fred, it’s been tough to get the money for the properties I sold when you left. Nothing has been paid for yet. Otherwise we are doing well and you really don’t have to worry about us. Nevertheless we would like to spend the rest of our lives with all of you. We would be happy to hear of the marriage celebrations.

Best wishes to all of you especially to the daughter-in-law.

Your loving father.

Munich: March 29, 1941

Dear Children,

I wanted to write you a long time ago but I was always hoping to receive mail from you but nothing arrived. So here I am writing you again. Thank you so much for the passages – they must have cost you a fortune, Fred. I’m so sorry about all that money you had to spend. Otherwise I would’ve had to try the aid organization again and I’m sure they would’ve somehow helped us out. As I’ve written you many times getting the money from the property sales turns out to be a nightmare. I haven’t received a dime in two and a half years. Now there’s a chance that I’ll get something anyway, but we’ll just have to wait. The properties with Haringer I still have.

I’m not sure if the sponsorships have to be renewed. You might want to investigate this matter. To be quite honest it’s rather unlikely that we’ll get away. It’s especially unlikely with Joint instead of with Hapag. I did send a telegram that I made a payment to Hapag.

Munich: April 3, 1941

Dear children,

Even though I’ve written you a lot lately I’d like to write you again today. Please take your time in determining what the best way is in pursuing our immigration. Don’t rush anything otherwise you’ll just lose money for nothing. Before you set anything in motion please send us a telegram beforehand, so we know if it’s doable. In any case please do your homework and research your options so that you can come up with the best solution.

Enny for instance hasn’t heard back regarding her immigration to Cuba and in fact her passage has been canceled since she wasn’t able to get an appointment with the consulate. So things don’t look good but we are still hopeful. As soon as there is any change we’ll let you know right away.

Besides that, we are doing well, and we are hoping the same for you.

Loving greetings from your loving father.

P.S. Kaethe’s uncle wanted to know if the Jewish Agency would pay for a passage to Cuba. Did you contact him?

Munich: April 9, 1941

Dear children,

Finally we received your letter from March 10. We are happy to know that we are all doing well. It doesn’t look too good regarding our departure. There aren’t enough ships leaving Loiut and there are too many who would like to get away.

The sponsorships probably need to be renewed since it’s taken us so long to get a passage. On top of everything I haven’t received a dime for the properties I sold in 1938. We really need that money not just for the passage but also for our daily expenses and hopefully I’ll be able to get it. Please don’t worry though, I’m sure it’ll work out one way or the other. As soon as we know something we’ll let you know.

Benno and Hedi would like to emigrate to South America, but they need money to do it. I’m wondering if you could give them some or if you could maybe ask at the Nonprofit Financial Aid agency for some money. May it’d be possible for the Baumeister family to provide some financial aid instead of sponsorships. This would really be the best in this situation.

For unknown reasons she didn’t receive her Visa from the consulate. Since then I haven’t seen her – maybe she’s gotten away anyway. If you get around so much you should be able to find out about this. What a shame – we had to wait so long to get a number. Now that we have one – there’s no passage for us. If there’s anything to be done – it’ll probably be best to apply for a passage over there and to ask the aid organization to help with some of the costs. I’m just hoping that I’ll get some of the money from the sale of the properties. Emy Spinger has gotten a passage from over there, but she has no Visa. Wilhelm Lau should know about this. Don’t you see him some time? You don’t have to send us anything — it’s way too expensive and that would really be a sin. Even though we are hoping to receive the coffee. It’ll cost postage and a customs fee but to receive it would mean a lot. It’s so rare these days!

I’m sending you greetings and I will close my letter now. Hopefully I’ll hear from you soon.

Your loving father

Dear children,

I’m always so excited when I get a letter from you. You probably have no idea how happy it makes me to see a letter from you in the mailbox. I’m so looking forward to that moment when I can write you that we are coming.

Dear Hani,

You must feel alone at times since Ludwig is traveling so much. I’m always thinking about you.

Dear Fred,

Thank you so much for writing us so frequently. It would be nice to hear from Kate as well. Unfortunately your picture hasn’t arrived yet, but we are still hoping to get it.

Karolina’s picture is sitting on our desk and I’m always so happy to look at it. I can’t wait to hold her in my arms.

The weather in New York seems to be already quite lovely whereas here it is still cold. We still have to heat the house. Once in a while I leave the house, but my feet are still troubling me quite a bit. Being a landlady automatically means that there are a lot of things I have to take care of. I’m happy that Anna is coming this week to help me with my household chores. Anna is always asking about you, still wondering when Clara will be arriving in New York. You are writing us that Hansi is arriving soon. Tilli is still trying to get away. Hermann has been dead now for a whole year.

Aunt Mina is doing pretty well. She’s always interested in seeing your letters. How are Hani and Zilli doing? Are they still seeing each other so often?

Greetings and kisses from your mom and a special greeting to Karolina.

My dearest children,

It’s been a while since I’ve heard from you. I ‘m longing to be with you and to close you in my arms. Unfortunately it seems as though all the ships are booked in the foreseeable future. I feel bad that you, my children are having to spend so much money for us to leave here. If dad just were to get the money from the sale of the properties. That would really help us right now.

How are you, Fred? How is it to be a married man now? You seem to be happy and that gives me joy. Please write us soon! We haven’t heard from you since the wedding. The same goes for you, my dear Hani. Please let us know how you are doing. I’m just hoping that you are enjoying life. It’s my biggest wish to get another photo of Karolina and you guys of course. It always makes me happy to look at the photos from Fred and Kate, Hani, and Ludwig and of course the one from Karolina. I believe that Martha, Fredi and Tilli are coming to New York soon.

They got their sponsorships and the passages so it seems as if they could leave soon.

My dear children, please write us soon!

Greetings and kisses from your mom.

Munich: April 17, 1941

Dear Children,

Would like to let you know that we are doing well. Hope the same holds true for you. We just got word from the shipping company Habel that there won’t be any availability for quite a long time. The amount of people who would like to purchase a ticket cannot be matched by their available capacity to take everyone along. So I’m just wondering if you wouldn’t mind looking at other shipping company’s availability in New York and also to see if there are not cheaper tickets to get which leaves from Lisbon.

Please be aware of the fact that there might be unforeseen events occurring in the near future which require the necessary financial assets. Please make the necessary inquiries and let us know as soon as possible. As of now we are still applying for seats at Loint, another shipping company. Hopefully you’ll write us soon.

It sounds like Fred that you and Kati are quite happy in your new home and that the business seems to be doing well. These are happy news. Hani, Ludwig, and Karolina will be happy about that as well.

Dear Children,

I just got home, and I was very happy to find a letter from you in my mailbox. We are always so happy to hear from you. Thanks Fred for the photo of you. We are longing to be with you all. Karolina is such a cutie. I have to let you know again and again that we are so happy to find you well. We just have to have a lot of patience till we can see each other. Yesterday Franz and Hani came by. They are doing O.K. and are sending you many greetings. Tomorrow I’ll be going to Ilse for her birthday. I wonder when Hani and Karl are going to New York. They have been often together. Many greetings to you all and Happy Holidays! That’s great that you ran into Hani and Franz who emigrated a long time ago.

Dear Children,

We’ve been hearing more and more that acquaintances have gotten away via Cuba. Who knows when it will be our turn.

Dear Children,

Please write a letter to Aunt Mina – she’s been asking about you all along. Have you heard anything from Clara? I’m so happy that Fred’s business is doing so well. Thank you so much for writing us so often. We highly appreciate it. It makes us always so happy to hear about Karolina. It would be nice to hear from Kate and Ludwig soon. I just want to see you all.

Please send us a photo of Karolina and hopefully also one of Hani and Ludwig. We can’t wait to receive it.

Thanks Fred for the photos. We are always looking at your family photo.

Greetings and kisses to all of my children!

Your Mom

…I have sent this copy to Franz a long time ago and to be honest I don’t understand why you, Fred, don’t know anything about it. I really don’t know how it could not have gotten to you.

Since you noticed that I was mistaken in regards of the post office number you could have just asked there if anything might have been delivered somewhere else. I’m just saying this since you wrote to Hani that I often put down post office No. 34 instead of 32. Is 34 a different post office?

I wrote you that it would’ve been better to book the passage earlier in the U.S. because here they want the money first and then nothing happens. You always told us that we should leave as soon as possible – so I don’t understand why that didn’t happen.

Fred, you are further writing that it might be better to leave through a different country but this costs a lot more and I don’t want to burden you with that.

We’ll be writing you frequently and hoping that you do the same.

Many Loving greetings from your dad…

P.S. Mr. Springer had gotten the passage from the U.S.

P.S.S. Just for the record if you let us know which letters you’ve received – then we would know which letters have gotten to you and which not. Hopefully you’ll receive the outstanding letters soon.

Dear Children,

It’s so nice to hear from you.

Hani,

You are writing that you sent us a photo of Karolina, but we still have to receive it. Especially today on your birthday my thoughts are with you Hani. I so much would love to celebrate with you. Hopefully we’ll be able to do so in the future. Every month people are leaving via Cuba.

I’m happy that you, Fred, and Kate are doing so well. My feet are doing a little better. At least I don’t feel any pain and I can walk fairly well. Today the weather is not so great – so it’s a perfect day to stay warm at home.

Fred,

I still haven’t gotten the post card you promised me. Hopefully it’ll arrive soon. I’m so much looking forward to it. It sounds like that Karolina is bringing a lot of joy into your life. I’d love to hear her sing as well. Will I get to see her someday? This is the question I’m asking myself over and over again.

Aunt Mina is always asking about you.

I have some bad news for you. Hedi hurt two of her fingers badly at the machine she’s always working on. It doesn’t look good.

Life is tough these days. A lot of people suffer pain. We’ll just have to do our best to stay healthy. Me and dad we certainly would love to leave to be with you.

How far is it to Hansi from where you live? Margit seems to be often at your house, Hani? Please give them all my regards. Have you heard from Clara? I received a letter from her yesterday and she seems to be doing well. She’s sending you greetings.

Family Krauss doesn’t live on Lieger street anymore. I just haven’t been there in so long.

Stay healthy, my children!… and write us soon!

Greetings and kisses
Mom

April 26, 1941

Dear Children,

Even though I’ve just written you I just wanted to let you know that we received the postcard after all. In regards of getting away nothing really seems to be happening and I don’t know what to do. Gustav’s father says that he would try Hapag but I guess it’ll just run its course. We are waiting on what you can find out on your side.

Please write us soon!

Loving greetings from your loving father.

Let’s just stay healthy! My feet are doing pretty good. Tomorrow I’ll write you again.

Greetings and kisses from your mom.

Hi Benno Schuh, We would’ve liked to leave as well long time ago.

Many greetings to Ilse and family Wetzlar.

May 2, 1941

Dear children,

We haven’t heard from you since April 1st, and we are just hoping that you are all doing well. Fortunately we are enjoying good health and wishing you the same.

Fred and his wife have gotten passages for September 12th if it works out that way. Like I wrote to you Fred, Lloyd is taking its time and it seems as if it’s unavoidable to renew the sponsorships. Please make sure they are done correctly this time with the right dates and names. This is of utmost importance!

Ms. Halmann who owned a shoe boutique is on her way to New York. Her arrival date is the 24th of May. Here’s her address: Moritz Landorf, 3052 Kingsbridge Ave., Apt. 3B, New York City. Please go and visit her at once! She might be helpful in providing insights with the emigration process. We are hoping to leave this year. So please talk to her and by the way she knows Benno Wormser. Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to talk to her but I sincerely hope that she can be of help to you in figuring this out.

We are hoping to hear from you soon.

 Best greetings from your loving father.

Dear children,

Once again I’m writing to you. Thank you very much for Karolina’s picture. She looks so incredibly sweet. I wish I could give her a big hug right now. Can’t wait to see you all.

Hani,

I really like your picture as well. If we were there already I could help you with your household. I know there’s always so much to do. Yesterday the Michelsberger’s came by. It would be great if we could emigrate together. I desire nothing more than to hold you in my arms again. You would be mad at me if you were to see me work like that but I feel healthy and I need to do something.

How is Clara doing? I’ve heard that Hedi and Benno are not very happy together.

Dear Hani,
I just wish that you are living a happier life than them. Aunt Mina is sending her regards. Please tell Kate and Ludwig to write me soon.

Many greetings from your mom.

Dear children,

I know dad told you this already, but it is our biggest wish to be with you again. It would be so wonderful to see you, my dear Fred and Hani and of course Karolina. My little princess…, if I could just hold her in my arms. With God’s help we will be with you in June, my dear children but I don’t think it’ll work out that fast.

I admire your optimism if I could just believe in it as well. It’s so nice to have your pictures on my desk. I look at them all the time. Thank you all for the Loving birthday wishes. My thoughts are always with you, especially today on my birthday. Clara should be arriving any time now. At least that’s what the relatives are thinking.

Greetings and kisses from your mom. Please write us soon!

Page 67 (fragment)
I really don’t think you have the means to do this. On top of that, I believe, you have enough on your plate already. We are trying to come up with the money ourselves. Of course it would be of immense help if we could get some support from the Jewish agency in terms of them paying for our passage, but I think we can manage without them if that’s what we have to do. At least we’d try. We are still working on getting the sponsorships through Stuttgart. By all means we are just happy that you got away in time and we will try to follow you as soon as God permits. We certainly don’t want to be a burden to you. Don’t get me wrong we appreciate your help tremendously if it’s wise to do so. Nevertheless let’s try to rely on the Jewish agency and other willing benefactors first.

Let me tell you this, if you take on too much it’ll become a burden and you don’t want that. Keep in mind that you have to prepare for times when things don’t go so well. Don’t exhaust yourselves! So please only do what you can easily afford.

I know Benno and Hedi are doing everything in their capacity to help us out as well.

We are delighted to hear that Karolina is making such great progress. When the time is right we will all be spending our lives together again. I trust in that.

Many greetings to you, my dear Fred, your wife and to you, my dear Ludwig.

Please write us soon!

Your loving father.

Munich: May 6, 1941

Dear children,

We are sorry to say that we haven’t heard from you in a long time. Fortunately we are doing fine, and we hope the same is true for you. On the 24th of May a Mrs. Holheimer from Munich will be coming to New York.

Dear Fred and Hani,

I thought it would be a great idea if you could get together with her to ask her about the details of her emigration. She might be able to give you some practical advice. There’s got to be a way to do this faster. Please let us know if there’s a different approach we should follow. The sponsorships should definitely be renewed. It would be a shame if they weren’t up to date when we need them. Please just make sure that the names and dates are getting corrected. As you know there are mistakes in the current ones. Mr. and Ms. Mittelberger are facing the same problems. Their application seems to be just as stuck as ours is. The address of Ms. Holheimer will be: Moritz Zandorf, 3052 Kingsbridge Ave., Apt. 3B, New York City.

We’ll be writing you again soon. It would be nice to receive mail from you this week. We can’t wait to hear back from you.

Loving greetings from your loving father

Munich: May 10,1941 page 69

Dear children,
I know I’ve just written you and there’s really not anything new to report but nevertheless I wanted you to know that we are doing well. Of course we are hoping the same goes for you.

Mr. Mittelberger advised his son to make a payment for the passages to Lloyd. I’m wondering now if you should do the same or if you should possibly go with a different shipping company. With Lloyd it seems to take a lot of time but I’m not sure if it goes any faster with the others. Maybe you could get some advice whether a different shipping company might work better.

By any means the sponsorships should be renewed even though there’s no guarantee that we’ll be able to use them before those expire as well.

Dear Fred and dear Ludwig, we are hoping that the business is doing well.
Best greetings from your loving father.

Dear children, page 70
Even though we haven’t heard anything from you in a while we are hoping that you are all doing well. The same is true for us. Our biggest wish is to be with you as soon as possible.

Dear Hani,
I’m imagining that you and Karolina are going for walks all the time. Kate probably joins you guys once in a while if she doesn’t have to work. I wish I could be there as well.

Dear Fred,
I can’t wait to see you again. I’m just happy that you, my dear children got away in time. How’s business? Are you and Ludwig happy with it? I’m always thinking about you. Last week I went by Preuss’ house. Julia is still part of the community. She’s sending her regards. I haven’t gone by Wasmeier’s in a while but I’ve heard they are doing fairly well.

Aunt Mina is sending her regards as well. She wants to know how life is in America. More and more people from here are getting ready to emigrate to the US. I wonder if you’ve heard from Clara. It’s been a really long time since we heard from her last.
Hedi and Benno, who are still not married, are continuously working on their emigration as well, so far without much luck.
Dear Fred, Kate, Hani and Ludwig, we are still waiting for a picture from you all. Please send us one soon.

Greetings and kisses from your mom.

Munich: May 17, 1941

Dear children,

We received your letter from April 25. Thank you so much for thinking of us. We are always glad to hear from you. It sounds like life has been pretty good to you. The same is true for us.

Lloyd had let us know that we should try other shipping companies as well. So we followed their advice and applied at others as well. Hopefully this will do some good. Nevertheless I anticipate that it will take much longer than we expected. Please renew the sponsorships and make sure the dates and names are put in correctly. The last ones had mistakes, as you know. I believe we won’t be leaving here before September. Regarding the sponsorship applications for Benno and Hedi please don’t stress yourselves out over it. You do what you can but don’t overextend yourselves.

As I already told you our sponsorships are expiring soon so please hurry to have them renewed. It’s of the utmost importance to have them done correctly and valid when we need them.

Munich: May 24, 1941

Dear children,

We received your letters from May the 2nd and the 7th. It’s good to know that life is treating you well. I’m especially happy to hear that Karolina is doing so well.

We are well and healthy and I’m still enjoying a cold beer on occasion and at times a cigarette. Otherwise I don’t need much else and I’m also supposed to get the money from the properties I sold so long ago.

Regarding our emigration, we do what we can but we also need to have patience. We’ll keep you updated if there’s any progress. A certain Ms. Berger is arriving in New York in three weeks and Mr. Mittelberger will pick her up at the harbor. From her you’ll hopefully get some useful information how to do it best. It would also be wise to talk to Ms. Halheimer. She’s supposed to arrive in New York in two days.

It’s our goal to write you once a week and hopefully you’ll get them all. No matter what the sponsorships have to be renewed and please make sure it’s done this time with the correct names and dates.

Besides that please take care of yourselves and don’t worry so much about others. Enjoy your life! If there was enough money you could give freely but the way things look you have to take care of yourselves first.

Hopefully you and Karolina are in good health. That’s the most important thing. We are, thank God, healthy and I hope the same goes for you.

Please write us soon!

Many greetings from your loving father.

Dear children,

I’d like to write you a letter every week. We are managing fairly well. I’m just hoping to be with all of you soon. That’s my biggest wish!

Fredi and Marta told me yesterday that they finally got their passages. They’ve been told that they could leave September 12th. It’s been a while since we’ve heard from you. I hope everything is fine.

Dear Fred and Kate,

In your last letter you promised us a photo of you. Since then we are looking forward to receiving one.

Dear Hani,

I’m sure you are going on plenty of walks with cute Karolina. Every day I’m looking at Karolina’s photo. She’s such a darling! You have no idea how much joy it would give me to finally hold her in my arms.

Hedi and Benno are giving their regards. By the way Benno is here at the moment and told us that he’s getting engaged with a certain Miss Winter. Hedi’s husband is also here and he says “Hi” to all of you.

Clara tells me that all are doing well. Everybody is just waiting to emigrate.

Munich: May 31, 1941

Dear Children,

Since May 7th I haven’t heard from you nor did I receive a wedding picture. We are still waiting to receive it. Have you been able to talk to Ms. Schalheimer bei Zandorf?

It looks like that he will be able to come up with the sponsorships, but it will take time to get away from here since there are less ships and too many passengers. The demand is high. The ships are also restricted as to how many passengers they are permitted to take on board – not as it used to be.

I’m sure you know that many people who tried to leave many years ago have not been able to leave to this day for different reasons. Hopefully there will be mail from you when there’s a new shipment from the U.S. Meanwhile I’ll keep on writing so that you have at least mail from us on a regular basis.

Munich: August 1,1941

Dear children,

We received your letter from July 8 and we are happy that you are all doing so well. Our health has been very good as well. In regard to your last letter I wrote to Adolf Stern but I still have to receive a response from him. Since our consulates are closed the only hope lies in Washington and on top of that it’s getting harder and harder to get a passage on any ship leaving from here. First the consulate told us that they didn’t receive the required documents and now we are dealing with getting a passage and the shutdown of all consulates. All we seem to be able to do is wait and to hope for peace. Then the ships would leave again. To go to Berlin is of no value since the chances are not any greater there than anywhere else. As soon as you hear something from Bielefeld please let us know right away.

We are very happy that Karolina is doing so well. It’s nice to know that she developed her own humor.

Loving greetings from your father to all of you.

We are hoping to hear back from you soon.

Munich: August 24, 1941

Dear Children,

I just wanted to let you know that we are all well and we are hoping the same holds true for you. In regard to our departure you’ll have to handle it for us. Unfortunately I won’t be able to fulfill the passage requirements on our end. It has to be done from the U.S.

Fred’s friend, the son of Mrs. Herz has it done that way but unfortunately it didn’t work out for his mom who wasn’t able to get a Visa from Stuttgart since they stopped issuing them.

Please write us soon.

Loving greetings

Your father

Aunt Mina is sending many regards especially to you dear Fred and she wanted to write herself but it’s too strenuous for her to do so. Marta and Fredi are immigrating to the US very soon. They have their sponsorships as well as their passage. I’m happy for anyone who can leave.

Hedi and Benno haven’t received their sponsorships yet even though they are working hard to get it. They think that if Clara would’ve been in the US already everything would be easier. Please write us soon in all detail. We are very excited to hear from you.

Loving greetings and kisses from your mom.

PS Many kisses for Karolina

Munich: September 6, 1941

Dear Children,

We received your letter from August 18. We are happy to hear that you are all well. Mom and myself are doing also well. Regarding our voyage it’s probably the best if you try to arrange it from there like you and this Mr. R had it done. From here we haven’t had any luck so far and it turns out to be very difficult to fulfill their demands as I’ve written you, dear Fred. Emy Springer got her passage for February but she won’t be able to leave nevertheless. Please research your options but please don’t waste any money. Not sure if I’ve told you already but Mrs. Springer’s husband died on April 3, 1941. Please write to her for New Year’s and for other holidays – she’s very important to us. The address: Emy Springer,11 Richard Wagner Street # 2. She would like to go to New York just like us.

Dear Hani,

If we are so lucky to get to America please tell Karolina that we would like to take her some place nice. Please let her know so she can look forward to it. I’d like to mention that the sponsorship papers seem to be fine and that you should be on the look out for mail from Washington regarding the immigration.

Greetings from your loving father.

Dear children,

You have no idea how much joy it is to hear from you. Thank you very much for writing us so frequently. You are everything we have left. We are happy to hear that you are doing so well. My darling Karolina is doing so well. I can’t wait to see her and to give her a big hug. Hopefully God will allow us to see you again soon.

Dearest Hani,

You’ve been gone for four years now and you Fred you’ve been gone three years.

Dear Hani,

I’d love to take care of the child and Dad would love to go for a walk with her. Maybe it’ll happen soon.

Munich: September 11, 1941

Received your letter from August 27. Very much enjoyed your letter and especially the photos of all of you. You look so nice in one of them. It would have been so wonderful to be part of that tour you took. This area must be so beautiful. Too bad you haven’t heard from Washington. I’m just wondering if it would make sense if acquaintances of yours would give it a try as well. Who knows maybe you’ll receive something, nevertheless.

Please, whatever you do – don’t spend any money on this. I’m so regretting the money I spent on HAPAG. It was totally for nothing. If something could have been done then they probably would have been able to get the Visa in Stuttgart.

Going to Cuba would cost too much and we don’t really have the connections to Spain.

I guess we’ll just have to wait. Thanks but we don’t need anything right now. All we’re doing is waiting for the process to continue but so far nothing.

But little Karolina is making steady progress which makes us happy. Some day we’ll be with you. Please write us soon.

Loving greetings to all of you.

Your loving father

September 14, 1941

Dear Children,

Knowing very well that we’ve just written to you but we’re writing again today. Just so that you know that we’re well. We like to keep you informed of our well – being on a regular basis. We are wondering if you’ve heard anything from Washington in regards of the immigration process. Hopefully it will work out. Has the sponsorship for us and your friend been renewed? If this has any value at all anymore. Things here regarding all of this probably won’t change much anymore. I just hope that your mom, Paul and Hansi will be able to make the journey. Please give the letter from Billi to his relatives.

Dear Fred, I’d like to wish you all the best to your birthday and much luck in your business and personal endeavors.

Best wishes from your father to all of you.

Dear Children,
I don’t want to send out this letter without my best greetings for all of you. We are very healthy, and it would be just so nice to be with you.

Fred, I’m wishing you the best and I hope to see you soon. I’ll be writing to you again this week.

Many greetings to all of my children and to Karolina.

Your mom

Munich: September 20, 1941

Dear children,

Even though I’m expecting mail from you here I’m writing you again. I got word that through a certificate of employment in connection with a sponsor it might be possible to emigrate to the USA sooner. So that’s why I included a copy with this letter. Please send it with the other documents right away to Washington. Who knows, it might work.

We are all doing fine, and we hope the same is true for you. In case you need extra copies of the certificate I included them with this letter as well.

Bernsteins will probably have their sponsorship renewed as well.

We are so ready to leave here. Let’s just hope it’ll happen soon. The only problem is that so many want to do the same thing. This makes it harder. I believe Kaeti’s uncle Werner might have a chance to get away soon. If he’s successful I’ll be contacting him before he leaves.

For now I’m sending you greetings and I’ll be writing you again soon.

Loving greetings from your loving father.

September 20, 1941 (From one of the Holzer)

My loved ones,

I can’t tell you how overjoyed I felt when I got your picture. Not any letter would have described you better than seeing this picture of yours. I’m so joyful that you both are doing so well.

I’m just wondering where my dear brother Fred and Martha were when you took the picture? Well anyway, now I feel like I’ve been updated regarding your physical appearance. I’m very grateful for the picture and I will send you one in return.

I would have loved to talk to you in person today but that would take too long so let me tell you that my dear dad, Hedi and Benno look quite the same when you left. Only my dear brother-in-law Eduart seemed to have gotten a belly from being so in love. Me on the other side (even though I have a boyfriend) I haven’t gained any weight yet. I suppose the woman in the picture who hasn’t been introduced to me yet, shall be my future sister-in-law.

I’d love to know her name but unfortunately no one has told me yet. But that’s beside the point the main thing is that you my dear Benno are happy with your lover.

By the way an acquaintance of mine looks just like you. I have to confess that I believe that you my dear Hedy are far more courageous and better than me but then again nobody doubts that anyway. Especially considering your lively children. I know I’m quite late to congratulate you on your children but late is never too late especially in these times. I’m very much aware of my laziness to write but I promise to better myself in the next year. This is so embarrassing that you always have to wait for news from me but don’t worry it takes more than that to finish me off. I hope you are less worried now to know that I’m well.

The most Loving greetings to your lover and of course all of you.

September 20, 1941

Dear children,

We were hoping to receive mail from you but there was none this week. Please write us so we know what’s going on in your life. We are doing well, and we hope the same holds true for you. At Lloyd’s request the money will be returned to the Jewish Agency in New York. Are you looking at other options?

Dear Fred,

Please let us know about the newest state of affairs. It seems as all they want is money and then they forget about you. In order to know whether you received all of our letters the easiest would be that you write us all the dates of the letters you received. That way we know exactly which letters you received and which you didn’t. I’ve sent you the certificate of employment twice now. The handling of the passages goes everything but smooth. All together it’s a very frustrating ordeal.

Dear Fred, are you happy business wise? You and Ludwig are you sometimes traveling together?

Aunt Sara let me know that she wrote to you but that she hasn’t gotten back an answer. Please do me the favor and write to her. She would be so delighted to hear back from you. She’s an old lady and it would give her so much joy.

As soon as we get an answer from you we’ll write you back right away.

Best regards from your loving father.

P.S. Just so you know, I’ve sent you the dates of the last letters I sent to you. That way you know which ones you didn’t get. The post office didn’t return anything to us. So I don’t know what happened to them.

September 30, 1941

Dear children,

Even though we haven’t heard from you this week we’d like to write to you anyway. We are doing well, and we hope you are too. My thoughts are always with you especially this week since it’s your birthday, my dear Fred. (Fred’s birthday, Oct 2 ed.)

We wish we could be with you and to celebrate together. It must be wonderful to celebrate your birthday for the first time with your beloved Kate. Wishing you lots of love and happiness!

I’m just wondering what my Loving Karolina has all been up to. She must be speaking quite a bit by now.

My dear Hani,

You are probably out with her a lot. Are you still seeing Ludwig that often? We are still very much hoping to see you someday. My biggest distraction is when I look at pictures from you. The last picture of Karolina which I got from Hani is so sweet. I would love to go for a walk with Karolina.

Tell me is Margit still coming by a lot? I wonder what she’s been up to. Hedi is probably living in New York by now. And how about Miss Benfinger? Have you heard anything from her? How’s Clara doing? I’m sure you’ll be getting together soon. Hedi, Benno and Tilli are busy working. They all have lots to do. Hedi decided to stay for a while longer. She’s not quite ready to leave yet and Karl doesn’t want to marry quite yet.

Aunt Mina is sending Loving greetings.
Please take care of yourself and stay healthy.

Many greetings and kisses to all of you and an extra kiss for Karolina.

Your mother.

Munich: October 7, 1941

Dear children,

On September 30 we sent you the last letter and the last letter we got from you was from September 5. Nevertheless we are very happy to hear that you are all doing well. It’s been going well for us as well. We are just wondering if you haven’t received any other letters from us after September 5? We are hoping to hear from you soon in reference to this.

Dear Hani,

I’d like to wish you a Happy Birthday and much joy in your coming year. You are writing us that you are wishing for better times and that you are hopeful. Not much has changed to the better in recent years and the world has seen much despair, so that we are hoping for an end to this and for a new beginning.

In regard to our leaving nothing has been accomplished and things just seem to get more expensive and more difficult. We are waiting for better news, and we are not ready to give up hope. The most important thing is that you are living your life to the best of your ability and that you enjoy your life. We are hoping that you will choose the right path and that you don’t lose yourself in doubt. The world is yours to manifest your dreams.

Please let us hear from you soon!

Greetings to all of you from your dad.

Dearest children,

You have no idea how much we enjoy getting your letters. It’s so good to know that you’re doing so well.

Dear Fred,

I’m so astounded how far you’ve gotten in such a short time. Both myself and dad can’t wait to see you. We just have to be patient. The most important thing is to keep our good health.

Dear Hani,

I’d love to see with my own eyes how well you manage everything. I’m proud of you. Also I’m so glad that you’ve found such a great home.

Dear Fred,

Wish I could be with all of you rather sooner than later.

Today on Sunday we are by ourselves. All the other relatives went for a trip to Wolfratshausen. I tell you – we are not used to the quietness anymore.

Dad is doing really well – I’m so happy. Unfortunately I still haven’t heard from Hansi yet.

Just wondering if you’ve received the packages we’ve sent you? We would send you more, but they seem to take such a long time. It would be Loving to receive a picture from all of you. Please be patient! We have no idea when we’ll be able to leave. All we can do is wait.

Greetings and kisses from your mom and especially to Karolina.

Munich: October 10, 1941

Dear children,

We received your letters from September 15th and the 21st and we are happy to know that you are all doing so well. Just as you, we are appreciating our well-being.

According to your letter there has not been any progress regarding our emigration. This is unfortunate. I’ve already sent copies of the certificate of employment twice because I didn’t know if I wrote 34 or 32 in the first letter. People say that it might be possible to get a Visa from Washington if you present them with such a document but if you don’t know anything about it then it might not be true.

We are wondering why Clara is not writing us more often. Please give her our regards. Your relatives were all happy to receive word from you and I’m happy to tell you that they are all well. Benno, Hedi and Freddie are all working. Max is working at the Autobahn in Zweibrucken where he was transferred from Amberg, and he seems to be doing well.

The money from the sale of the properties in 1938 is supposed to be coming soon. We still have the Levinger properties, and we don’t know what to do with them. We’d love to be with you, but we don’t know when it will be possible.

Please write us soon!

With best regards from your loving father.

Loving greetings to Karolina.

Munich: October 21,1941

Dear children,

We just received your letter from September 28th. I’m starting to wonder if one reason we don’t receive regular mail from you is that you may be miswriting our address.

On the other side I have no indication that that is actually the case. I’m a little sad that your letter didn’t contain the promised picture of Karolina. Most likely you probably just forgot to put it inside. I’m enclosing a note from the examining board and the envelope from you, my dear Fred.

Please send us the picture soon. We are so looking forward to it.

Cuba is certainly an interesting option but I believe it to be also an expensive one. Please try the Jewish agency in New York again. They might be able to help us out. Another option might be Kaethe’s uncle in Bielefeld. He seems to be very knowledgeable when it comes to immigration matters.

Everything just seems to take forever in this regard here. It’s quite depressing.

Another person would be Willi Leringer. He also seems to have a considerable knowledge of immigration matters. I’m sure he’ll be more than happy to give you advice on what to do.

Munich: October 30, 1941

Dear children,

Dear Fred,

I just received your letter from October 9 in which you confirmed that you received the letter from September 22. Obviously you are not receiving all of our letters because I sent you the photo for the certificate of employment on October 20. Please be careful when it comes to spending money for the passage to Cuba. If it’s uncertain I advise you not to do it but if you decide to do it anyway please make sure you’ll get advise from the Jewish Agency beforehand. And if you read my letters you should know that you have to be very careful when it comes to spending money. There are rumors which say that the Jewish Agency pays the fare for some people, and it certainly should be considered as a way to save some money. Please don’t waste any money until you know for sure that it’s going to work. If you are going to lose your money please don’t do it. Emmy Springer had her passage paid by the Jewish Agency but now she can’t get a Visa since the consulates are closed.

Your father.

Dear children,

Dear Hani, many thanks for your numerous reports.

Dear Fred,

According to Hani you are busy all the time. Hopefully you are feeling well while I’m writing these lines. How glad would I be to be able to help you with your house chores. We’ll just have to be patient. The time will come when we are a family again. Hopefully we won’t have to go to Cuba first and will see you soon.

We are doing fine and life is really not that bad here – not yet. Dad is having his beer every few days and enjoys it very much. I’m staying home and I’ve started to heat the house. It’s winter now! Aunt Vina is doing just O.K. This week I called the doctor for her. She always feels so weak and just has to lie down a lot. So it’s pretty much all the same. Not much has happened since I wrote you last.

Hedi is longing for visitors, but nobody comes. Dad prefers not to have anyone over anyway. This morning Mrs. Neumeier stopped by and told us that her brother-in-law from Freising has died.

Mr. Holzer can’t get away either. 

Dear Fred,

Are you still seeing so many friends?

Dear Hani,

Have you made friends as well? I’ve heard last week that Ms. Johanna Heinemann is supposed to arrive in New York any time now. People are leaving England for New York. Dr. Wetzler is quite busy teaching people English. I’m wondering how it will be being in New York and not knowing any English?

Loving greetings from your mom.

Dear children,

Since you are getting mail from us every week you know that we are doing well health-wise. Your well-being brings us a lot of joy as well. Of course it would be so wonderful if we could finally see each other again.

Dear Hani,

I’m sure Karolina gets herself into trouble once in a while. We are wondering when we’ll get another photo of her since we haven’t received any in a while.

Dear Fred,

The postcards didn’t get here unfortunately. How’s the weather? It has gotten cold here. As you wrote us, you seem to be traveling quite a lot.

Karla will be happy to hear from you as well.

Dear Ludwig,

All the relatives are doing well including Aunt Mina. She has been gone for over three years now. So we are hoping to see you soon as well. I wish there was more hope. I need to finish now—dad wants to get the letter to the post office.

Loving greetings and kisses from your mom.

P.S. Greetings to Karolina as well.

October 31, 1941

Dear children,

We happily received your letter from October 10. It’s good to know that you are doing well. The same holds true for us. I wrote to Fred yesterday that he should get everything ready for the immigration to Cuba. Please be very careful in regards of any payments. Make sure you ask Ruez and Willi Levinger for their advice regarding their experience with the immigration process to Cuba. I hate to lose money again. I’m also wondering if you can even afford it since it’s supposed to be really expensive. I’ve already told you that you should contact the Jewish Agency to ask them for help. Who knows they might pay for half of the costs, or they might even pay it all. If Cuba works out for us, we nevertheless hope not to spend too much time there. We’d just love to be with you. We have reason to believe that you didn’t receive several of our letters. Please check back with the post office – they might still hold them for you.

Please write us soon and let us know what happened to the sponsorship with Bernstein.

Munich: November 5, 1941

Dear children,

Just two days ago I wrote you that you should notify us by telegram before you make any payments to Cuba or any other destination regarding our emigration. I don’t want you to waste your money in such a risky undertaking. To be honest I didn’t even consider Cuba a possibility anymore and we hadn’t talked about it lately but then I got a notice today that you made a payment to Cuba. So I made an inquiry regarding this matter and what I found out is that there are problems to reach the port by train and also to get on a ship for Cuba.

Dear Fred,

I just wish you had contacted us before spending money on this. Now I’m expecting mail from you and that you’ll tell me how much you’ve spent on this. I need you to give me more details before I can do anything. I really thought that we were set on going to New York. This is why I sent you the certificate of employment twice in order to get a Visa from Washington.

Dear Fred,

Please contact the Jewish agency again. I’m sure they can do something for us. They must have connections with shipping companies and probably know about certain regulations and rules you have to follow.

Dear children,

How much would I love to be with you right now. Who knows maybe someday it’ll work out. My thoughts are always with you. We are doing fine, and I hope you are too, my dear children. How’s Karolina doing? She’s probably talking more and more by now. This week I baby-sat Ilse’s little boy for a bit while Zilli and Willi as well as Benno and Clara were out.

Aunt Mina is doing well but uncle Willi’s health is not so good. He’s going through a lot. The main thing is that we all stay healthy.

Dear Fred and Hani,

We are so sorry that you are going through so much trouble for us and that you worry so much about us. Hopefully we’ll be seeing you soon, my dear children. Stay healthy!

Greetings and kisses to all of you and to Karolina from your mom .

Dear Fred,

As I wrote you before, please make sure you double-check with the Jewish agency regarding our passage. They might take care of the costs. It’s worth trying, especially since you’ve taken care of all the other costs. It might also be a good idea to consult with Kate’s uncle in Bielefeld regarding the Jewish agency. He has certain connections, I believe. Please do me the favor and talk to Rudolf in regards of what he’s done for his family. I hope you’re all well just as we are. Please write us soon!

Loving greetings from your loving father.

P.S. Dear children, since dad has written you I’d like to add a few lines. It made me happy to read that you are all well. We are just doing fine as well. Thanks for that little coffee you’ve sent us with your last letter. I enjoyed this cup of coffee very much.

Dear Fred,

Unfortunately the cookies haven’t made it to us yet. Hopefully they’ll still come. It would be a shame if they’ve gotten lost.

Can’t wait to see you all again.

Dear Hani,

According to your letter Karolina is doing really well. I’m so happy for her and I wish I could hold her in my arms once.

Greetings and kisses to all of you from your mom. A big kiss for Karolina.

Please talk to Willi Levinger regarding our emigration. He seems to be well informed.

Munich: November 13, 1941

Dear children,

I sent you a letter on November 5 and I haven’t heard from you since. Your last letter was dated October 9. Since then many things happened. Benno, Willi, Alfred and his wife have been evacuated and seem to be doing well. We haven’t heard back from Cuba yet, but we are expecting a decision about our application soon. As soon as we hear back from them I’ll do everything necessary to get this off the ground. I assume that you are doing well which would be the same for us. I’m sure Karolina is learning new things every day.

Just make sure to do your homework in regards of our emigration. We can’t leave anything to chance. If we get any news regarding this we’ll let you know by telegram. Please make sure you’ll do the same and make sure that you check back with us before you send any money to Cuba. I’d hate to see your hard-earned money wasted without seeing results. Are there a lot of risks involved regarding this payment?

Dear Fred,
Please update us as much as you can. We are longing to receive mail from you so please write us soon.

With best regards from your loving father.

Dear children,

Even though I already wrote you this week here I am writing you again.

We are always happy to hear from you especially when Hani is writing about Loving Karolina. How nice would it be if grandpa and grandma could be with you soon.

Thanks Fred for sending us coffee. It’s so hard to come by these days. I’m delighted to see the pictures with you and your car. The picture of Karolina and Hani and the color picture I both received. Hedi was asking me today if you hadn’t heard anything from Clara.

How’s Hansi doing? You have to know that my thoughts are always with you. Many greetings and kisses from your mom and of course for Karolina as well.

P.S. I came about a note regarding the wrong address, so I sent out a copy of the document twice. Both on the 20th and the 22nd of September. It certainly would be nice to get some coffee from you and please don’t worry too much. It’ll all work out.

Your dad.

Munich: November 18, 1941

Dear children,

We are a little worried. Your last letter we have received on October 9. Hopefully you are all healthy. At least I can tell you that we are doing well.

As you probably know Tilli and her son Willi as well as Benno and Alfred with Martha succeeded in getting to Poland. I don’t know much more to report but I’m sure we’ll hear from them. Luckily, it’s still possible to get away from certain countries.
We received a telegram from Cuba, and we hope to get there from here. You probably know from other relatives that it’s really hard to get away from here now.
Mr. A. Raethi’s uncle let us know that we just have to wait for a reply in regards of our departure as bitter as it is.

Munich: November 20, 1941

Dear Children,

We haven’t heard from you in a while, but we are hoping that you’re well. The same holds true for us. Your telegram from Havana we received. Unfortunately, it’s absolutely necessary to get the visa first from Berlin as you probably know.

Dear Fred,

Regarding our departure there’s nothing to do right now. We’ll just have to wait. We just didn’t get the right number and so we missed it.

How are Hansi, Paul and Margaret doing? Please give my regards to all of them.

My dearest children I miss you very much and please take care of yourselves.

Your mom.

P.S. Loving greetings to Karolina!

The end of the letters.
Dear children,

Hopefully we can help you out with your household chores so God will once we’ve gotten there. Our thoughts are always with you.
Many are not able to leave because of simple mistakes with their paper work. I believe that we would’ve been able to leave a long time ago if it weren’t for a faulty paperwork. I’ve written you that it’s of the utmost importance to fill it all out correctly. From here there’s not much I can do. Who knows maybe someday we’ll be with you again.

First Letter from Benno and Anna, August 4, 1938 Pages 1 & 2

First Letter from Benno and Anna, August 4, 1938 Pages 1 & 2

Last Letter from Benno and Anna in Munich: November 20, 1941