My dear family,

Today, precisely, I find myself in Lomza, and I received your two postcards, belatedly.

With us, everything is now destroyed. Kalman is missing, in a concentration camp, and who knows if he still lives.

My children and I are with our dear mother in Szczuczyn.

Your mother-in-law and Itzik and their family are all in their respective homes.

May you stay well, from me, your loving sister, who misses you so much. Regards to Tzirl and to your children. Also, to Moishe and his family. To Rojl and her family.

Our dear mother and my children send you their very best wishes.

Jantze 

May 10, 1941, Szczuczyn

Dear brothers and family. May you always live!

I received your last letters. Also, received one from Moishe.

Click on letter for full image

I cried tears of joy at reading your letters. Yes my dear brothers, I am strong because you ask me to be. I live solely with hope, my dear ones, because I have no joy in my life.

My broken heart still beats for my poor children and for you, my devoted brothers. May you always have health and may we always hear good news from you.

This week we have yortzeit for our dear and beloved father. May he wish for us, his children, that we may not know any more suffering, because we've already experienced too much.

Surely I'll go visit the gravestone on the yortzeit. I'll do so for you too. You can imagine how much fun and distraction I'm going to have.

The most important thing is health. How are you? I don't forget you for a moment, even though I'm so far away from you. But we must keep the hope to be with you someday.

Regarding travel, as you wrote, for the moment I can't, so please don't ask me again about that matter. But what I did ask you to send me [money], please try very hard, since it is very important.

I wrote the address correctly. I don't know why the letter was returned. We did have matzoh for Pesach.

Nochimke Litman said kaddish for our dear and beloved mother.

You ask me to write a few words about who is missing from Szczuczyn, but I can't describe it, because it is impossible. It will cost me my health.

Jantze [Nochim's sister]

Letters contributed by Martin Wengrowsky.

Translation from Yiddish to Spanish by Martin Wengrowsky.
Translation from Spanish to English by Jose Gutstein.
Editor's notes are entered in [brackets].

Copyright © 2002 by Martin Wengrowsky and Jose Gutstein. All rights reserved to the original letters and the translations.