“Although these sorrows are still not over. Every day brings a new trouble…” – A moving letter sent from occupied Poland to Germany by a mother named Waleria Linke to her son, Richard Linke. The letter was sent on June 21, 1943, from Pabianice (a city in Poland) to his address on Kirchgasse 3, in the district of Friedberg (Bavaria). Polish.
In her letter, the mother describes the severe material hardships and the fact that the uncles were required to undergo an ancestry examination. She expresses the unbearable situation, stating that “it is truly better to die than to live with such nerve-wracking confusion.” A painful testimony to the daily life of Jews under Nazi occupation.
The text reads:
“My dear children,
I am informing you that we are all healthy, and we wish you good health with all our hearts.
I have not written to you for a long time, but there were moments of upheaval that troubled us.
Although these sorrows are still not over. Every day brings a new trouble.
Aunt Wladka and Uncle Leon were also required to undergo examinations regarding their origins (their ethnic background). But nothing was found, so they were released.
For now, I am healthy, but every day I fear that I might fall ill.
It is truly better to die than to live with such nerve-wracking confusion.
…Zygmunt was also deeply worried. Everyone fears that this will never end… Our whole family is anxious. But it was meant to be this way, for the best—our prayers were heard by God, and today everyone is healthy again.
…Our poor Moshe, how is he surviving there?
Lately, he writes very little,
he says he no longer even has
the will to live. He is arranging all his clothes
to be ready to return home.
Today, it is cloudy here, sometimes the sun shines, sometimes it disappears—just like human life, passing as it does. Many kisses and kisses from everyone. Waleria.”
[1] A lined sheet written on both sides, along with the original envelope in which the letter was sent, bearing a German Reich stamp.
