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Today we have a letter from Helene in frigid Vienna to her children in San Francisco. Although she typed without paragraph breaks on both sides of a half-sheet of paper to save money on postage, I have breaks for ease of reading.
26th Clipper letter, on 13th April 1940
My golden children!
I was about to write a complaint letter because I thought I’d been forgotten, but then the postman’s ring prevented me from doing that. He didn’t keep me from writing, but he stopped my bad mood and the barometer went from changeable lousy weather to cheerful. It was the birthday letter to Papa (which I answer quickly) which made the April weather on Seidlgasse better. In actuality, the thermometer was -1 degree today and our oven is fed with all sorts of goodies. It is currently eating the ruins of an armchair which I found when I was cleaning out our basement. The latter I had to clean out because it’s going to be commissioned as an air raid shelter.
I was particularly happy about the contents of this letter because you spent the Easter holidays pleasantly, as we wished you would. Eva may continue writing such “shocking” letters; we enjoy all the descriptions of the comforts that our only relatives over there give you. Harry said in his last letter similar self-torturing comments regarding a ham sandwich. A song occurs to me: “Where is my Christian, in Hamburg or Bremen? I look at our cows and I think of Christian.” In another verse of the song, “I hear our donkey braying and I think of Christian right away.” I really have to be happy that you think of us when you are thinking about happy things and not domestic animals.
I’m not writing anything in paragraphs because I am just writing how I think. Please don’t tell my German teacher about that. The clipper post is such that it’s quite expensive and I’m looking to get my full money’s worth out of the postage. So I ask your forgiveness. There are a few lines in here for Sol Goldberg and Robert. By the way, I don’t know the address for either of those people. I also don’t know the address for Aunt Tillie.
I have nothing to say new about us, except that this week I “consolidated” a lot of plates, to use Eva’s technical term. This week I was a little more nervous than otherwise because I didn’t get any mail, but I don’t cry over spilt milk [in German: broken dishes]. It hurt more that we lost our beautiful Copenhagen vase which Papa broke. He promised to replace it but there is really no way. We have lost a beautiful thing from earlier times that always reminded me of “at home.” That’s just too bad!
While I’m writing, spring is rushing by me and winter storms are not thinking about giving way to the blissful moon, as little Harry used to naively believe. By the way, what happened to my “pickled herring”? [perhaps a play on the name Harry?] Did it become an eel? We were always such a respectable family - how did we come up with an eel in our honorable family? After my son has a “brain-storm,” I can think of all sorts of things and go back to something else.
Was it Aunt Hedwig who invited you, my Eva-child to the movies? The noblesse of Aunt Tillie and Bertha who always feed your eternal hunger for stockings made me very happy. Thinking of your stockings, I mainly wear the ones Harry left behind; I think I’m going to have to go to a blacksmith soon. On my birthday and Christmas, I got from Papa some stockings as well. He used the points he had available and I think a friend of his may have helped him out with additional points. I am not wearing them however, I am saving them for my daughter.
We got a call from the gallery. Papa wishes to get all the phone numbers. I believe I asked for Zentners’ telegram address. Olga wrote to me. She was happy to get a letter from Eva, but she was sorry she could not send me the original.
Many, many kisses. I greet you all. Your insatiably letter-hungry Helene-Mutti