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Easter Sunday 8./IV.17.

My dear ones!

I am happy that I have received mail from you again, even if it was sent to me from Trojikorawsk, 2 letters and 3 cards. I am very concerned that Robert is not well and that the economy is weighing on you. Now I should be fine until the end, don’t worry about me. I am also very pleased that Grandmother at least wrote me a few lines. She used to worry that I could not read her handwriting. In these circumstances of mine, I’d do my best to decipher hieroglyphics if she wrote me in those. Robertl should not hesitate to write whatever is on his mind. I am curious to know everything. One thousand kisses. Your

Erich

We have today another letter from Paul and Robert’s brother, a POW in Siberia. At this point, Erich is almost 19 years old. Paul’s letters are usually all business, with little or no humor – he was trained as a lawyer and is very precise in his descriptions, even when they’re about the wonderful time he had on leave in Vienna in his March 19 letter. Even as a prisoner of war, Erich’s sense of humor shines through – much more like his Aunt Helene.

Erich alludes to economic problems. From the WWI letters, it appears that the adult men in the Zerzawy family have been soldiers. Remaining at home in Brüx was Robert, who at the beginning of the war would have been 14 or 15, and his half-sister Käthl who would have been 10. Their grandmother (Helene’s mother) was taking care of them while her son-in-law Julius and his older sons were in the army. Paul and Julius sent money and packages when possible; Erich of course was in no position to do so.