Link to Family Tree to understand family relationships.
Slightly edited, for clarity:
Vienna, 21, February 1941!
Dearest Hilda! Everybody, I suppose, has a mission to fulfill in this world. Yours seems to be guardian angel to the Lowell-Zerzawy “children”. The last one, Robert, I recommend to you especially. He is such a nice fellow, I love him very much and fate was not always nice to him. I promise you to repay all you have given to my children and to the Zerzawy-boys. Mouffle will have a more comfortable life (if such is possible generally) when once I shall be in San Francisco. My own mission is unknown to me, but I am sure I am good for something and I always think, it should be time to know for what reason the creator saved my life. Don’t be angry, if you cannot understand the sense of this letter. You seek for it in vain. It has been a long time since you wrote to me. Fear of master Paul? Don’t be afraid of his censorship! Tell him, when he scolds you, nonsense is the favorite food of mine and he cannot be so heartless to forbid it. Just now a wave of sorrow came over me, therefore the musical lesson falls away for this time. The next letter I hope will contain one as a sign that my mind is healthy again. I finish these lines with heartiest greetings for you and Nathan. He may forgive me that I made a dovecot of his home – our doves are vivacious, most vivacious sometimes, I know.
I hope to receive a long letter from you soon, and in this expectation I remain yours sincerely
Helen
These are apparently the “few words” she wanted to say to Hilda that she mentioned in yesterday’s letter. The censorship numbers on both letters are the same.
How different in tone this letter is – she expresses her gratitude to Hilda, not mentioning the anxiety she is going through trying to arrange for passage to the U.S. Although Hilda and Helene have never met, they share a kinship as Hilda takes in Helene’s beloved children and nephews. She mentions that Robert has not had an easy life. His mother died when he was 3, his aunt/step-mother when he was 11. One of his brothers died in WWI. At the time of this letter, he was alone in London, trying to make his way and apparently trying to join the family in San Francisco. As I have gotten to know the “Zerzawy boys” through their letters, my heart goes out to them. Life indeed was not easy for them.
Helene again discusses Fate, pondering her purpose in life. As I am trying to show with this blog, I believe her purpose was to communicate to her family and the world about the life she led and the hardships she faced, shining a light on society in the 19th and 20th centuries, and on the plight of Jews in that society. Her father taught her to hate injustice and to call it out when she saw it. She was a woman with a message – it just took a few decades and generations to share her voice with the world.
Aside: I do not know who or what “Mouffle” was – Hilda and Nathan loved dogs. Perhaps we see Mouffle in the photo below?
