Today we have a letter and legal document from soldier Harry Lowell to sister Eva Goldsmith in San Francisco.

Philippines
May 17, 1945

Dear Sis,

Enclosed you will find the instrument giving you the power of attorney. Any document you sign as my attorney must bear your signature as shown on the instrument. (Mrs. E.L.G.) Use it wisely and don’t forget to consult Paul any time you are in doubt.

As to your inquiries about my assets, I can lay my hands on twelve-hundred dollars as of this date. In case of emergency wire me for money.

For your information, my bank is the Merchants’ National Bank, Sacramento; in case of my death you may open my safe deposit box which contains documents such as: passports, diplomas, war bonds, etc. I don’t think that the necessity will arise to open the box at any time.

I covered everything, I think, in my letter from New Guinea. I know you’ll keep me posted. 

I’ll write you a long letter very shortly.

Give my best regards to all.

Love,
Harry

P.S. Most of the money is deposited with the Soldiers’ Deposit bank and I can draw it out at any time.

This letter and power of attorney show us how quickly Eva and Harry had to grow up. By May 1945, they knew that their mother had been released from Ravensbrück and been sent to Istanbul. I doubt if they had seen their mother’s letter that we saw in the May 10 and May 14 posts.

Eva and Harry must figure out how to bring their mother to the U.S. It appears that 21-year old Harry had saved almost every penny from the moment he arrived in America, hoping that one day he  and his sister would be able to help his parents join them – according to inflation calculators, $1,200 in 1945 would be worth about $17,500 today. I’m guessing that Eva had done the same, since all of my life my mother saved every penny, rarely spending anything on herself. Although I have a lot of Harry’s letters from New Guinea, I haven’t seen the letter where he “covered everything.”