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Helene writes from Vienna to her children in San Francisco. They have been separated from each other for a year.
Vienna, 2 October 1940
My dear sweeties! I will have to use all of my powers of persuasion to get Papa to mail the letter because he thinks it’s “immoral” to write letters when you’re not going to get an answer. Since I have a very different view of “morality” in this context, I will insist that the letter gets mailed today.
The rather deep bend on our floor has done so much damage that the work is still not finished. The new floorboards stand out from the old ones quite a bit, and the masonry provided such protection out of this that I had to have the carpenter strip off the floor because it wouldn’t have served to have things rubbing against everything. The carpenter made me a dance floor which I’m sure my daughter would have been delighted at and my son probably would have wanted to dance. Unfortunately, I don’t know what to do with it and I just have the satisfaction that people can see that I’ve really been cleaning thoroughly.
When I pick Papa up in the evening for our usual walk which usually takes us across the quay to the Rotenturm Street, your father always asks me if I have bought my daughter’s built-in soap dish for the bathroom, which is still highly recommended by the Schwadron Brothers. Especially since we now have a sketch of Everl’s room, this acquisition seems particularly important to him. I will see soon what I can do about that.
Please don’t forget to give all of our loved ones our most warm greetings and best wishes and to assure them of my love and gratitude.
Embracing you with all my heart, I am your
Helen
When she translated this letter, Roslyn pointed out that there is now a restaurant chain in Vienna called Zuckergoscherl - for sweet tooth – the pet name Helene uses to address her children. Helene gives a brief account of their lives, emphasizing how just about everything she and Vitali do reminds them of their children. The children also try to include their parents as much as they can – in a recent letter, Eva sent a sketch of her bedroom so they could imagine her living quarters.