New York, May 25, 1938
My dear Puppiken, I received your letter dated the 15th yesterday and read that you are doing well, which makes me happy; I feel the same, I have had a bit of a cold that passed quickly. I was especially glad to hear the news that Joachim found a position to train as an automotive mechanic. I tried to find something for him here, but with no success. Everything I have done so far has been unsuccessful, by the way. It is difficult to achieve something here. I have knocked on many doors to find work, but I was unable to achieve anything. It looks like it will be a while until I am ready; but I should find something in the end. I was prepared for this and therefore not disappointed. Some people will promise to help you; but nobody wants to commit. You are on your own. There are countless employment agencies here. I found out that these agencies are almost the only option to find work. Please do not write anything about this to my mother. If I don’t find anything soon, I will have to come up with a fib; otherwise, she will be overly concerned.
You know how she is. For a woman, it is easiest to find a job in a household. Just don’t think that these jobs just fall into your lap. It is difficult to even find one of those jobs, but they are available, which you cannot say about most others. The committee talks a lot and when you get there, everything looks different. I wrote to Gartenberg yesterday; I have a tiny bit of hope for him; but not more. You don’t need to worry about still being in Leipzig in 1939. You will be here by September at the latest! I am only waiting for a few documents; I will then issue the affidavit immediately. I am sure that you will be successful with it. You can take a good look around in [your] mother’s household; it will be necessary for you to work in someone’s household for a while. Continue working on your English. Did Gisela find another job? You don’t need to listen to Salomon. He is unreliable (?). He will say one thing one day and something else the next day. He has the best connections to the consulate. Probably none at all! Yesterday, Mama sent me the pictures. I think they are all very pretty. I am enclosing our Leica photos. I sent some (Bad Lausick) to Gartenberg. I took a few more photos when I was out. They are not worth much.
They are not worth sending. You will see them here soon enough.
The weather here is the same as they are in May. So far it has been mostly cool. There have been only two muggy days, on my day of arrival and yesterday. After a thunderstorm it has cooled off again. I have not worn my lightest clothing. How are your eyes? I hope they are better, you only need to rest, especially your eyes; then the twitching will go away. It is a sign of general tiredness and really has nothing to do with your eyes. You will always feel this in a part of your body that is sensitive. I remember that you have had this before. Is the other thing all right? You know what I mean!!
Yesterday, I received a letter from Miss Tadakuma. She lives in Marschner str 13 with the Hellers. Please go visit her when you have time. Please send my regards to Dr. Freitag again. Please also call Einschlafs and send them my regards. Ask them to write to me when they have time. I have not yet written to Ela. I will do this soon. I talked to the aunt. The situation doesn’t look good for Speyers. If only the other cousin didn’t exist! She is a beast!
Your letter is alright and I didn’t find any mistakes in it. It would be nice if you could write me the next letter all in English. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes. that’s immaterial. [written in English] I will close for today; I hope I haven’t forgotten anything.
My cousin would like to know what you will bring. It might be better to these some things over there. Please make a detailed list of everything when you have time. Please provide measurements for those items that are intended for beds. Much love to all of you and 1000 kisses to you, my dear Puppiken.
Your Fritz
Sterns + Leibhagens send their regards. Lise wanted to sign, but I will send the letter because the “Bremen” leaves tomorrow. Next time!
