New York, August 19, 1938
My dear Puppiken, many thanks for your letter dated August 8, which arrived on time on the Normandie; at the same time the postcard from Kl.-S teinberg arrived, which you wrote in impeccable English (as far as I can tell!). My dear sister in law has been making excuses for writing just two lines. The entire postcard is empty, and she says: since no one left me space. What has Joachim been up to? Tell him he should write me how he likes his job and what he is up to there. Tell Miss Herschkovitz thank you for sending her regards. F I will write her when it cools off. This weather makes keeping up with family correspondence such a chore. I hope you are all in good health, especially that dear mother doesn’t suffer too much from the heat. “Papi”, how is traveling these days? I am guessing it is no longer enjoyable and I am worried because of the upcoming days. Have you heard from the consulate? Today, I had a message that my letter arrived in Berlin on August 10th.
F that I return with love
I am happy that you had such a nice birthday and that you received so many gifts. Of course, you will bake cakes here. I will be the one to find out whether they are “very good”. Haha, I will not praise you ahead of time! By the way, did I confirm that I received the cookies? If not, I will do it right now and thank you so much. They are delicious. I also received the 10 M for August recently. Did I tell you that I went to see Stadlender the other day and received the toothpaste? He is stsaying with his wife’s sister. Yes, the heat is very hard on me. But it is not 50 and 55 degrees, which is what I constantly hear from over there, but 35 degrees Celsius. But even that will make you completely exhausted by the end of the day. I wasn’t well this week. Apparently, I caught a stomach cold from drinking too many cold liquids. But I am better now. I also wrote to Suse and included 2 photos of myself. She will send them to you right away. That way, Suse can have a look at me, and you can keep the photos. The shadow on one of them is Miss Tadakuma who has adjusted well to the life here.
She has found a position as a seamstress.
The other day, I received a letter from Gartenbergs. They confirmed receipt of my letter. I am supposed to find out where the affidavit is now. I couldn’t care less what they want. [Not 100% this is what the expression “aufs Ohr blasen” means, but it sounds like something like that.] I haven’t heard one word from my friend Franken. He should have been able to send me a postcard no matter what. I will go visit his relatives here again soon. Maybe they know something, but I doubt it, because they strongly complain about Franken’s laziness when it comes to writing letters. Yesterday, Mr. Sally Meyer also finally wrote me a postcard (after 4 weeks!), because he needed my advice. It used to be that he would never get in touch. I would run to the hotel after receiving a telegram from him, but he would not communicate. But it’s actually better that way; it’s just the people. They will remember you only when they need you.
Puppiken Puppiken you haven‘t forgotten my birthday! I already received letters from Nieh. Suse and from Gisel Bernhard. But you won’t be late, will you?! Speaking of which, I just remembered that it is Joachim’s birthday on the 23rd. All the best to him for the coming year. He is turning 15, or is it 16 already?
I will close for today. It’s too hot. Much love to all. 1000 kisses for you, my dear Puppiken (real ones on October?)
Your Fritz
