Lodz, 19 March 1924 Devoted and beloved nephew, Sol Zissman, Today I received your letter of twelve pages (permeated with such deep love) as well as the four photos. I had also received a letter from you in Yiddish and another from your fiancee in English. You may wonder why I am answering all three letters at the same time. It isn't in my nature to withhold an answer from you. I know that you are just as anxious to get a letter from me as I am to get a letter from you. The answer is very simple. Your last two letters were wait- ing for me in Lodz for four weeks, and I knew nothing about them. As you know, I haven't been in Lodz for a while. I was in Opoczno for two weeks and in Warsaw for three weeks. I have much to write to you about my journey, but I will leave that for another time. The temptation (to stay) was great, but my conscience bothered me since I had left a wife and three chldren without any means of support. Upon my return to Lodz, I found the two letters waiting for me at my Uncle Emanuel's. And today, Purim, I received you letter and the four photographs. Dear and devoted Shloymele, your last letter drew tears from me. You made such an impression on me with your writing that I am not really able to answer your dear, wise writing with my meager thoughts. All of your plans are good ones and consistent, but I can't react. I can only say that if you want to acquaint yourself with your uncle's condition, read my previous letter in which I recounted my entire biog- raphy. I sent you a letter from Opoczno and I write you again that I have expended all of my energy trying to get out of Poland--even without determining where--just to get out of here. My misery drives me out of here. Unfortunately, I am convinced that I won't be able to get out of here soon, since immigration has now become 100% harder. For example, the Polish government has just imposed a fee of 500 zlotys for an exit visa; this is approximately a billion marks, just short of $100. All of this came about because of the large number of would-be emigrants who want to leave Poland. In addition, each citizen must pay the equivalent of three years' tax in advance. One is also obligated to buy 25 shares in the newly founded Emisiye bank at a cost of 250 gold francs. In short, Shloymele, I am like the mortally ill person who can neither die nor live. I can't leave for various reasons and difficulties, and in order to remain here in Europe I have to turn to you for either a loan or a gift. I see from your last letter, which was filled with love, that you want to lend me, or give me, money. I also under- stand that you don't have a mountain of money but are going to borrow it from your dear fiancee. At these words, my heart skipped a beat, and I heaved a deep, heartfelt sigh. Yes, it is truly a great sacrifice that you are offering your uncle. You are not only doing what you are able to do, you are doing more than you are able to do. I never intended for your fiancee to know the condition in which your uncle finds himself. It is true that your fiancee is smart enough and understanding enough, but what right do I have to her bit of savings? As it is written, "Don't tempt fate." No one knows what tomorrow may bring. Would that G-d would help me and I were able to pay you back the money by Succos. If not, G-d forbid, I will have caused you to suffer. You are such an unfortunate person, Shloymele, to have an uncle beset you, who doesn't give you a moment's peace, who doesn't let you live. So, my dear child, I reiterate that the present money which you will send now should not be regarded as a gift but sim- ply as a loan which I intend to repay, if not all at once, then slowly in installments over a long period of time. In any case, I don't want to keep it. What else can I do? Believe me, I would rather die. However, as the saying goes, it is never too late to die. To continue, I want to let you know that I left the partner- ship this week. I was paid off by my partner (who is also my brother-in-law) the sum of eighty million marks. This is a whole $8! There is much to write about this partnership, but (I'll leave it for) another letter when I have somewhat more patience and spirit. Then I'll describe everything to you accurately and clearly. Meanwhile, I thank G-d for whatever I have, and may He continue to help me so that I can get a little apartment or a small store. There are mer- chants who would give me merchandise. Dear child, I don't think that I will go into any more partnerships. I will turn over a new leaf. As you yourself write, I will see how far my own strength will take me. I will work energetically and use all my abilities to further only myself, not someone else. I'll stay here until Passover; after Passover, please G-d, I'm planning to move into the city. My in-laws live outside the city. Apartments are easier to get these days, and life is beginning to normalize. The mark is no longer falling. It is being stabilized in relation to the gold franc. The cost of living is not rising any more. Business dealings are at a standstill; nevertheless, the crisis is thought to be over. Normal life is beginning. Factories are starting to operate half the week, and they say that good times will yet come to Poland. It depends to whom! Therefore, my dear child, I must give up my plans to go to America, Argentina, Canada, or Palestine. I must stay in Poland and work myown field, without partners. May G-d Almighty help me so that I may be successful in all that I undertake, and may all the paths I choose be the right ones so that I will be able to send you back the money, as you yourself might wish. I close my writing with heartfelt, loving regards. My wife also sends regards to you, and your fiancee, and your fam- ily, and so on. Your uncle, Wolf Lewkowicz Shloymele, I have already written you three pages and I com- pletely forgot that today is Purim, although Purim interests me very little. I don't care that they hanged Haman or that Mordecai became a minister. I don't regret the cakes and wines that float before my eyes, but these are not gifts for the poor. They are simply gifts from glutton to glutton. I don't even care about the fifteen-degree frost and snow that still reign here. I am thinking only about one thing, dear child--Queen Esther! Do you think I mean the Queen Esther of old who left us the whole traditional Purim with the cakes and the wines and the Hamans? No! Only in your Queen Esther, the one you are standing next to in the picture, do I see what the megilla describes: "And the maiden was pretty and fair to behold." Yes, your fiancee has found favor in your eyes and in our eyes. Your fiancee pleases me very much with her naivete, with her intelligent, inquiring eyes. Dear Shloymele, may you know how to appreciate and take care of your bride-to-be. Be true to her and devoted. A wife is a comfort in life. As the poet, King Solomon, said in Ecclesiastes: "For if they fall, the one will lift up his friend, but woe be to him who is alone when he falleth and hath not another to lift him up;" and "Again, if two lie together, then they have warmth, but how can one be warm alone?" and, "Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart, for G-d hath already accepted thy works." Yes, my dear child, nothing in this world is accomplished merely by one's own will. I am convinced that your match is decreed from heaven, since your sainted mother always dreamed of this. Therefore, see that you appreciate and take care of your bride-to-be. If you will do all these things, then you will indeed be "one heart and one soul." I will yet write to you about your fiancee, but I leave it for another time. I send heartfelt regards to you and your fiancee. My wife and children (also) send heartfelt regards. Wolf Lewkowicz All material Copyright 1995 by Marshall L. Zissman and Sol J. Zissman.