Lodz, 1 October 1923 Devoted, valued nephew with your worthy name, Sol Zissman, I have received the picture of the new store that you opened, and thank you very much for sending it. I also wish that you will have much good fortune in all of your endeavors. I'm surprised at you, devoted Sol, for not having written me anything lately about your having separated from your partner, etc., because when I was in Opoczno I saw a letter of yours in which (you wrote that) you had broken up the partnership. We can't really believe that to Opoczno you found it necessary to write about your recent experiences and business transactions and to your devoted and loving uncle who dreams of you constantly, you wrote nothing but only sent a picture. It's true that I look at your face as you stand by your store and read everything from it. First, I see that you don't look well. You're exhausted from work and, besides that, I'm sure, there's brainwork...yes, I see, even though I am far, very far, from you, but I see everything and I also understand the way your mind works. You have a good mind and it works well. You need only to have a little good luck and then, devoted Sol, you'll be successful. Believe me, another person in your situation would not have accomplished as much as you have, with your self-reliance. For example, your own uncle falls short of your standard, but are there really many such unfortunates as your uncle??? Surely not... Merely that you attained independence, that you are not reliant on anyone else, that you were not ousted by a partner...I'm already envious of you. You work according to your own understanding; you put your own luck and success to the test, etc. On the other hand, I can't convince myself to act in that way. I was an unfortunate and still am. I have become worthless, not respected. I have no initiative, no courage; I am dependent on someone else; I am subordinate to another. I can't achieve anything better. I can't reach my goal. To speak plainly, each day I sink a bit deeper, like that other seaman. I stumble about and can't find the right road in business, and I am also alone, and I have no one to pull me out of the swamp, no one to steer me onto the right path. In a word, I am vanquished and powerless. Fourteen years after my marriage, and I haven't tasted anything of life and really do not know how to tell the difference between life and... It's possible, dear nephew, that it's only for me that it's so difficult to live and to exist. Perhaps someone else in my place would simply interpret it as fate. Evidently G-d wants it this way, so I have to remain a poor man until the end of my days. But I am too weak to be so faithful and to figure that everything is decided by G-d... Surely, Sol, you there will say that your uncle has become an atheist; he doesn't believe in G-d. No, I really do believe. But if G-d were to assure everyone of a living, it would be a bit too large a chore for G-d. Furthermore, what great sins did I commit? Whom did I harm so greatly, chas v'cholilah? Why has G-d completely forgotten me? Shall I capitulate totally or shall I now completely abandon my dreams and my accomplishments, or shall I completely abandon hope? I know the world too well. Truly, it is a very nice little world, not a (mere) vestibule as mentioned in the Ethics of the Fathers. A world which everyone has the right to exploit and to benefit from everything in the world which can be enjoyed... Beyond that, the Garden of Eden and the Messianic bull and the leviathan and the wine from the time of creation, I leave for someone else. Dear and devoted nephew, reading my letter, you'll think to yourself, "My uncle has gone downhill. He no longer believes in....(and) in the world to come. So, I ask you, devoted nephew, answer my question. Do I have the right as a human being to want to be able to exist in the world, or not??? As a human being, a family man, with three growing children, fourteen years after marriage, should I have put (my life) in order, or not??? A person who is 36 years old who is not terribly bright, but also not a fool, has the right to do business and to work according to his own understanding, or doesn't he??? You should know, my devoted child, that your uncle will not be able to endure his unbearable condition for long because the measure is filled to overflowing... My devoted and dear Sol, reading my previous letter, to which I have not yet received an answer from you, surely you will give consideration to your uncle's circumstances. I want you to know that I must now make an accounting of my life. I want to make progress, a new plan. I think of a letter of yours in which you write me that you will give me a sharp saw to cut through the bars. By all means, I clutch your sharp saw as a drunkard would clutch a razor. I want to save my remaining few years. I want to be a nurturer to my children. To be brief, my devoted and beloved nephew, I have made a resolution, I have made a firm decision that, since there is no chance for me to make a go of it in Poland, I want to leave. So now, my devoted child, read carefully what I am writing to you because it won't pay to spend a lot of time thinking about it. Therefore, (let it be) said and done. If you have the wherewithal, if you understand that your uncle will only be able to live and exist, if it will not be too ruinous to you...if you are truly as devoted as when you write that you will do for me all that is within your power, don't delay. Immediately send me affidavits, requests (that I come to you), i.e., to show that we are starting to work on it. Also, let me know everything that is necessary in order to go, what sort of papers I must have, because it will take a year's time until we can get a visa. In a word, my devoted and beloved Sol, I believe and hope that you will do all you can to come to my help now with respect to everything that I need, and when I arrive I will repay you for everything from my work. This is the final step which I am going to take in my life. For the time being, I will come by myself. After I am there for a while, I will get things in order, and then I will be able to bring over my family. For the time being, they will have to suffer a bit and to stint. I don't mean, chas v'cholilah, dear Sol, that when I come to you I will be a burden to you, that you will support me. Chas v'cholilah, no, America can provide bread for every worker who is willing to work. Dear nephew Sol, the day before yesterday, I received a letter from your father. He apologizes to me. He doesn't write any news to me. I can read between the lines that you children do not get along with your step-mother. Your father writes that the time will come when you will be rich. May it be so. May G-d cause it to happen. You deserve to be fortunate. So, respecting Poland, there's nothing important to write. What's happening is just like in Russia or in Germany. Inflation is growing from day to day. Money, i.e., the mark, is falling in value every day. Everyone is on strike. There is unemployment. Hunger governs everywhere. At this moment, bread costs 120,000 per kilo, meat 200,000, a suit from 30 to 40 million marks, a pair of shoes from 5 to 10 million marks. A dollar is worth from 2 to 2 1/2 million marks. There is a crisis. No apartments are available except for from 500 to 600 million per room. Heating is expensive. Lights are expensive. To make it short, life is becoming unbearable. A wealthy person lives well; he's not concerned that thousands of workers are starving, simply dying because of poverty. Our partnership is also going bankrupt; the business is completely ruined, and there is a great deal to write about it...we'll leave it for another time because the fourth page is almost filled. So, nothing more of importance to write about. Heartfelt and loving regards to you from me your devoted uncle, who hopes for your good fortune. From me, your uncle, Wolf Lewkowicz c/o Rotberg Wolczanska 168 Lodz Heartfelt regards from my mother, your grandmother, from my wife, from my children to you, to your father and sisters. Regards to your father; I'll write him a letter. Regards to your sisters. Regards to Isaac Anker, your uncles, the family, and so on. All material Copyright 1995 by Marshall L. Zissman and Sol J. Zissman.