Lodz, 20 January 1935 

Dear brother, as well as devoted nephew, Sol Zissman,

Three days ago, I received your dear letter with which was
enclosed a letter from Ruth, and I make haste to answer you.  As
to your writing that you are going to New York for a vacation, I
am very pleased.  I am even more delighted to hear that, by
chance, you learned the address of my best friend and one-time
companion.  Surely, Sol, you will visit him and talk with him
about me.  Although twenty years have passed since I have seen
his handwriting before my eyes, nevertheless our love and
friendship of yore have not been entirely extinguished.  A spark
of our memories of thirty years past still warms me...  In fact,
today, Sunday, the 15th of Shevat, is the 26th anniversary of my
marriage.  Twenty-six years are not twenty-six days.  Twenty-six
years is a piece of a lifetime, a piece of history, and such a
tragic twenty-six years to boot...  A writer, a poet, would be
able to compose a whole series of books respecting these
twenty-six years of life and torment...  

In truth, it is a slice of history.  And, nevertheless,
everything is still so fresh in my mind that I recall every
detail, every memory, every event.  Even though you were a child
then, Sol, you should more or less remember that on that
Saturday, the 15th of Shevat, you as a child also participated
in the spectacle, i.e., in the celebration.  Your mother, may
she rest in peace, requested that on that same Saturday on which
my traditional call to the Torah before marriage, at which the
prospective groom is showered with candies, was to take place,
you should begin your study of the Chumash and should deliver a
fine speech.  And so it was.  You delivered a real speech at
that time...and your father and your mother, may she rest in
peace, and your grandmother, may she rest in peace, stood in a
corner and wiped away tears of joy.  

You were a nice looking boy.  You were wearing a nice little
suit at the time.  You were adored by the whole family and, on
the spot, it was decided that you, and only you, would have the
privilege of going along to Lodz to your uncle's wedding.  "On
the other hand, Ruchel and Bryndl will stay at home."  At the
time, your parents were overcome with joy.  I remember
everything as if it were today.  In particular, your father
wanted to show you off as an accomplished performer, as a nice
looking young Jewish boy, since you were no one's fool as a
child...  You were then the center of attraction in your house
and were then beloved by the whole family in general and
particularly by me.

And today, dear Sol, when you write me about what's taking place
between you children and your father, it hurts me a lot.  First
of all, in this situation I cannot help at all here, I cannot
intervene because I am, after all, situated so far from you and
from your father.  Second, dear Sol, to the extent that I
observe the situation, to the extent that I study the grievous
picture of your tragedy, at everything that has happened, at
everything that you have already endured, experienced, in your
lives since your young mother, may she rest in peace, left
you...then I see, dear children, that the picture is not
over...the curtain has not yet fallen...  You, Sol, play the
starring role; your responsibility is a difficult one.  Your
father plays a role as if he were a powerful person, also
two-faced...  At the present time, Ruth is the victim...  Ruchel
and Bryndl have been victims for a long time.  

Yes, Sol, the picture doesn't leave me with a good impression. 
I hope to live and see how it will end.  Children, don't think
that I don't regret the situation of your father.  I have a
great deal of sympathy for him since he is a person with a weak
character who permitted himself to be caught in a trap...for, in
the final analysis, he doesn't understand the mistakes that he
is making.  Well, to be brief, it remains only to bemoan you
children.  However, no matter how much I bemoan you children,
you will eventually emerge the victors, the heroes, and your
father will remain the weak one, the vanquished...

With respect to your balance sheet and your closing one store, I
am interested in knowing what sort of new business you are now
planning to open.  As to Ruth's letter to me, I had it read to
me.  I am most thankful for her writing to me.  I am enclosing a
note especially for her.  As far as I can tell, she is really a
fine child.  

Respecting the newspapers that were returned, I write you as
follows.  Two months ago, I received a notice from the duties
office that a package of newspapers from Chicago had arrived for
me.  I was shocked because the post office has delivered the
newspapers to my home every (other) time, and this time they
told me to come to pick them up.  I went to the duties office
area in the post office; they told me that I would be able to
receive the newspapers only if I were to furnish a permit from
the Ministry of Trade...allowing me to deal in old foreign
newspapers...  I stood there and looked at the official as if he
were mad.  The situation started to aggravate me.  I insisted,
"What kind of selling; what kind of business am I running?"  I
wanted to point out the mistake that they had made, but the
official, a big bodied Pole, didn't want to give any
consideration to my words.  He wouldn't hand the newspapers over
to me until I furnished him with the appropriate permit from the
Ministry of Trade to import old newspapers from America.  Well,
to make a long story short, seeing that I was dealing with a
donkey brain, I went home and wrote a letter in the format of an
explanation in order to straighten out their mistake.

However, a month later, I received an answer that, unless I pay
them five zlotys, i.e., $1, for stamps, they will not grant my
request under any circumstances, and the newspapers will be
consfiscated!  Well, I didn't pay them a dollar because I
thought to myself that, in the final analysis, they'll have to
send them to me.  However, they are more hardheaded.  Instead of
sending them to me, they sent them back to you in Chicago. 
Apparently, no one wanted to buy them at the auction of
confiscated goods.  From then until now, I have received
newspapers twice, but with later dates, and you have the
newspapers of October 18 to October 24.  If you want to, and
have the opportunity to, send them to me.

Further, dear Sol, I write you that this coming February 15, if
I am not mistaken, will be the tenth anniversary of the
celebration of your marriage.  It is a good thing for you to
take a vacation to New York now, but I don't know if it's with
Esther or without Esther.  As far as I know, you didn't
celebrate a honeymoon ten years ago.  Therefore, you should
celebrate your honeymoon now.  Most importantly, don't forget to
take along your wallet of dollars because, as I understand it,
one can spend more in one day in New York than during a whole
year in Kinsk!  To be brief, go in good health, and have a good
time there, enjoy yourself, and write me what sort of impression
New York made on you and how long you were there and whether you
were there with your family or by yourself.  Also, extend
regards to your uncle, Akiba Freundlich, from me whom he won't
remember.  I was a young boy at the time that he lived with
Itche Pszednowek; he worked as a bookkeeper for Yerachmial
Zinger and bought items from Yosel Tsuker or Yankel Lewin...it's
a tale of forty years ago.

I think, dear Sol, that for today it will enough (for you) to
read through this whole letter.  I haven't reported anything
about myself because, first of all, I don't have anything to
write.  At present, I have nothing good to tell you, and I'm not
going to write you anything bad because you note in your last
letter that I have become as accustomed to my complaining as you
have to your back...  Therefore, I don't want to complain.  I
merely write that I haven't worked since Succos because the
manufacturer for whom I worked died and was survived by heirs. 
They can't agree among themselves; instead, they quarrel. 
Meanwhile, who suffers most because of it if not the worker? 
There's hardly any strength left  to endure the trouble!!!  

(As to) your writing in your last letter that you are about to
carry out your plan and are about to come to Europe, yes, Sol, I
have much to discuss with you and write to you about this. 
However, we'll put it off to another time.  So, heartfelt
regards to you, your worthy wife, Esther, and your dear son,
Leonard.  Regards also to your sisters, Ruchele, Bryndl and her
husband and son.  Heartfelt regards also to Ruth; I am enclosing
a note for her.  Aunt Malke sends heartfelt regards to all of
you.  My Rivkele and my Joseph send their heartfelt regards to
all of you.  Finally, the whole family sends regards to all of
you without exception.

		With respect, 

		Wolf Lewkowicz


All material Copyright 1995 by Marshall L. Zissman and Sol J. Zissman.