Lodz, 1 October 1935 Dear and devoted brother, as well as nephew, S. Zissman, I received your newspapers with a note enclosed, as well as $10, in good order on the eve of Rosh Hashona!!! Although a letter of mine is on its way to you, surely you have received it, I write you a second letter now. First of all, my devoted one, I wish for the new year that you and your family will have been granted a good, healthy and happy year by Almighty G-d. May you be inscribed in the Book of Life, in the Book of Sustenance, in the Book of Blessing and Success!!! I am anxious, dear Sol, to hear about your new store that you established with a Christian partner. You write that it will be a restaurant. I wish you success in your new undertaking. Write me all the details about the business! I also thank you, devoted brother, for the generosity that you show me. I lack the words to express myself to you in this letter. No, Sol, your love and devotion to me is not that of a nephew for an uncle, perhaps more than that of a son to a father, like that of a brother to a brother. You write that you earned an easy $10 so you're sending it to me... These words have to be well understood. As I understand it, you work hard, never earn an easy dollar. And if, once in ten years, it should happen that you do earn $10 easily, you take them and send them away to your uncle. Well? How can this be explained? Therefore, Sol, I tell you that I lack the words needed to express the value of your heart and of your generosity. Yesterday was Rosh Hashona. I returned from the synagogue where we stood and prayed to G-d that he grant us all life, and if we live we need, after all, the necessities of life. Yes, Sol, this year at Rosh Hashona Jews in Poland shed more tears than during other years. Somehow, every person came to synagogue to pray with a downcast attitude, with a tight-lipped feeling, and when we came to "Our Father, Our King, remember Your compassion and suppress Your anger, bring an end to pestilence, bloodshed, famine, (captivity,) destruction, (iniquity, plague,) evil mishap, every illness, (every obstacle,) every strife, every sort of punishment, every evil decree and baseless hatred from upon us and from upon all the members of Your covenant," rivers of tears were shed by the congregation. One could clearly see how our faces were flushed with shame because a world full of enemies have pounced on us and want to destroy us, to kill us, to push us back to the ghetto of thousands of years ago; a sea of decrees, of anti-semitism, storm toward us from every part of the world and will kill us, destroy us. Hitlerism on the one side, Communism on the second side, anti-semitism on the third side. And we little people stand in the synagogue and pray to Almighty G-d to protect us, to guard us from all these evil decrees, various illnesses, various intoxications. In recent times, we are really standing between the hammer and the anvil. It's not enough that we are tripped up at every turn. Now, in addition, a Hitler has fallen upon us and spread his anti-semitism in Poland so that we are completely ruined. The government is powerless to stand up against the many parties that spring up like mushrooms after a rain in order to do battle against Jews, in order to snatch away the last bit of bread from Jews. I am specially enclosing two leaflets being distributed in the street to every passer-by (saying) not to buy from Jews. In case you can't read them, hand them to your father. He reads Polish so he will translate for you what they say. And whose work do you think this is? All from Germany. Hitlerism is spreading here just like a sickness... Therefore, dear Sol, we are so embittered and downcast. And if I then receive a letter from you with a few sincere words of encouragement, and several dollars on top of it, then I really don't know with what words I should express myself to you because we feel so alone, so depressed. The general economy is suffering and every household along with it. Even though I'm not a merchant, but a worker, yet when a merchant does business, the worker earns something. And so, for example, I work three days a week at starvation wages. It's not enough for a piece of clothing, for rent money. Expenses are always more than income. Life is difficult and unbearable. And, as of now, we see no prospect for better times. That's the reason, dear Sol, we are so depressed. That's the reason why we see more people in synagogue this year than ever before. Jews shout, cry, pray and want to be granted a better year than last year. They want to be granted the prayer that all the decrees will be revoked so that we will be able to breathe freely. And I, your uncle, stand also in the midst of the mass and pray and cry and raise my voice: "In the book of life, blessing and peace and good sustenance and good decrees, salvation and consolation, may we be remembered and inscribed before You - we and Your entire people of the house of Israel, for a good life and for peace." However, I am in doubt as to whether my crying out and weeping will help. I pray only that worse times for us will not come. For example, there is talk of wars, and I don't want to witness what my eyes have already seen twenty years ago. There's such a desire (just) to struggle through the small balance of my years in difficulty and in suffering... However, let's hope that the new year will bring much good fortune for all of us and that all the evil will depart with the old year. Sol, do you ever recall the way Yom Kippur eve looked in Kinsk? Do you ever recall your childhood years of twenty-five years ago? Yes, Sol, everything is like a dream. Our whole life is nothing more than a dream. One year after another passes, and we get closer to... As long as I am living, I would like to see you before my eyes, put my arms about you, hug and kiss you, and this was my main plea this Rosh Hashona among all my pleas. May the Holy One, Blessed be He, help so that we may merit to see each other face to face. For now, I wish that you and your family, i.e., your dear wife, Esther, and dear son, Leonard, will be sealed for a complete good year, and a happy, healthy year for you and your whole family. Heartfelt regards to all of you. Regards also to your sisters, Ruchele, Bryndl and Ruth; I wish them all a happy, healthy year. Regards also to your father and in-laws; I wish that they will be sealed for a complete good year. My wife, i.e., Aunt Malke sends regards to everyone and wishes everyone a healthy year. My Rifkele sends heartfelt regards to all, and Joseph sends heartfelt regards to everyone. Recently, I've had a few problems over him. As you know, he is learning a trade, and he is almost competent in the trade. I hoped that he would already be earning something. It turns out that a new law has been enacted that a boy under eighteen years cannot work in a factory, so he has to wait another 2 1/2 years until he can work legally. So, I close my letter with respect. Your uncle, Wolf Lewkowicz All material Copyright 1995 by Marshall L. Zissman and Sol J. Zissman.