These letters are from my friend Elsa in Germany.  She wrote me throughout her time during the war.  She could not send them to me because she is Jewish.  She saved them in hope that she could mail them to me one day.  Her sister mailed them to me in 1945 after the war ended.

Dear Joe,
So many things have changed since I talked to you last.  Everything in my world has changed.  I have to wear a yellow star on my jacket, and I have to make sure I always wear it when I leave the house.  Our food is now rationed and my family is always hungry.  Our radio was taken away, but Father managed to hide one so we can still hear what is going on in the world.  There has been trouble with our neighbors.  The father and brother were taken away one night and no one knows why.  Father says that they were dissidents.  I have to remember to look that up, if our dictionary is still here.  Another hard thing is that many of my friends are leaving the country, and even some of our family.  They say that is what is wanted of them, and they want to leave before the situation here gets much worse.  I cannot image it being worse.  Even though things are not the greatest, Mother and Father encourage me to think of the positives.  Many schools have been shut down, but Ana and I are still able to go to school.  That can get scary sometimes.  The SS is always around and sometimes they follow you, stop you, and question you about where you are going.  Mother and Father keep telling us to be patient and this whole situation will pass.  I hope they are right.  I want my life back.

Dear Joe,
This time I am writing you from a new home.  Several weeks ago my whole family, including Grandma, moved into a small 2-bedroom apartment in the ghetto.  Life is pretty difficult here.  We were lucky enough to smuggle our radio to this apartment so we can here about the news of the war.  America is not involved yet, and Father says we need them to defeat the Nazis.  Every night we listen in hopes of hearing that America has joined the war.  Father lost his local furniture business.  He is now forced to work making things for the Nazis.  He does not get paid, and we still have our food rationed.  Ana and I no longer go to school, but Grandma tries to keep us up on our schoolwork.  Several of our neighbors have been taken away.  They were lined up in front of the apartment complex.  The SS men stood in front of them and ordered them into two different lines. One line was for the healthy young people.  They are being sent to a concentration camp called Buchenwald.  The other line was for the old and sick people.  They are being sent to another camp, but I did not hear the name of it.  I asked if they are coming for us soon, but Mother said she did not know.  But from the look on her face, I think she was lying.  I hope we do not have to leave again.

Dear Joe,
Well Joe, my fears came true.  We left again.  This time to a concentration camp named Dachau.  We were lined up just like the others and split into two groups.  We were very lucky that all of my family got to go to the same place.  I cannot write that much or that long, because I don't want to get caught.  Life here is not that much different from life in the ghetto.  The only difference is that the whole family is now working, and Ana and I are not longer doing any schoolwork. The work is long and hard.  We do not get enough sleep or enough food.  We are always cold, and we do not get to bathe.  The bathrooms are overflowing.  The only good news is that before we left “home” we heard that America has now entered the war.  Some people say that any day now, they may be here.  Mother says not to get our hopes up, but I cannot help but feel hopeful. It is almost time for lights out.  Time for sleep and another long day.

Dear Joe,
My name is Ana, Elsa’s sister.  I am sending you these letters that my sister wrote for you over the years during the war.  She always hoped that after the war she could send them to you.  I am also adding something of my own to this letter starting off where Elsa ended.  We stayed at that concentration camp for a long time.  We tried to keep track of the days, but we lost count.  We think it was around a year or so.  Around then, Elsa got really sick. It was typhus.  It was rampant around the camp.  She got so sick that she could not walk or eat.  During the morning counts the officers noticed that she was sick.  They ordered her to another camp.  Mother pleaded with the man, but it did no good, Elsa had to leave.  I was able to stay at the camp for the remainder of the war, and because I helped Father in his shop, I was more skilled than some of the others.  When the war was over I set out to find Elsa.  She was sent to the death camp, Chelmno, and told she was going to work in a factory.  She was gassed to death the day she got there.  It was disheartening, but I guess I expected it. Mother and I are the only ones still alive in our family.  We cannot even find any of our aunts or uncles. I am sorry to give you this news, but I thought I would send you these letters so you would know what she was thinking of you.

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