Lodz, 10 March 1938

To my dear and devoted brother, as well as nephew, Sol Zissman,
and family,

I have received your letter of February 17 and, while one letter
is on its way to you, I am responding immediately to what you
wrote.  I read that you had a good time there on February 15 at
the celebration of the thirteenth anniversary of your marriage. 
That makes me very happy.  I hope, Sol, that at the observance
of the fifteenth anniversary of your marriage, I merit
participating in your celebration!  

Further, dear Sol, with respect to the man, Meyer Weinreb, whom
you located there, I am not capable of relating in writing the
sort of impact it made on his sister and brother-in-law.  They
simply wept for joy.  They had not heard from him for eighteen
years and, suddenly, you were the intermediary who brought them
together.  Simply said, the lady wanted to kiss me for joy, but
since I saw that she was too old to kiss a man...I declined such
a pleasurable experience...and told her that the real
congratulations should not be given to me, but to you, Sol, and
they really do send you their best thanks, even though they
don't know you, for finding their brother!!!

Further, dear brother, I can let you know that, two days ago, I
received a letter from the consul in which they write to Joseph
as follows.  I will relate here the gist of the letter, word by
word, and if you want, I can send the letter to you.  The letter
is written in Polish and reads as follows:

Mr. Joseph Lewkowicz

Lodz

Your request and all the accompanying documents have been
received.  The documents appear to be inadequate to demonstrate
that Joseph will not become dependent on the government. 
Therefore, he is transferred to the registration list of all the
registered persons.  At such point as the circumstances and
conditions in the country permit such remote relatives to enter
the country, they will inform him.  Additional papers and
documents which are submitted will be taken into account!!!

That is, dear Sol, in a refined manner, they have denied Joseph
a visa.  It appears that the law in America is not the same as
it is here...    

Joseph and all of us are very unhappy with the consul having
denied him a visa.  First of all, it cost you so much energy -
work - and money.  Secondly, it cost me seventy gulden, i.e.,
$14, in addition to work and time, but I put all that to one
side.  We here were 90% certain that Joseph would be granted a
visa because we saw from all your (letters) from influential
people, from officials, as well as letters of approval from so
many firms, that you were really serious about bringing him to
you; at H.I.A.S. they told us that they were sure that he would
receive a visa because the documents were good and authentic. 
In the final analysis, it appears that the H.I.A.S. is also
poorly informed about the immigration law.  

In an earlier letter of mine, I wrote you that I am too much of
a pessimist to be optimistic about all of this.  You see, Sol,
your uncle was correct.  You once blamed me because Joseph would
one day be entitled to complain to me for not having registered
him eight years earlier.  Do you know, Sol, that starting then
until today not one of those registered has left?  Only a few
people have left for whom someone there has been able to show
that he is wealthy enough to support the person but (claims)
that he needs him in his business or that he's bringing him to
go to school.  I am only aware of a few persons who were
successful, but they were far more wealthy than you.

Well, dear brother Sol, let us not blame one another because we
did everything that it was possible to do, and we were not
successful, so we have to figure out what else there is to do. 
Yesterday, I was at the H.I.A.S. and showed them the response
from the consul.  They immediately sent word of the answer to
Warsaw, and from Warsaw they will send it to America.  However,
all this has to do with formalities.  To my question of whether
there is something more to be done or whether we should abandon
the whole thing, they told me that we dare not give up.  You
must consult further with H.I.A.S. there.  Perhaps it's
necessary for you to bring someone to help you.  After all, you
have wealthy uncles there and a wealthy family.  I suspect that
I don't have to instruct you as to what to do because you are
smarter and more determined than I am.  Do everything that it is
in your power to do, and if it doesn't help then you will not be
blamed for not wanting to help.  Let's wait and hope that eventually 
our work and effort will prove to be successful!!!

Further, dear brother, you are surely anxious to hear some news about
me.  So, I have to write that there is no important news for me to
share with you.  I am still not working because the factory is still
standing idle.  It seems to me that I gave you the reasons in my last
letter.  The factory owners became impoverished and went through an
unpublicized bankruptcy.  And G-d alone knows how long it will take
for work to begin.  It is gossiped about that they are preparing to
sell the factory to a Gentile, an Endik.  If this turns out to be the
case, not a single Jew will be able to continue to work there.  It is
also gossiped about that a new partner with capital may be brought in.
Meanwhile, it's not very pleasant.

To go on, Joseph still has his job and is looking forward to becoming
18 years old so that he can become a legal worker and earn a salary.
For now, he's being exploited; he does the work of five men and gets
paid half of a normal man's wages!

Further, Rivkele is responsible for the house.  Thank G-d, she is
well.  Recently, she was learning English.  However, she had to give
this up because I am not working.  As to Rivkele, dear Sol, I would
have to speak to you at length, not in letters, but face to face.  You
once wrote that you had the desire to take a trip here.  I don't want
to remind you more about it because a person has many ideas and times
change.  But I know you too well, Sol.  I know that you want to help
me with word and deed respecting a match for my Rivkele.  But how can
I begin to talk about it at a time when I am in Lodz, you are in
Chicago, the prospective groom is somewhere in the world, and the
dowry is somewhere between heaven and earth!  But to remain inactive,
to fail to consider the matter, to fail to do anything, and wait until
the right time comes, until the right moment comes, would be a bit too
risky because we are too familiar with the Polish Jewish grooms.  I
have studied them very carefully and concluded that it is a sad
situation...made even sadder because Rivkele is an orphan.  If there
were a mother, the entire responsibility would not fall on the father.
But in our case, unfortunately, I have to be a father and a mother.  I
would very much prefer not to set myself at the level of your father.
I would also very much prefer that other people not meddle in our
affairs.  When my sister was in Lodz, a member of the family asked her
why she didn't arrange the marriage of one of her children with
Rivkele.  Another member of the family answered that if Rivkele had
3,000 gulden, i.e, $600, she would perhaps find a better husband than
Yoske.  The whole conversation was unnecessary and didn't really
interest me.  But it would be better if I were not to hear that people
are jesting at my expense.  It's like the remark of the poor person
who said, "It's not enough that I'm poor, but everyone is 'concerned'
with a poor man!"  However, Sol, I see that I won't untangle myself
from the muddle today and there is so little space left to end my
letter.  Better to leave it for another time and better days.

I end my writing for now with warm regards for you and your worthy
wife and dear son, Leonard.  I wish you and your family, your sisters
and brothers-in-law, a happy Purim.  From me, your loving uncle,

Wolf Lewkowicz


The whole family and my children send warm regards.  Cousin Esther
Goldberg sends regards to you.  She is enclosing a note to you.  Dear
Sol, five years have passed since I had the taste of making a living
in the street.  This week, I tried to locate a street where I might
earn a gulden.  So, I can write you that the Polish Endikys have so
positioned the Jewish merchant that he starves five days a week, and
two days, Shabbos and Sunday, he sleeps...  It's really a pity for the
Polish economy in general and for the Jewish merchant in particular.
Thousands are wandering about and tens of thousands of Jews are
searching for some means of earning enough to make it through the day.
But it's not permitted.  There are those about who see to that...  I
can also write that, in general, the situation is difficult for a
worker in Poland; for the merchant, the little fellow, it's a thousand
times worse.

Respectfully,

Wolf Lewkowicz 

(This is a translation of the note enclosed by Esther Goldberg.)

Dear Cousin Shloymele,    ...the three-year-old youngster...

I'm not even in a position to write to you now because of business
problems.  But since your Uncle Wolf is writing a letter to you now, I
am making the effort to write in order that you won't be able to
criticize me for being behind the times since I don't write.  I see,
Shloymele, that you want to believe that I am jealous of the long
letters your uncle receives from you.  Even if you wanted to write me
such a long letter, do you have the material?  You have a lot to write
to him about, so you write.  I also commented that I thought that you
were weary from writing so much.  Therefore, you smuggle my letters.
In addition, I believe that writing a lot is not really a virtue.
Very often, one can write very little and say a lot, i.e., speak a
little and say a great deal...  I am certainly not the same sort of
businessman that you are, and if you get a little more from me than I
do from you, it doesn't bother me.  I love to give someone an
opportunity to make a good deal.  And if my writing gives you
enjoyment, by all means, why not?  I am also satisfied.  Eventually, I
will send you a photograph.

The business problems that I'm so busy with are as follows.  My
husband, as you may know, is a hairdresser and was working for someone
else.  In terms of his earnings, he was not doing badly.  Recently,
the situation changed so that we were compelled to open our own shop,
with very little capital.  We have just begun, and business is not
going very well.  We are concerned that the landlord not take
advantage of us.  We are working types and are uncomfortable being in
debt.  That's why it's so difficult for us.  We hope that things will
improve.

Forgive me, Shloymele, for not writing a better letter today; it's
because I'm upset.  Goodnight.  Be well.  Warm regards from your
cousin.

Esther

My husband and children also send their regards.

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