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[This was Ludwig Klein's first letter to his children after he and his wife were
deported to Camp de Gurs.]
Camp de Gurs, Basses Pyrenées
Ilot E, Baraque 26
October 30, 1940
Dear Children,
News of the fate that has overtaken us must have reached you. The fact is, we
are so far still quite well and hope that it will remain that way. If it would
at all be possible for you to send us some money or food, it would be most
welcome. Mother will surely write you separately; she is also quartered here
in the vicinity and we can see each other and talk from time to time.
This letter is also meant for Max and Kurt so please forward it to them. It is
still uncertain whether and how long we will stay here, as is everything that
the future holds for us. We trust that all is well with you. I will write
soon again. Take my most heartfelt regards for now,
Your Father
PS Uncle Bernhard, Heinrich and Sigmund, along with their families, are also
here.
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Ludwig Klein
Ilot E, Baraque 26
Camp de Gurs, Basses Pyrenées December 13, 1940
Dear Children,
Your lines of Nov. 15 reached us only now, but they gave us enormous pleasure.
Many thanks for the two remittances of Ffrs. 431 each (of which 418 were
actually paid out.) Also, my heartiest thanks for the announced packages. I
can only hope they'll arrive soon. There is also supposed to be a package in
transit, about which we received word from an address in Geneva not known to
us. Unfortunately, people from Switzerland can only send food packages of the
type that contain unrationed items. Here in France, everything is rationed,
too, and you can only buy such items as chestnuts, figs, apples, etc., but
neither butter nor cheese and meat and sausage are in very short supply. What
they are giving us is barely sufficient.
No doubt you received our most recent letters meanwhile and gleaned all details
from them; and I'm sure you'll have taken all necessary steps toward our
emigration. Getting out of here will be a slow process, however. Everything
takes much too long and is too complicated. On one hand, they are always
holding out hope to us, on the other, we are prisoners here for the time being
without any real idea of how to get out of this situation.
Dear Max, you ask what exactly we need money for, and I want to comment in that
regard that our food consists of the following: in the morning, a little bit of
black, so-called coffee. At noontime, a thin soup, mostly made of carrots and
beets. In the evening, coffee or tea again and 260 grams of bread which must
last the entire next day. That's not enough for anybody to subsist on, quite
aside from everything else we are lacking. In view of that, it is
understandable that we do have expenses.
By the way, for the time being you needn't send us any more money, at least
until we ask for it. Because there is a general shortage of medical supplies,
we have a great deal of illness here and we therefore have to take special care
not to fall ill. Thank God we're all right, healthwise, so far and hope to
continue to get through the short winter here the same way.
Do take good care of yourselves, too, and send us a sign of life soon again.
Regards to all the relatives, as well as to yourselves, your
Father
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