Letters from Lida

Saturday, evening, January 29

Dear Fanechka!

Yesterday we received a postcard from you. We are very surprised that you are not receiving our letters, while we send them to you regularly every week. Have you received the two letters we sent you on 16^th of this month? Lisa, Frida, and I wrote them.. We could not fit our letter in one envelope and had to send it in two envelopes. Have you received them and did you have to pay for them? Also, last Sunday, that is the 23^rd, we sent you another big letter. I really don’t know what to write you about. This week aunt Gitel (1) was sick, but thank God, today she feels much better. Dora walks around the house but did not go out yet.

Velvul (2) is sending you his regards. Why did not he write a couple words about his life?

Dear Fanechka! Why you have not received our letters? Maybe because I started to write you <more> and letters are now thicker, that is <unclear>. It is a pity if they were lost on the way. I am thinking maybe <they got lost> because we dropped them an hour later and hence they were the whole week late.

There is no news at home. About the seamstress, she was sewing only for two days, and then we gave her leave for two weeks because I am preparing materials for her to sew and of course at every step I think about you, how we worked together and the work was moving very fast. Of course you made stitches so quickly! I made a shirt without sleeves in a day, but now I am little faster. Overall I have not decided yet what to make and how to make it. I cut the shirts from the leftover madepalam <kind of fabric>; in fact since you left we did not sew anything. Fanichka, I will write you everything I plan to do and what will be done. I finished knitting my sweater, it came out quite beautiful and cost about 8 zloti <Polish coin>. If it would be possible, that is to send it with somebody, I would knit a sweater for you. Cannot write anymore. I have no more news. I have not received anything from Grodno yet, don’t know what is going on over there.

Your loving sister Lisa

Page 2.

Actually, we have now a lot of illness, there is no house where there isn’t a sick person. We did not start making a dowry for Lisa but soon are going to order <to make> blankets and linens. Revveca wanted to do a party to celebrate Robert’s betrothal but because aunt Gitel did not feel good they decided to postpone it. What is happening with you, how is your life, my dearest? To be at work, to do something around the house, and in addition, to study! How do you spend your day? Did you get accustomed to eat at aa table not your family’s? How do you manage to live on your miserable salary? How about your clothes? Are they whole and do you have enough? How do you manage without an overcoat? Did the rain stop over there and is it warm yet? It is not so cold here anymore. The sun shows up little by little and the days are longer, earlier we had to light the candles at 3 PM on Fridays. With the spring coming, hope that, may God allow it, it would be better. However, without <unclear> or some kind of qualification you cannot count on anything, but, again, God is not without a mercy. <Unclear> Schelutsky writes that he is going to come for Passover, but his father is not allowing him, he is afraid of him going to Poland. I sometimes stop by Schetnitskaya to get bread, and they also were saying that their daughter is planning to visit them. Although that Pupko who got married over there and has a child, it seems, is planning to come with her husband and a baby. As you can see, everybody is going to come here, but from Lida it looks like nobody is planning to go <to Israel>. I am finishing the letter because it is going to be late. Be healthy and happy, your loving mother <Polish> Revveka.

Note across 4th page: Motka is pregnant.

(1) Aunt Gitel is probably an aunt on the Kaplan side – Revekka’s family - unless there’s someone we don’t know about on the Pupko side.

(2) Possibly Fanya's cousin Tzvi/Wulf, son of her Uncle Zelig Pupko, who also made aliyyah.

Letters from Lida - 11