Letters from Lida - 79

Dear Fanya!

Today is Tuesday, the third day after the wedding (1), and order in the house is almost restored. I just finished reading your letters. I think you would not be upset that they let me to read your letters. I allow myself to think that you don’t consider me as an outsider who is restricted by the rule “do not let them read it.” By reading your detailed letters I receive a full image of your life in Palestine. It is not a life to envy! But do not get upset, believe in your ability, energy, and talents, and do not doubt that after you overcome all the barriers and hardships you will pave your road and reach your goal. Every beginning is hard, but how pleasant it is to harvest the fruits of your work, when you’ve successfully reached your goal, is it not right? Although you just started your way,  I strongly believe that the <better times> will start soon. You asked to send you some sort of paper required to enter classes. I personally think that this is an impossible task because it is very troublesome to ask about it. I am very surprised that in Palestine they require such an empty formality. I am not going to write about myself and will postpone it until the next time when I will be in the right mood, or rather when you express a desire to learn about it (did you understand me?). Give to dear Olia my best regards and  best wishes. Tell her not to get upset with me that I am not writing her separately because the first part of the letter can be addressed to her too.

May you both be healthy and work hard and energetically to reach the goals that you made for yourselves., because work and patience will overcome everything.

Loving you uncle Beniamin (2).

Dear Fanya, Olia, and Velv.(3)

I am writing you the letter with all details I started it last night and will finish it today hopefully and will try to send it to you right away. Kiss you all, be healthy. Why Velv does not write me? Your loving Lisa

Velv, dear!

I am very grateful for your note, as I can see your diet is not the best, otherwise you would have the strength to write me more, but I don’t want to argue with you now. One day I will pay you back for that. As you can see I don’t follow your example and in few days I will send you a letter at the same time as a letter to Fanya. I ask you very much, write me about everything that I am interested in. I wish you all the best. Regards from us all, and also personal regards from me to your wonderful wife.

Your Frida

Fanechka, my dearest!

In the previous letter I described how Lisa  and I are working lately, and that thus we still did not have time to rest. You cannot imagine how much work it is to do a wedding in Lida. We thought about you and Olia every minute, especially when we had to go around and pick up the dirty dishes, forks etc.  Fanichka, the wedding was relatively beautiful, from Mania’s, Dora’s letters you probably will learn more, but do not think that we are not going to write you about it, but now I am just incapable of  it, in a few days I will send you another letter, and then I will write about everything.

<page 80f>

Fanechka, you will probably see Liba Kaplan. She left the day after the wedding, I just could not move my legs but still went to the train station. I wanted to send you a little money, but she refused to take it. Borrow from Olia for now, I will look for another way to send it. Fanechka, I have so much to write you about that I don’t even know what to start with, and besides today my writing is not going well, so I will postpone my letter until the next time. In addition, I am going around trying to get your papers, I still hope

<page 80eh. This is probably about the papers from the gymnasium of Dvoretsky for Fanya to enter the classes, probably in nursing >

somehow to get it, about Dvoretsky there is nothing to think about because he, due to his foolishness, is not going to do anything, and without  money you know Dvoretskijs do not like to do favors, besides.  <in Yiddish> Af vos kukin dir, sol er dir dos geben.  He should give you what you're looking at. (Thanks to  Joel Maxman & Al Goldin ) or Why would he give you what you're looking at? (Aharon Starovolski)

But don’t you worry, nothing is impossible, although this one is connected with some difficulties, but we will try. Uncle Beniamin is visiting us now, he, for example, is trying to convince us that this will be impossible to do <to get the papers for the classes>. Fanechka, dear, forgive me that I sent you almost nothing with Liba, I was so busy before the wedding, and in no way could get away for couple of hours to buy you at least a knitted coat. I sent you Tanya’s sweater, she begged me that I would send it to you, and 2 pairs of the warm stockings, 2 pairs of pantalones, a bra for the winter, and my swimsuit. Besides that, when I was at the railroad station I got a box of candies for you and Olia, but I strongly doubt that you will receive it. The chocolate is very good. Fanechka, dear, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, when everything will be clear about your documents, I will write you a letter. Be happy, my dear. Believe and hope for the best days. Give my regards to Olia. 

Your Frida

<page 80g>

My dear Fanechka!

We received both of your letters on Monday. I am quite grateful to you for them, but at the same time I am sorry about it, because it tired you out, especially after your illness.  I could imagine, my poor girl, how you are suffering, it is a blessing that you were able to find there your devoted aunt Olia. How do you feel now? Finally I could congratulate you about Abram’s wedding which happened on Saturday evening in our house. Frida or Lisa will write you about it in details. I only note that your absence was very painful to me. We drank to your and Olia’s health many times, and may God make all our wishes come true. Because of the wedding, you, my dear, had to wait a long time for our letter  because everybody was very busy. Now let’s talk about business, about the classes that you are writing about, although I don’t like them, especially for you. You know how sensitive you are and you cannot be next to the sick people, but if there is no other way, you do as you choose, as soon as your life will be easier. Don’t look for a job, you will be busy even without it. We will send you money with the first opportunity  and for now borrow from Olia. Ask our relation, that I wrote you about, she who got a job with the Bank, I think she is sending money to her mother. You could take money from her and I could return the same amount to her mother. I will also ask Zubkotskij’s wife. Maybe we can make some arrangement so you could take money from him. About the papers that you are asking for, although it is hard to get, we will try and we will send it to you as soon as we will get it. Money now is not so important, but you know… We, thank God, don’t have to pay for our apartment <or house> and the store, so, we have money to live on, God willing, and for the rest God will help us. We relay on Him entirely and He won’t leave us. The children will write you all the details about home, because I am in a hurry to finish and send this letter, so you can receive it earlier. Write about yourself. How do you feel? What do you eat? Everything there is so expensive, and you have to eat well, and at the same time you are left without money. Kiss you with love, my wonderful. Loving  you mama Revekka.

Heartfelt regards to Vulvul, we talked about him many times, drank to his health. May you all be healthy and happy as wishes for you your mama and aunt Revekka.

Dear Olechka!

Thank you very much for your letter and especially that you are taking care for my poor Fanechka. I am very much obliged to you for that and I pray to God that I will have an occasion to return you all the good you do. I imagine, how she, my poor girl, is suffering. You, Olechka, even don’t know how patient she is.  I already had that experience with her before. In Odessa she was very sick and she tried not to cry out so we would not have a reason to worry about her. Thank God that she is a little better and we are very –very grateful to you for all your troubles that you have to endure because of her sickness. May God let you and her not to be sick ever. With loving kisses, your aunt Revekka. (4)

(1) The combination of wedding & that Olia is still in Palestine implies that the letter refers to Abram Pupko’s wedding in 1925. He’s Fanya’s brother.
(2) Does not seem to be a Pupko, so he must be a Kaplan, but we don’t know whether he’s actually Revekka’s brother, or her brother-in-law. There are two Beniamin Kaplans in the Yad Vashem database. One, son of Vulf Kaplan, lived in Vornovo before the war, but was murdered in Vilnius. He’s not the right person, because Revekka’s parents were Josef and Dora. The other was listed in a Soviet Extraordinary Commission list for Podlozyany, Nowogrodek, Poland, with no patronymic given.
(3) Vulf is Fanya’s first cousin, known as Zeev in Israel.
(4) It would seem that Olia’s mother and Fanya’s mother are sisters, for Revekka to be Olia’s aunt.  But family tradition says Revekka’s mother was named Dora, while Ola Polachek’s Page of Testimony says HER mother was named Dvora. Niece Frida Moll’s Page of Testimony for Revekka doesn’t give her mother’s name, and Zeev Pupko didn't submit one.