Sydney Jewish Museum Collection | Details | Wartime Letters of Richard and Hilda Löbl 1939

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Actions Displays	Wartime Letters of Richard and Hilda Löbl 1939 Remove from selection Add to selection Object numberM2021/036:007 TitleWartime Letters of Richard and Hilda Löbl 1939 DescriptionLetter from Richard Löbl, Berlin, to George and Dora Fekete (nee Löbl), 14 February 1939, Sydney. Part of a collection of letters written by Richard and Hilda Löbl (nee Gerstl) from Berlin and Shanghai to their daughter, Dora, their son-in-law, George Fekete, and their granddaughter, Susie, who were in Sydney, between 1939 and 1941. George Fekete was born in Hungary in 1901. Anti-Semitism at Budapest University forced him to study civil engineering in Berlin. There he met Dora Löbl, born in 1902. They married in 1927 and in 1932 their daughter Susie was born. According to the donor, "George did not want Susie to go to a Jewish ghetto school, nor did he want her to go to a school where they espoused Nazi principles, so they decided to emigrate". The Feketes fled to Budapest and later to Australia, arriving in Sydney on 10 February 1938. Although Dora's parents, Richard and Hilda Löbl, were booked to travel to Australia on the RMS Strathmore on 6 November 1939, their landing permits were cancelled with the outbreak of World War II. The 38 Berlin letters, written during 1939, are a record of correspondence between Richard and Hilda who were stranded in Nazi Germany, and the Fekete family who were newly settled in Sydney. Richard and Hilda managed to escape to Shanghai in April 1940. They were on the final voyage made by the SS Conte Rosso, one of four Italian ships which carried Jewish refugees from Trieste to Shanghai - prior to Italy joining the Axis alliance. The 53 Shanghai letters follow the narrative of the Löbl's lives in Hongkew between 11 July 1940 and 15 November 1941. They provide political commentary of the German-Jewish experience in the Shanghai ghetto during World War II. The letters also provide first-hand social commentary on the intersection between Eastern and Western cultures. Following the attack on Pearl Harbour, it became impossible for Richard and Hilda to send letters to Australia. Dora and George had no further correspondence until May 1945, when a note arrived from Richard via the Red Cross; "Since July 21 1942 am alone. Mama died of typhus without suffering. Her thoughts were always with you. Your good news is my only comfort." Richard arrived in Australia in 1946 and lived with the Feketes. He passed away on 2 August 1964. Dora and her parents were prolific correspondents, writing almost weekly. Dora wrote long letters, sometimes nine pages in length, detailing the lives of her family in Sydney. The letters that Dora wrote to her parents have not survived, however, the letters which they wrote to her mostly did. Richard and Hilda's letters were much shorter due to the 5-gram weight restriction, having to pay more if the letter exceeded that weight. As far as is possible, the English translations of these letters are an accurate record of the experiences shared between family members separated by long distances. Production placeBerlin, Germany Production date 1939-02-14 Subjectpre-World War II, signs of life, escape attempts, survivors, families Object nameletters Materialpaper Techniquehandwritten Language German Berlin, 14 February 1939 My dear George, For my letter today, I set the typewriter aside. You don’t know about that, so it doesn’t mean anything to you. The typewrite has no right to be used for your birthday, as it is too impersonal. The letter will arrive early as the distance between us has become too far to calculate how long the letter will take by mail. So far so good, but now I start to have problems with handwriting, as your birthday is not like the usual one, when you were at home, and you are trying to build your life in a new country. A lot of things you have learnt in the past will become meaningless and you must overthrow them. It will be hard for you, as I know your thoughts and way of thinking. You will have to learn to use your knowledge and hidden talents more openly with the people around you. In a country like Australia that is even more advanced than America in tempo and “Tra-ra,” you have to let people around you see your knowledge and your perfect education, and make them believe you are the one to help them in your future employment – hopefully soon. I just had to pause again. How can I put all my thoughts into words? Where shall I begin? I hope you will soon get employment which will bring you happiness and satisfaction. It is probably the most important thing now, and after that you have to find a nice home to live in, where you can rest and feel at home after the difficult and high expectations of your employer. May the climate in Australia be good to you, so you will stay healthy. Harmony will always be in your family, so you will have no problems with that. And on top of all that, I wish that you will stay physically and mentally healthy, and enjoy the time together with your family. And now at last I wish that all your birthday wishes will be fulfilled. We carry on as usual and count the days till your arrival - they are six days from now. When this week is over, we will know that you are safe on land again. The days on board for you were most likely fun for you, and went past very quickly, but for us they went past very slowly, even with your writing and describing your trip to us. It was not very easy to see you leave, as we used to have you always around. In front of me on the table I see a picture of Susie and it is the only memory I have of you at the moment. Emptiness fills your rooms now. Everything else of yours is now on its way by sea. Your rooms look very empty and sad now, but that has nothing to do with the birthday greetings at all. Have a nice birthday party. Love and Kisses, Papa Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Hazel Hillier In appreciation to the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference) for supporting this archival project.

Object numberM2021/036:007

TitleWartime Letters of Richard and Hilda Löbl 1939

DescriptionLetter from Richard Löbl, Berlin, to George and Dora Fekete (nee Löbl), 14 February 1939, Sydney.

Part of a collection of letters written by Richard and Hilda Löbl (nee Gerstl) from Berlin and Shanghai to their daughter, Dora, their son-in-law, George Fekete, and their granddaughter, Susie, who were in Sydney, between 1939 and 1941.

George Fekete was born in Hungary in 1901. Anti-Semitism at Budapest University forced him to study civil engineering in Berlin. There he met Dora Löbl, born in 1902. They married in 1927 and in 1932 their daughter Susie was born.

According to the donor, "George did not want Susie to go to a Jewish ghetto school, nor did he want her to go to a school where they espoused Nazi principles, so they decided to emigrate". The Feketes fled to Budapest and later to Australia, arriving in Sydney on 10 February 1938.

Although Dora's parents, Richard and Hilda Löbl, were booked to travel to Australia on the RMS Strathmore on 6 November 1939, their landing permits were cancelled with the outbreak of World War II.

The 38 Berlin letters, written during 1939, are a record of correspondence between Richard and Hilda who were stranded in Nazi Germany, and the Fekete family who were newly settled in Sydney.

Richard and Hilda managed to escape to Shanghai in April 1940. They were on the final voyage made by the SS Conte Rosso, one of four Italian ships which carried Jewish refugees from Trieste to Shanghai - prior to Italy joining the Axis alliance.

The 53 Shanghai letters follow the narrative of the Löbl's lives in Hongkew between 11 July 1940 and 15 November 1941. They provide political commentary of the German-Jewish experience in the Shanghai ghetto during World War II. The letters also provide first-hand social commentary on the intersection between Eastern and Western cultures. Following the attack on Pearl Harbour, it became impossible for Richard and Hilda to send letters to Australia.

Dora and George had no further correspondence until May 1945, when a note arrived from Richard via the Red Cross; "Since July 21 1942 am alone. Mama died of typhus without suffering. Her thoughts were always with you. Your good news is my only comfort."

Richard arrived in Australia in 1946 and lived with the Feketes. He passed away on 2 August 1964.

Dora and her parents were prolific correspondents, writing almost weekly. Dora wrote long letters, sometimes nine pages in length, detailing the lives of her family in Sydney. The letters that Dora wrote to her parents have not survived, however, the letters which they wrote to her mostly did. Richard and Hilda's letters were much shorter due to the 5-gram weight restriction, having to pay more if the letter exceeded that weight.

As far as is possible, the English translations of these letters are an accurate record of the experiences shared between family members separated by long distances.

Production placeBerlin, Germany

Production date 1939-02-14

Subjectpre-World War II, signs of life, escape attempts, survivors, families

Object nameletters

Materialpaper

Techniquehandwritten

Language

Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Hazel Hillier In appreciation to the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference) for supporting this archival project.

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