Letter sent to Salomon Itzkowic from his wife and children
ObjectnummerM2002/019:005
TitelLetter sent to Salomon Itzkowic from his wife and children
BeschrijvingLetter to Salomon Itzkowic, an internee in Argelès-sur-Mer Southern France, from his wife Esther and three children in Antwerp. In this letter Salomons children write that they are very worried because they have not received mail from their father in a month. They write that the family Markowicz and the family Wiesenfeld are very friendly and spend a lot of time with them. The family Wiesenfeld invite them for the holy days. Esther (writing on another page) tells her husband that she has had to borrow money. She writes that she cries day and night, she feels lonely and abandoned and she is frightened that she is going to have a physical breakdown. The letter ends: I suffer always and I always kiss you a thousand times, Your Esther. Do write soon.
Salomon Itzkowic was born in Wietrzychowice near Tarnow, southern Poland, on 1 March 1901. His mother died when he was young and he was looked after by an older sister. He went to Cheder until his barmitzvah and had no other formal education. Pogroms in the Krakow province in 1919 was possibly the reason he left Poland with his brother Nuta (Nathan) and went to Germany in 1922. In 1928 he married Esther Goldberg (born 21 October 1903 in Czechow, Poland). Nazi Germany pursued an aggressive policy of forced emigration for Jews, and Salomon and Esther and their two sons Achim (born 1929 in Berlin) and Berthold (born 1932 in Berlin) left in July 1938 for Belgium. Esther was pregnant at the time; Arthur was born in Antwerp in 1939.
In May 1940 the Nazis invaded Belgium, Salomon was arrested by Belgian authorities as he was a Jew of German nationality, and taken to a camp at St Cyprien in the south of France. After six months the disease-ridden camp was closed and he was moved to the camp at Argeles-sur-Mer. He was deported leaving Esther was alone with the boys, then aged 11, eight and one. Esther and the three children were deported from Malines to Auschwitz on 10 October 1942. Salomon never met his third child and he never saw his wife and children again.
In August 1942 Salomon escaped from the camp and with the help of a smuggler crossed the Pyrenees into Spain; from Madrid he went to Gibraltar and boarded a ship to England, arriving on 6 May 1943. In April 1946, Salomon made urgent requests to tracing services about the whereabouts of his wife and children, in the hope that they survived. Records indicated that Esther survived Auschwitz and was sent to Flossenburg (arriving 2 December 1944), and was then transferred to Mehltheuer subcamp. After receiving notification from the London Beth Din that he should be regarded as a widower, Salomon married Antonia Pressburger (born Vienna 1921), in St John's Wood Synagogue on 2 June 1946. They had a son, David, and eventually migrated to Australia in November 1948.
When Salomon died in 1981, David found letters in a wallet that his father had received between August and December 1940 from Esther and the boys. He donated them to the Sydney Jewish Museum. Salomon had never told David about Esther and the boys. The letters describe the heart-breaking difficulties Esther had with the children, her loneliness and desperation and details of attempts to arrange Salomon's return, without success.
Salomon Itzkowic was born in Wietrzychowice near Tarnow, southern Poland, on 1 March 1901. His mother died when he was young and he was looked after by an older sister. He went to Cheder until his barmitzvah and had no other formal education. Pogroms in the Krakow province in 1919 was possibly the reason he left Poland with his brother Nuta (Nathan) and went to Germany in 1922. In 1928 he married Esther Goldberg (born 21 October 1903 in Czechow, Poland). Nazi Germany pursued an aggressive policy of forced emigration for Jews, and Salomon and Esther and their two sons Achim (born 1929 in Berlin) and Berthold (born 1932 in Berlin) left in July 1938 for Belgium. Esther was pregnant at the time; Arthur was born in Antwerp in 1939.
In May 1940 the Nazis invaded Belgium, Salomon was arrested by Belgian authorities as he was a Jew of German nationality, and taken to a camp at St Cyprien in the south of France. After six months the disease-ridden camp was closed and he was moved to the camp at Argeles-sur-Mer. He was deported leaving Esther was alone with the boys, then aged 11, eight and one. Esther and the three children were deported from Malines to Auschwitz on 10 October 1942. Salomon never met his third child and he never saw his wife and children again.
In August 1942 Salomon escaped from the camp and with the help of a smuggler crossed the Pyrenees into Spain; from Madrid he went to Gibraltar and boarded a ship to England, arriving on 6 May 1943. In April 1946, Salomon made urgent requests to tracing services about the whereabouts of his wife and children, in the hope that they survived. Records indicated that Esther survived Auschwitz and was sent to Flossenburg (arriving 2 December 1944), and was then transferred to Mehltheuer subcamp. After receiving notification from the London Beth Din that he should be regarded as a widower, Salomon married Antonia Pressburger (born Vienna 1921), in St John's Wood Synagogue on 2 June 1946. They had a son, David, and eventually migrated to Australia in November 1948.
When Salomon died in 1981, David found letters in a wallet that his father had received between August and December 1940 from Esther and the boys. He donated them to the Sydney Jewish Museum. Salomon had never told David about Esther and the boys. The letters describe the heart-breaking difficulties Esther had with the children, her loneliness and desperation and details of attempts to arrange Salomon's return, without success.
Datum 1940-10-21
Objectnaamletters
Materiaalpaper
Formaat
- whole width: 160.00 mm
height: 180.00 mm
Taal
- German Dear Daddy,
We are very worried since it is already four weeks that we have no mail from you. We are all in good health and in good spirits (that expression could also be translated as "alert") and we hope for the same on your side. We are putting an old photo of ARTHUR in the letter. In the next letter you will receive a photo from the four of us.
The family MARKOWICZ are very (short word rendered illegible by tear of paper) to us. The good God should only help them for this. We are very lonely without you. We hope to see you here as soon as possible. The family WIESENFELD are very friendly to us, we are often together. We were invited for the holy days.
ZEIDOF moved out from our flat (literally "from us"), but the attic room is already re-let. A thousand greetings for you from your Arthur, Berthold and Achim.
OVER THE PAGE
Page 3 My dear husband the little one is very lovable. The family WISENFELD is very good to me. I go a lot to their place. They are fine people. Anna writes that she may come very soon to her husband. My dear brother is still there where he was (Some illegible words, as Esther writes totally without grammar, proper spelling or any punctuation, it is sometimes pure guesswork as to where one sentence ends and another one starts.)
Three weeks ago a Mr MAKONSKI (?) came who knows you very well and who had already left there seven weeks ago and he is doing well. The dear God should help that you should already be here. Many people are coming (back), there is only you whom one does not see.
Dear husband, I hear nothing from your brother, nor from family SPIGEI (sic) and STEINFELD. The Spigels left all their things. Write soon to us. Page 4 I cry day and night as I am so dispirited. Dear husband now winter is coming which makes one ... (two undecipherable words). The dear God should help me that you should come. Today (?) comes to us TIFFMANN (or Tittmann or Fittmann) ..... lives with his wife to his they have (This sentence is totally unintelligible although some words seem to be identifiable.) Dear God should help that you should already be here. I am frightened of a physical breakdown (unintelligible) to be so lonely and abandoned (?). It is lucky that I still have NINA (?) so that at least there is someone with whom to exchange a word here. You should come now.
(Unfortunately Esther writes phonetically in an ungrammatical German-Yiddish)
Page 2 (of the letter of 20 October 1940 from Antwerp, which is at back of page 4)
My dear husband,
We are carrying on as always, only we miss you. My dear husband, I pray to dear God that you should already come back to us. Dear husband, I have gone grey and old from worries (literally "tzores"). It is not at all easy with the three children. They do not want to be obedient at all. Today I had again to borrow (money ?). My dear good husband stay healthy and strong and come very soon. I kiss you a thousand times, you wife Ester Itzkowic. Greetings also from Anna and George (written phonetically as JHorsh) and Fitman and also from Figowicz also receive are here for us to us probably come worries. I suffer alway and always Kiss you a thousand times, Your Ester. Do write soon.
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by David Itzkowic, 2002. This collection is donated in memory of Anny and Salomon Itzkowic.