Letter written on postcard with printed stamp (20 groshes), stamped with round stamp with date: “5V[III]34”. It was written in Warsaw by a son named Miron to his parents, especially his father, Szloma Minkes, and sent to Siemiatycze. The letter concerns the search for wife candidates, very witty in places, also self-ironic. A very interesting contribution to the picture of social mores in the interbellum period, and at the same time a memento of a family probably murdered in the Holocaust.
The letter was found by Zygmunt Wasilewski in a house in Siemiatycze, most likely the addressee's flat (it was known that the house belonged to a Jewish family). Wasilewski ran a pharmacy on the ground floor of this building. He gave the letter to his relative, Maria Bartoszewicz, in 1944 or 1945, when she and her sister, Hanna Zacharewicz (later Szczuko), moved into this flat after arriving from Warsaw after the August uprising. They stayed here for several months. The flat still contained remnants of the property of the previous owners of the house, including furniture and bedding. Years later, Maria Bartoszewicz donated the letter to the museum's collection, at the same time giving an interview to the oral history project, in which she recalled, among other things, her work in the Warsaw ghetto (as a pharmacist, she was assigned to a pharmacy in the ghetto; like many people from the so-called Aryan side, she had a special pass to be able to enter the Jewish quarter to work and to leave the ghetto; one of her shifts covered the very moment the ghetto gates were closed in November 1940).
Contents of letter (spelling and punctuation original):
4/VIII-34. Very Dear Parents! | Dear Father | I received your letter and postcard, but I could not leave Warsaw. I had no intention of going 'home' at all, [n]ow, I would only allow myself to go to Sokołowo and back to Warsaw. Only in the event of a strong liking would I come to Siemiatycze for a few hours to discuss the matter with you and then return to Warsaw. I am writing a letter to Kiwczyk [?] where I apologise to him for [my non]arrival. I explained this by not having the time. At the time, I explained to you by letter that there was no point for me to come to Sokolow before seeing this girl in Warsaw. As for Łódź, I refused in plain and simple terms that I did not want this girl. I also met a very pretty and clever girl in Warsaw, for whose favour I have been courting, as also did Elja Arnsztajn [?]. I have more luck with her, she has already invited me to her parents to discuss marriage. She is a very wealthy woman, she is 20 years and 4 months old, she graduated from high school and mentally she stands so high that she has far surpassed the present [?] society. With her likability [page verso from here on] and mental development she stands so tall that all women can hide in her shadow. As a person and as a woman, she makes an electrifying impression. I love her nobly and also passionately. However, she has huge flaws: she is extremely demanding in life, has lost her virtue long time ago and still is losing it..... She will not be able to limit herself to a single husband. I realise clearly that I will make the biggest mistake of my life if I marry this woman. Most likely, my whole life will consist of one hell. I cannot satisfy all her wishes, and so she will look for others outside the family home [?]. A scary thought. I will mop around and then get sick. And is it worth it? Advice me now, what to do. Father, after all, you know [?] a bit about these matters. However, I am of the ilk for whom logic and common sense can override feeling. Let this girl from Sokołowo come to Warsaw. [end of letter annotated along the right side of the card:] If I will find her nice, I will break with the first one, if not, I will most likely do this [?] mistake and I will bind myself to Satan himself. Miron.
Address:
Mr. | Szloma | Minkes | Siemiatycze | co. Bielsk Podl. | [illegible]
compiled by Przemysław Kaniecki, Marta Kapełuś
