A letter written by Tadeusz Perl's sister, Jadwiga, impersonating Maria Karczmarek. Maria Karczmarek assisted the family with correspondence: her address was given as a return address in earlier correspondence. The name of Tadeusz Perl as addressee – written for safety with the added suffix "-ski" (although it was crossed out with blue ink – presumably in France). It is conceivable that Jadwiga Perl left the ghetto after or during the Grossaktion and hid at Karczmarek's (or at least received her help). This can be evidenced by the information about the very poor contact with "Leon and his wife", i.e. Jadwiga and Tadeusz's parents, and the structure of the key piece of information: "Leon and his wife continue to live at their old place, but their health has somewhat improved", which probably means that they continue to live in the ghetto, "but" their situation is better than before. It seems that only a person who is no longer in the ghetto (where there are "health" problems) could have encoded this information in such a way. Moreover, the letter mentions some "acquaintance" (unidentified) whom Tadeusz Perl asked to be found; since his sister assures him that she will ask their father to look for her, this means that Jadwiga is unable to do it herself (as she is outside the ghetto walls). The sender also encodes more news about the family in the letter: the family on her mother's side were all killed (so they were murdered in the Grossaktion), and relatives on her father's side are also dead, although probably not all of them. A large part of the letter is taken up by instructions regarding parcels. Parcels of goods that can be monetised are important: powder, bottles – but small ones – of good perfumes. The sister makes it clear that parcels must only be sent to the Karczmarek address, not to the ghetto, but signals that she still has the capacity to support their parents ("If you want to send them, send them only to me. And I will deal with Leon"). Finally, the letter says that Jadwiga, née Perl, does not keep in touch with Tadeusz Perl's friends, but she knows that Seweryn Tross is alive and well ("is healthy"; Tross was then hiding on the so-called Aryan side in Warsaw with the Miłosz family).
Content (spelling has been partially updated):
21XII 42
Dear Tadzio, I got your card and parcel – three powder boxes. A great parcel. Don't send food parcels because the ones with cosmetics offer better value. Leon and his wife continue to live at their old place, but their health has somewhat improved. I'll ask Leon to find this acquaintance of yours, but I doubt it's doable. You ask about Ms Melania's family – I am sad to report to you that she's lost her entire family, and apart from her husband and children, she no longer has any family. Understandably, she's heartbroken. Her husband, as usual, is holding up much better, although his family hasn't been spared either. Marjanka had died two years before in Lviv. She had a very hard life there. I'm doing quite well. I don't know about you. Your parcels are, of course, a help to us, but we're not yet in such circumstances that they are necessary. So if it's a hardship for you, don't do it. If you want to send them, send them only to me. And I will deal with Leon. I don't see any of your friends; I only know that Seweryn is healthy. Kisses and happy holidays.
Your Marysia
[in the card section under the return address:] If possible, Send some small bottles of good perfume. Maybe Gerlain, Worth – if they are not too expensive – but small ones.
M.
