Sprinkled with Ash

Ok, so the past two days have been two more routine research days... Since I, thankfully, have organized most of the letters, I am still moving one person at a time. The first thing I do when I get a person's folder is organize it chronologically. This allows me to see their conversation as fully as possible. I have done about 8 people so far, and I don't even want to count the total... I think it is way over 50. Oh, and these 8 were the shortest folders... The most interesting folder so far has been her cousin's, Adi's. I am about to finish the folder, but so far, he has talked about the people he is killing in Israel (since he left Uruguay to join the Israeli army), the women he has proposed to, his love stories, the people he has discovered, and his escape from the massacre of Rabat. All these letters are from 1948 and 1949, and they are allowing me to learn about what was going on in my grandmother's life, because she is telling him everything.
This kind of work has eaten up the last three days. On Wednesday, after I posted, I began this process, and worked until Maia got back from the soccer game. When she returned, I took a little break to hear all about the experience of watching Uruguay's first home game since their fourth place finish at the World Cup. AND ... THEY BEAT THE NETHERLANDS!!!!! Well, they tied (1-1) and won with penalty kicks! Such a perfect game to watch, and they presented Forlan with the Golden Ball. After that I continued to work until about 3:00 am. After a late start on Thursday, we continued to do the same thing, and since I was behind, Maia decided to skip her planned trip to a great bookstore with a view of the beach.... Good thing she did, because later that night we found out there was an armed robery right next to it.... Oh big cities. OOHHHHH! Fun fact, we woke up to see that Montevideo was covered under a thin sheet of ash from the volcano. This sheet was enough to cancel all the flights to and out of Montevideo. The cloud is apparently awful for planes!
This morning we woke up at 8:00 to head to Atlantida, because my aunt needed someone to be at her house while she was at work, since her carpenter needed to come finish some closets in her new house. Here, Maia and I got a lot of letters done in the peace and quiet!!! The sun was out all day and it wasn't really cold until the sun set. After finishing letters, we began taking some things out of boxes and cleaning the millions of dishes that were still not unpacked... That took a good 5 or 6 hours. It was exhausting. Tomorrow we are heading back to Montevideo early so I can spend all weekend working on the letters.

Rain Check (break) [plus pictures]

Break Replaced.

So since my break was cut short this weekend and I had to cancel plans with a cousin, this week we replaced our plans!   On Monday we woke up early and worked some more.  Maia started translating the packet that my grandmother had concerning Berlin in the 30’s.  This included all the information she sent a pair of ladies from the Prinzlauerberg Museum.  This folder is over a 100 pages long, so Maia was a bit overwhelmed.  At the same time, I finished sorting all the letters.  In the pile still to sort, I found letters from Oma’s aunt Frieda and her cousin Tali, who were still stuck in Berlin.  The first  page of material that Maia translated dealt with them as well.  In her material, Oma was asking the ladies for the information they had on the deaths of Frieda and Tali.  We could not decipher all the details because the answer was handwritten and impossible to read, therefore, I will take it to Hanne or email it to someone who can read it!  After finishing work for the day, we cooked with my aunt and watched the Argentine equivalent of dancing with the stars… Then our “break” began.  We woke up early Tuesday, 7 a.m.!!!! And took a bus (well actually we got lazy and took a taxi) to Pocitos to meet with my cousin Catalina and have breakfast.  After that, my cousin, Diego, walked the three of us over to her art class, where the three of us got to paint! 

Cata painting on the wall!

She goes once a week and works with two teachers, and she truly has a blast!

Cata having a great time!

The three artist, you can see a bit of the sun I painted...
Painting is obviously NOT my thing

When we got done at 11:30, Diego came back to get us and we went to her house, where Diego showed off his artistic talents!  He has become quite the cook and baker!  He is a vegetarian and is all about eating well, organic, etc.  He made me the most delicious lunch!  Some special rice with some other cereals I did not recognize, with zucchini, carrots,etc… Then something else I didn’t recognize…  After lunch, he made us some tea from some herbs he had picked from their garden. 

Chopping some carrots, I think...

His final dish. It was delicious, and I would say what it was, but I'm not sure!

At the same time, my other cousin Felipe arrived and showed us his cooking talents as he made pasta for Maia and himself.  And since there wasn’t any cheese (CRISIS),  Felipe and I went and got some.

Feli's own little masterpiece

  

 Following lunch we found out that my aunt Alexandra was stuck in Sao Pablo for the night because of the volcano ashes down here, and that meant we would be spending the night.    Therefore, we had to go all the way back to Elena’s to get our clothes.  So… we left after lunch, stopped by and saw my grandmother, bought postcards, ate some ice cream, and then headed back to Elena’s.  Here we had “la leche,” (equivalent to tea time or snack time) with Elena, grabbed our things, got on the bus, and headed back to Catalina’s.  Thankfully, we were all tired and got in bed pretty early.  Today, we woke up early again and I am again at Elena’s working.  This time, I am by myself, because Maia has left me to go watch URUGUAY VS. NETHERLANDS at the stadium here with my cousin Lucia and my mom’s cousin .  She was very excited when she left  about 45 minutes ago on the bus! Now, I am going back to work to see if I can get some more letters done this morning!

Cleaning up the Mess.

I almost went to sleep without posting today, which would have been ok, if it wasn’t for the fact that the blog keeps my project organized.  Today organization was the theme.  I went through almost all of the material and divided it into boxes and folders.  Almost all the letters have been placed in folders depending on whom they were for or who wrote them.  The process was slightly horrifying because there were letter everywhere but it is looking ok now….



before!

Before!!

and after!

 

This process took legitimately all day.  Since I’m still sick (now actually feeling worse than I did during the day)  I got to spend the day inside with the letters, documents, pictures, notebooks, journals, etc.   Among  the really old letters I found some pictures from when my mom was little, some notes she wrote to her dad, and some card she wrote to her parents.  I am saving those to take back to her!

At the same time I found my grandmother’s report cards from school in Germany (early 30s) and some more of her notebooks.  I also found another picture of her class.  In that same stack, I found my grandmother’s bother’s birth certificate, and letters that her aunt Erna wrote with her husband Michael in the 1920’s.

Since I didn’t do any reading today, there isn’t much interesting stuff to tell, but I hope the pictures tell it all!

I also forgot to write about the locked box we found. Well .... we found a locked box!  We didn't have a key, so my dad suggested from the U.S. to use a saw... so we did, and as I had guessed, it contained more letters, and journals.  But one journal was from Germany when she was about 10 years old! It had notes from her friends and her parents.  I am going to get her friend to help me read it!  There were tons of letters and the diaries from the year she left Germany, so they should be very helpful!







Oma's father and a note he wrote to her

And After!!!



Break Cut Short

So…. This little weekend of fun was cut short.  On Friday we woke up relatively early at 9:00, and we were on the bus at 10:00.  We got to Atlantida at 11:15, and we headed to pick up my cousin Rodrigo from school.  He usually gets out at 12:15, but since it was his birthday we got to pick him up early.   In Uruguay, the kids that go to the public schools go either in the morning or in the afternoon.  He goes in the morning.  After that he led us to their house, since he usually takes the bus by himself he knows the route very well. Thinking that when we left he was just 1, and that he turned 11 yesterday is a scary thought.  After that we ate lunch together, played some board games, and then walked down to the beach. 

 

BAD DECISION!!!

WIND WIND WIND

Oh how I wish it was hot!

Atlantida

Though the walk, the view, and the puppies we saw on the way were wonderful… It was soo windy and cold by the beach.  That is where the cold that I had really turned into this great flu that I have now.  On the walk back we stopped by a little shop, where I got my cousin whatever he wanted. And then we just played with his dog (horse is more like it) and hung out at his house once his parents got back from working in Montevideo.  At night we cut the cake and my uncle drove us to my aunt’s house where I realized how horrible I felt.  After that, I had to make the sad decision that I would miss Rodrigo’s big party the next day (since it was outside,) and that we would have to cancel our plans to have a Pajama Party the next night (right now)  with my other cousin in Montevideo.  So… After Maia went to Rodrigo’s party, we got on a bus and headed back to home base, where I will be staying in bed for at least tomorrow.  The good thing is that I can still read letters in bed!!! Once I get some stuff from the letters tomorrow, I will post again.

Struck Gold!!!!

Even though I already posted today, I just had to fill everyone in... So today, after posting the blog, laying down to rest, and getting some food... I decided it was time to look through all the boxes to see what all was in there! If my Oma was alive today, they would have her on one of those shows for hoarding!!!! 

Just about 1/100th of what we found tonight



Some detail family history

I found pictures from my grandmother's class when she was 6 (in Germany), pictures from everything you can imagine, my great great grandfather's work permit from 1920 in Germany, a map to my grandmother's neighborhood, a map to the cemetery in Germany to find where her grandparents were buried.  TOO MUCH!!!

Map to the Cemetery in Berlin

Then I found the letters between Oma and her friend Hannele after they found each other in 2001. 
Then, best of all I found a folder full of letter between my grandmother and two ladies from the Prinzlauerberg Museum in Berlin, that did research on Berlin and her neighborhood during the 30's.  Here she talks about EVERYTHING!!! Pages and pages of things... where she went to school, what they played, how they got out of Germany, whose idea it was to leave, etc! GOLD!!!!  Then, I found a tape with interviews of others that these women had found also! Don't think I can use those, but all the things she wrote are soooo helpful!!!

 Then, when I thought I had see it all, a page falls out of a huge stack I overlooked... And it reads (in Spanish): 

                     The last witness 
 Stories for my granddaughter Martina, who always wants to know "how I was as a child," and my granddaughter Maia, who never asks but always listens very interestide to whatever I say." 

The stories I hadn't seen...

And there starts a new book that she started in 1995!!!!! With new stories and more details on family members!!! This "book" that I'm putting together will get some stories (those that she sent and those that she didn't) straight from the one and only Oma!  In the same forder i found a little book that started with (in Spanish)
"In case at any time it occurs to you to know who my family, and therefore, your families were."
 And again a VERY detailed description of everyone!!!

The little book with family...

It is unreal. Today I found my book... In CD's, tapes, letters, stories, newspapers, emails, chats, and more!! Now, break until Sunday..  Whew...

                  The last thing: All of the letters that my parents sent her when they were in the U.S. in the 80's (100+)

Tears... (F.Y.I Oma means grandmother in German, and Omi is like grandma)

          Up until now, I was doing ok about staying sort of detached from the things I was reading.  I figured that was the only way to get through it.  Today, at around 2, I called my grandmother’s best friend, my Omi Hanne.  I tried yesterday and she wasn’t home, so today when a woman picked up the phone I said, “is Omi Hanne there?”  The woman didn’t hear me so I repeated and said, “Is Hanne there?”  Turns out that it was Hanne, and after I said it was Martina, all she said was “Oh how wonderful!!!!!!!! But since when do you call me Hanne?  it was always Omi Hanne to you.”  That did me in… The tears started going, and I had to move the letters out of the way so I wouldn’t get them wet.  I guess it’s because I haven’t really had any contact with my Oma’s world since she died in August of 2008. With her house now gone and the fact that we live so far away, it is easier for me to deal with the fact that she’s not here anymore by avoiding this world.  It’s weird for me to think that the person that basically raised me for 11 years while my parents worked, the person I would give anything to spend time with, and the person who always made sure she knew everything going on with me in the U.S., is now gone.  So I stay detached, but being here, it is easier to stay detached from the papers, than to stay away from the memories that come rushing in with places, voices, and smells.  Anyhow, that’s what happened today when I heard Omi Hanne’s voice, I couldn’t hold it in. (Probably also because I was here alone and no one was here watching me) She started telling me that she’d help me with the letters, and telling me stories of the people I’m reading about.  I was at awe about how much she knew.   After she gets back from a trip on June 27^th, she said she’s ready to spend every afternoon with me.   I couldn’t be more happy, but I will say that after today, I don’t know how I’m going to make it through talks, questions, and her reading the letters without just bursting into tears… I guess I have a while to figure it out. 

Aside from that, we mostly kept doing what we did yesterday. 



Maia working hard in Pablo's room



 I also started translating the stories that she sent me in Spanish and going through the ones she had sent my dad.  These tie up a lot of loose ends, but I hope Omi Hanne will tie up even more end!! 

 

I am currently trying to find Oma’s letters to her friend Hannele that she found again in Berlin in 2004.  I haven’t found the last letters between then, but I do not doubt that Oma saved them all! I am now collecting the letters that are impossible to read and saving them for Omi Hanne…  So as we move through the typed letters, some are starting to turn up in Spanish, which saves some steps!!!!

Since I know some of you liked getting bits of letters, here are some:

From a letter my grandmother wrote to a friend (Ursula) on July 6 1939:

“Wernillein dear! Although I recognize that this letter will remain unanswered, I will at least show that I've not forgotten you and I won’t let you even think it.”

 From a letter sent to my grandmother’s aunt Erna (who brought my Oma’s family to Uruguay) from a Willy in Berlin in 1937:

“I would like love to be connected with you and get all the information about Montevideo.  As you must have head, I have nothing else left, after 27 years of working in this factory I have been fired, and I have no other option but to familiarize myself with emigration. “

(this is it for today, because I still have a lot of work to do today!!!)

Today will be the last day this week that I dedicate fully to this project, because tomorrow Maia and I will head to Atlantida for my cousin Rodrigo’s birthday.  Maia and I are going to go pick him up after school, and we’ll get to hang out the rest of the day! We will spend the night at my Aunt Marianne’s new house.  On Saturday we will go to his birthday party at noon, then take the 1hr bus back to Montevideo, and head straight to my other cousin’s house.  There we will spend some time with Catalina, and spend the night.  On Sunday, I will be back at it again at Elena’s house, working through these boxes one letter at a time.   

Fun facts of life:  Maia has a new hair color… Hm… We are going to watch Penarol play tonight (soccer) at La Pasiva (yummy food place)…. That’s about it for today… just letters.

For those that might want to give it a try,  here is a letter which is legible! Have fun with a translator!

Getting Organized

After waking up at noon today, making lunch, and resting our eyes, Maia and I hit the letters again.  After the overwhelming feeling of yesterday's discoveries, I decided we would, for now, only focus on what we could read, because this was yesterday...



The process today ran smoothly.  Maia typed into the translator, I read the German, corrected the translation, and put a number on the letter.  Then I started putting the letters into this folder.
 

The letters are truly incredible...  Here are some bits and pieces, and the translations are rough because they are simply there for me to glance at and remember what the German said. 

   From a letter written by my grandmother's dad to his brother in  June of 1947:  (my grandmother's family left Germany in 1937)
" For years, I eagerly awaited to hear from any of my friends, but in vain. All the more you can imagine my joy when at last a letter came from you. Just by chance we have received your letter, however, because we no longer live on that street, it has been 9 years since we moved. Well, my dear brother, I would be very glad if you could send me some details of how you are since the invasion of the Germans in Poland and what has become of the other beloved brothers and sisters. I have not heard from anyone since 1938. How and when did you come to Palestine and how are you now?  " 

From a letter written by my grandmother's mother to her friend Trude in May  of 1946:
" I am assuming this is really you. It is a miracle from God that you live, one of my old friends. Max just came from the HICEM (there we process the immigration for my brother Heini), and he told me that he found in the lists of survivors, your name, and of course I sat down immediately to write to you because I could not maintain my peace without doing it. I have no exact address from you, I will send a letter to the local Committee. In the "Aufbau "and the "SEMANA Israelita" (Jewish Weekly Newspaper in Buenos Aires), I've read that your cousin Siegfried Sabersky is in Berlin, I have forgotten his address. If you write to the Jewish. Community in Berlin, they can tell you, he is registered there. Where is Paul and Irma, have you hear something from Hans? My mother and all siblings except Erna (here in Montevideo), Paula (in Colombia), and Heini (in Shanghai) have all fallen victim to the Nazi beasts. I have only received confirmation of this today.  I do not know where, when or what horrible deaths they have suffered. "

These are just some of the horrifying lines I have come across today... The first letter that my grandmother writes to her best friend's mother is also devastating. There she still thinks that her friend is dead, however they were reunited in the 90's which is when Oma sent her copies of all the letters she had writen her.  I'll post some of those letters tomorrow.

I will say that the job of going through this material is so much easier since I get to sit at my grandfather's desk, with his chair, in this most wonderful office that my aunt had ready for me.  Behind me, on a bookshelf, I have my grandmother's family tree hanging.
 
Then next to me I have a whole board where my aunt hung the rest of the family trees that Oma made. 
 
On my desk, we have invented a hanging mechanism so I can put the letters there when I translate. 
 

The office is great, and it is my own little space to spread out the craziness. Today, I spent all day in here, and the best part is that I am ok with it.  Because with the letters I get to go to all these places through the words of my grandmother, her parents, her aunts, etc.