Rebecca Gratz and Ellen Hays Etting to Maria Gist Gratz - September 22, 1828

Writing to her sick sister-in-law Maria after he visit to Philadelphia, Rebecca expresses her desire to see her again and gives updates on the health and travels of family and friends.

Rebecca writes to her friend Margaret (Peggy) about the social scene of Baltimore, announces the birth of her nephew Edward and discusses the rise of summer residences in Oakland outside of Baltimore and Germantown, PA, due to the fear of Yellow Fever.

Lilly Friedman, née Lax, was born in Zarica, Czechoslovakia on January 20, 125. Her father taught Hebrew. Lilly describes how Jewish life and her relations with non-Jews changed after the Hungarian occupation in 1939. In 1944, after the Germans rounded up all the Jews, Lilly and her family were sent to Auschwitz. She describes arrival in Auschwitz, the selections, and brutal murders of infants. After three days she was taken to Plaszow, Krakow with a group of girls for forced hard labor under brutal conditions. In September 1944 they returned to Auschwitz. As transports arrived, women and children were taken straight to the crematoria. After three weeks she was put in charge of 400 of the healthiest girls who were selected to work as weavers in a factory in Neustadt.

As the front came closer, the camp was evacuated. The girls were transported to Mauthausen and then marched to Bergen-Belsen. She gives a graphic description of the transport to Mauthausen by train under Allied bombardment, the casualties and their attempts to help each other. She describes terrible conditions in Bergen-Belsen and how the girls helped each other to survive. They were liberated by the English Second Army April 15, 1945. She slowly regained her health and met and married another survivor. The family came to the United States in March, 1948.

Her daughter, Miriam adds her insights about growing up as a child of survivors. Lilly mentions the impact living through the Holocaust still has on her and her sisters.

Interviewee: FRIEDMAN, Lilly Date: April 21, 1985

After learning her sister-in-law Maria is about to give birth, Rebecca reflects on family, life, death and mourning. / expresses her understanding that the family is cancelling their trip to Philadelphia and updates her on family and friends.

Rebecca tells her sister-in-law Maria about the career of her nephew, Horace, and the new marriage of her niece, Miriam. She also critiques society's preoccupation with material wealth.