Rebecca Gratz to Anna Maria Boswell Shelby Gratz - February 26, 1844

Rebecca continues to comfort her sister-in-law Ann and ask about the condition of her brother Ben after the death of his son, Cary.

Rebecca expresses her sympathy to her sister-in-law Ann, whose son, Jo Shelby, has been taken prisoner of war. She also shares news about her nephew Howard's business prospects.

Marian Turzanski, born January 18, 1934 in Zupanie, Poland, was one of four sons in a Catholic family who owned large forest land. Before 1939, he recalls good relations with the few Jews in his village, one of whom once hid in the Turzanski home. After the German invasion, hostile Ukrainians threatened to kill Marian’s father; a friendly Ukrainian intervened and urged the family to flee. In Hungary, they moved frequently, settling in Keszthely, where Marian attended a school for Polish children. His parents had left their baptismal papers in Poland, to be used by Samuel Goldreich, the Jew they once sheltered. Life in Hungary after German occupation is detailed: terrorization by the Arrow Cross and German soldiers, ghettoization of Jews and Poles, deportation of Jews and Gypsies. Marian’s father was active in the underground, together with Hungarian Jews and other Christians; Marian and his brothers became messengers. He describes in detail the family’s deportation December 31, 1944, to Germany, via Prague and Vienna in sealed cattle cars and the luxury of bedsheets and decent food at the Wilhelmshaven work camp near Berlin. This contrasts with the starkness of the other camps he mentions briefly: Strashof, Bayreuth, Neumarkt. He describes brutal treatment by Ukrainians at Neumarkt. After liberation by Americans in 1945, he lived in Displaced Persons camps at Neumarkt, Hochenfels, Annsbach, Wildflecken, Heilbronn, Ludvigsburg and Bremenhafen. He came to the United States on August 27, 1949 after losing all of his relatives outside of his immediate family.

Rebecca writes to her sister-in-law Ann to apologize for speaking out of turn in her letter the previous day. She explains why her brother and others in the family, including herself, are opposed to calling his new-born son Benjamin as Ann wished.

Writing to her sister-in-law Ann, Rebecca exchanges news about the health, whereabouts, and travel plans of family and friends. She also expresses her lack of desire to travel to Saratoga with her brother, Jo.