Rebecca Gratz to Benjamin Gratz - July 03, 1855

Rebecca writes to her sister-in-law Maria, announcing the birth of Isaac Hays's second son, William Dewees, and the death of her long-time friend, Slowey Hays. She also shares more details about her niece's future husband.

Rebecca writes to her niece Miriam in the South that she hopes they will all be able to see each other in Philadelphia after the war and assures her of the family's love for her.

Rebecca writes to her sister-in-law Ann about how the family is adjusting after the death of her brother-in-law, Reuben Etting. She also updates her on how her niece Sara is settling in in Montreal and comments on Henry Clay losing the Whig presidential nomination to Zachary Taylor.

Rachel updates to cousin Rebecca on her health, thanks her for sending mutton, and expresses concern about the health of Rebecca's sister. Rachel's daughter Richea also enquires about Sally's health.

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.