Rebecca Gratz to Maria Fenno Hoffman - October 31, 1819

Writing to her sister-in-law Ann, Rebecca comments on the conflict between Francis P. Blair and General John C. Frémont. She also shares news of family and friends, including of her niece Miriam with whom contact is sporadic due to the war.

Continued from RGC0426, Rebecca tells her sister-in-law Maria's children of the animals in her house.

Author Grace Aguilar thanks Rebecca for the positive appraisal of her book and remarks on her feeling of responsibility to share the words of God.

Kurt Kupferberg was born September 1907 in Berlin, Germany to an observant, middle-class family from Galicia. After World War I, their citizenship was changed to Polish, resulting in their being part of the mass deportation to Zbąszyń, Poland, in 1938. A Nazi policeman had warned them to leave. Kurt describes his return to Germany in 1939, as well as his deportation and experiences in Sachsenhausen in 1939, Dachau in 1940, and Buchenwald in 1941. He details the selections of Dr. Mengele and medical experiments performed on him in Buchenwald, describing his suffering from typhus following an injection of the microorganism under his skin. As Allied Forces approached Buchenwald, non-Jewish political prisoners sheltered Jews from the S.S. He was liberated by General Patton’s unit July 11, 1945. He married a survivor in Berlin in 1946 and emigrated with his wife and baby to the United States in 1947. Also see testimony of his wife, Hardy W. Kupferberg.

A short, handwritten letter from Elie Wiesel and his wife Marion to President Václav Havel, dated December 3, 1996. On his personal letterhead, Wiesel writes to wish President Havel a speedy recovery from an illness. He states that Havel's health is important to all who admire him and believe in his "vision for humanity." The letter closes with the hope to be with him soon and an affirmation of their friendship.