Rebecca Gratz to Maria Gist Gratz - April 13, 1830

Rebecca tells her sister-in-law Ann about a surprise visit from Ann's step-son Howard and his wife. She also laments the fact that communication with her niece Miriam in Georgia is very limited due to the war.

Born in Wrexen, Germany, in 1919, Fred Stamm was one of four children. Their father was a poor cattle dealer. Fred describes his limited early education in a Jewish school in Warburg and in the local Gymnasium, from 1930 until 1933, when a Nazi decree forced Jewish students out. His two sisters were transferred from Jewish to Catholic school, protected by the nuns. He illustrates the effect of pre-war Nazi influence in Wrexen. His grandmother befriended villagers with clothing and bedding after a disastrous flood, but at her funeral in 1934 her casket was stoned by village youths. Fred served as an apprentice with a cabinet maker until 1938, when he was forced into a Jewish labor unit. During the night of November 9, 1938, strangers broke into the Stamm house, ransacking the ground floor while the family, in bed upstairs, was unmolested. The next morning, Fred and his brother were advised to leave town and ride the railroads for several days. When they returned they found all the males in the town, except their ill father, were taken to a concentration camp. Most of them later returned home. Within the next few months, both brothers left Germany for the United States, sponsored by their cousin, a gynecologist in Philadelphia where Fred quickly found work repairing furniture. In 1942, Fred and his brother served in the United States Army even though they were considered German enemy aliens. He served in the Air Force as an aircraft mechanic, and refused European duty until granted American citizenship. He was sent to China with a fighter squadron to bomb Japanese-occupied territories. Fred returned to Philadelphia, married, raised two children and became a student of Jewish history at Gratz College. See also the testimony of his wife, Ilse Stamm. Interviewee: Fred Stamm Dater: June 1980

Writing to her sister-in-law Ann, Rebecca expresses the joy and comfort her brother Ben's visit gave her after the deaths of their sister Richea and brother Jo.

Miriam writes to her aunt Rebecca, telling her of Daniel Webster's visit to Savannah and her opinion on a candidate to fill a position at their synagogue.

A thank you letter from Justine Volkman to Dr. Wiesel, expressing profound gratitude for his inspiring words on education, delivered to a group of presidential scholars. Volkman details her personal journey of realizing the importance of making a life over just making a living, a discovery she made while studying marketing. She informs Dr. Wiesel of her acceptance into Teach for America and her upcoming role teaching in a low-income school in Kansas City, MO. She attributes his words as a significant source of inspiration for her mission to close the achievement gap and for her future career as an educator, concluding with thanks for his life and legacy.