Rebecca Gratz to Maria Gist Gratz - July 21, 1839

Rebecca informs her brother Ben of the recovery of their sister Richea and discusses the impending marriage of their nephew, Simon Gratz Moses. Their brother Jacob also tells him about their sister’s and his own health improvements.

Rebecca writes to her brother Benjamin, discussing the shipments of clothing to his camp and updates him on the whereabouts of family and friends.

Myra Davis, nee Miki Heller, was born July 12, 1936 in Kovno, Lithuania, the only child in an affluent Jewish family. Her parents were Franz and Fanny Heller. After the Russian invasion in 1940, her family was forced to move from their large home to much smaller quarters. In 1940, they immigrated to Japan with transit visas and visas for Curacao, which were not used. Instead, they went to Shanghai, in 1941, after a year in Kobe, Japan, where Myra attended a French Catholic school.

In the French quarter of Shanghai, they lived comfortably until the Japanese occupation forced them into the Hongkew Ghetto. Her father, despondent about their impoverishment, committed suicide. When the war ended, her mother worked for the American Army and met a Jewish colonel, David Bare (phonetic), whom she married in 1947. The family lived in Beijing, China, Linz, Austria and South Carolina, United States. Myra became a translator for the American government, married Arnold Davis and they live with their two children in Boca Raton, Florida.

Recorded at the Rickshaw Reunion - a meeting in October 1999 at the Holiday Inn in Philadelphia of refugees who found refuge in Shanghai during World War II.

Rebecca tells her three nephews in Lexington how much she has missed them since they left Philadelphia.

Rebecca writes to her friend Maria about the election of bank directors in Philadelphia, discusses the health concerns of their respective family members, and issues sourrounding the death of Gouverneur Morris.

Rebecca tells her friend Maria of the birth of her sister Richea Hays's 6th son and updates her on friends and the social scene.