Headline: From Norka
Norka, the 17th of October--- To David and Katharina Blum in Hastings, Nebraska
Dear Brother and Sister in far off America:
We want to write you a short letter about the situation of great poverty in which we find ourselves. And if we write you what our food is you will understand that we have need and suffer from poverty. Our afternoon meal today consisted of Schlagkuchen (a cake made from the leftovers of Linseed after the oil has been pressed out of it---Welt-Post Editor). If we do not get help from outside we will all have to starve to death. We are still well, if we only had something nourishing to eat and some clothing!
The weather has been good up to now. Winter did not come early, which is a piece of good fortune. But today we had a snow storm. Dear Brother: Imagine yourself in our situation and think about how badly we suffer in this inflationary time and help us only as much as possible so that we do not perish from lack of daily nourishment. To whom else, other than you, should we turn?
Now I want to notify you of some deaths: Weinke-Bu dead and buried, Heinrich Bauer and Johannes Gerlach's wife, born a Maul, are dead. They were buried on the 17th of October.
Now I will also inform you of those who fell in the war: In the 1st Row: Heinrich Nagel's 2 sons; from the 2nd Row: Philipp Nagel's 2 sons; from the 3rd Row: Albrecht's "Grolliger;" from the 4th Row: Heinrich Klaus' 2 sons; 5th Row: one of Ludwig Schmer's sons, one of Nikolaus Horst's sons; 6th Row: 2 sons of Lorenz Vogler, Melchior Blum, Philipp Kimbel and Konrad Jost; 7th Row: Ludwig Schwindt and Johannes Blum. Those are the ones in our neighborhood that we know.
(the rows refer to which street they lived on in Norka - translator)
The war caused much misery and heartache but our measure of affliction was not yet to be finished; inflation and famine have driven us into extreme poverty. Therefore we ask once again that you not forget us.
Our many greetings to all of you and be kissed in spirit by your brothers,
Johannes and Konrad Blum
We want to write you a short letter about the situation of great poverty in which we find ourselves. And if we write you what our food is you will understand that we have need and suffer from poverty. Our afternoon meal today consisted of Schlagkuchen (a cake made from the leftovers of Linseed after the oil has been pressed out of it---Welt-Post Editor). If we do not get help from outside we will all have to starve to death. We are still well, if we only had something nourishing to eat and some clothing!
The weather has been good up to now. Winter did not come early, which is a piece of good fortune. But today we had a snow storm. Dear Brother: Imagine yourself in our situation and think about how badly we suffer in this inflationary time and help us only as much as possible so that we do not perish from lack of daily nourishment. To whom else, other than you, should we turn?
Now I want to notify you of some deaths: Weinke-Bu dead and buried, Heinrich Bauer and Johannes Gerlach's wife, born a Maul, are dead. They were buried on the 17th of October.
Now I will also inform you of those who fell in the war: In the 1st Row: Heinrich Nagel's 2 sons; from the 2nd Row: Philipp Nagel's 2 sons; from the 3rd Row: Albrecht's "Grolliger;" from the 4th Row: Heinrich Klaus' 2 sons; 5th Row: one of Ludwig Schmer's sons, one of Nikolaus Horst's sons; 6th Row: 2 sons of Lorenz Vogler, Melchior Blum, Philipp Kimbel and Konrad Jost; 7th Row: Ludwig Schwindt and Johannes Blum. Those are the ones in our neighborhood that we know.
(the rows refer to which street they lived on in Norka - translator)
The war caused much misery and heartache but our measure of affliction was not yet to be finished; inflation and famine have driven us into extreme poverty. Therefore we ask once again that you not forget us.
Our many greetings to all of you and be kissed in spirit by your brothers,
Johannes and Konrad Blum
Sources
Die Welt-Post, 02 February 1922, page 2.
This translation provided courtesy of Hugh Lichtenwald.
This translation provided courtesy of Hugh Lichtenwald.
Last updated July 6, 2016.