November 17, 1938

Sweet Nadja!

I also had great pleasure from your nice letter. I will write to you now (a miracle - Friday - in a small room - with an oil lamp) what I have to do and you can judge for yourself. So, at 5:30, 6 or 6:45, I get up, get dressed, air the bedding, wipe my face, one can’t wash it, quick, quick, straighten the living room, pack everything into the stove, wipe everything clean, and at a quarter of 7, heat the kitchen. Then she arrives - she is the “grandma”, a little woman with a nose like a cucumber and an ugly mouth. Annie will do this, Annie will - and so on. Then “grandpa Wyeyer” [spelling of name?] arrives. He is very nice, over-the-hill, but better than she is. –

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Then wash the breakfast dishes. - one girl was employed with us. And so on. Clean up 5 rooms, the next, the bedroom is the worst! He has 10 pillows. She 5. The bed - the Kahlenberg [or Strahlenberg?]¹ is a dog compared to it. Wash dishes. She [demands?] all of it every day. Like grandmother Hollabrunn.² In short, [after?] the table and the [Wak kerli ?] and the floor are wiped, then I polish the [literally “yellow”; referring to gold?]. Every day. Friday, many other [..?..] things are added. Then I can properly wash, that means quick, quick, when she scolds, one has enough. She gives me enough if she finds dust, I am not too clean, really that does not make me happy at all! Then into the little room.

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You can surely imagine - this is a very small room; there sits the grandmama, grandfather and grandmother. [2 grandmothers?] I shell peas [or beans ?] and so on. Then comes the evening meal, then visitors come until 9 o’clock, prepare the beds, etc. go to sleep, that means more preparation etc. Well, I am for - [show?] - with 14 years, in that time one begins to learn something. I am 15 years old. Thus downhill - maybe not - I  don’t know! Yes, so, I sent you the green dress and shoes. Hopefully, that’s good. It is from me. What kind of a picture do you have of me? I once sent you one of Felipe and me. [ . . . ? . . . ] Didn’t you get it? Unfortunately, we suffered a lot with Bertl.³ She is incorrigible,




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but also [very unlucky ?] very irresponsible and willful. She is always asking for money. I always give her on the 4th, but then she buys herself a scarf and a powderbox and cigarettes and God only knows what else. She hangs around with people who know nothing, but if one says something to her [about it], she runs away --. Now what are you doing? Just one request, write to my family.⁴ You [heard ?] from father [ . . ? . . ] and [. . ? . . ] that I am with them and they are so nice [and so on ?] and put something in it for me too. [. . ? . . } You can do it when you have a chance. The Mrs. Spitz, who sends me something good everyday and for father I implore you [to write to her also]. This would be where to send it, R. Spitz, Brünn, Bratislavska 35.

So many, many thousand kisses - don’t worry about me. God will help us all.

1000 greetings from the house.⁵