March 26, 1932

May the Lord be merciful to you and us all. Amen.

First of all, greetings from us all, your sister Mariliß Ring, nee Reichel and from our entire family of souls to you, brother Jacob and sister-in-law Sophie and all your children. We send you our greeting and a kiss of our true love (for you).

And now dear brother we would like to let you and your family know that we are still in good health and that we wish you the same from the bottom of our hearts. But tell me, dear brother, why it is that you didn't write us a letter to let us know how things are going for you and your family? It seems as if you have forgotten us, and now you want to know how things are going. I, your sister, have been a widow since September. My husband was plagued in the last seven months of his life with memory lapses so that he was a great burden to us before the end. And so now, dear brother, with the passing of our father and husband, we now find ourselves in distress. We have no bread and are quite low on other food as well. Many (people) are receiving packages from America and so are kept from going hungry by their friends. So dear brother Jacob, if you please, you could also help us out with a package because there is no food to buy. The people here travel up to 200-300 [a distance unit the translator was unfamiliar with] hoping to buy something. Sometimes they bring something home and sometimes they come home empty-handed and their families have to continue to survive without any bread. And so, dear brother Jacob, please write to us how you are and please don't forget us in the future. If you want to send us something or write, here's the address [illegible, in Russian].

So farewell and, above all, write us soon and don't forget about helping us, i.e., send us a package of food. And now greetings from Lydia and especially from your sister Maria- Elisabeth Ring, nee Reichel. We would really like it if you could have a photograph made and send us a card so that we can see you all once again and have something to remember you by, and would also ask you to please not forget us here and to help us as soon as possible.


[Not sure who Lydia is who is mentioned in the letter.]