This week in class, we were to choose two ‘last letters’ from various Jews who died in the Holocaust who kept correspondence with their families. Going into this assignment, I knew it was going to be heavy. After last week reading letters from children in Japanese internment camps, I learned just how hard it is to read letters from those in poor situations. This week, I knew it would be even more difficult due to the horrific circumstances the letters were written in. Beyond that, I’m also Jewish, having family who died in the Holocaust, which makes the readings even harder.
“Don’t lose hope that soon we will be together again, as we were in the past.
I hug you very tight, and again, one more time, we will see each other soon” (Kornowski).
Isaac Joseph Kornowski wrote this in one of his last letters to his children and wife from the Drancy Camp in 1941. In this letter, Isaac expresses his anxiety about the current situation the family is in. He asks a number of his questions like, if they have heard from his brother, and how the other members of the family are.
Furthermore, Kornowski writes: “As for me… I am fine. I am still hopeful that we will be together again as we were in the past.”
This flash of optimism reminded me of the Japanese Internment Camp letters from last week, and how optimistic those children were. I mentioned in class how all the letters we’ve read have a common thread of hope. Hope for freedom, for family, and for liberty.
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