Berlin

It has taken me awhile to continue this story about of Naughty Great-Grandpa. Life got in the way of having these last two letters transcribed sooner. I tried AI but it jumbled it all up. I will write about that another time. There were four letters in total. The first two were translated a few years ago and published on my blog. If you would like to get caught up on this story you can read Naughty Great-Grandpa and Naughty Great-Grandpa Part 2 by clicking the links.

The third one is from his daughter, son, and their mother in Germany. I believe it to be written by the daughter.

Berlin, 13 July 1914

Dear Father.

I’ve finally made up my mind to writing you a few lines.

We were, after all, brought up without a father’s love. It’s already been 22 years. Our dear mother raised us to be decent people. I yearn for you so much. You should see us both now; you’d surely say, ‘These aren’t my children.’ Mum and we think of you very often. How you’re getting on over there. We’ve all got jobs. Rudolf works for the railway and I’ve been employed in a large shop for many years now. Our mum doesn’t work any longer, as she’s become too weak from all the hard work. You would

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know that too. You wouldn’t even recognise our dear mother. We’ve known nothing but a mother’s love, and when that’s gone, it’ll be the end of us too. What would you think if I were to meet you in person one day – though that’s unlikely to happen for a long time yet. I’d really like to see America one day, and that’s why, dear Father, I’m writing you a few lines – just so I have a starting point, in case I need to get in touch; otherwise, I’ll have to pay too much money and [vog?] – and your wife and children don’t need to know anything about the fact that you’ve received this letter from Berlin.

Well, dear Father, what do you think of that? Surely you must sometimes long to see your children. You could let

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me know straight away. Perhaps you or your children will set foot on German soil, or do you no longer think back to the times gone by? It must be terrible to have such memories.

How are you over there? Are you happy with your family? I wish you all the best from the bottom of my heart. Mother surely thought you would be by her side, but that’s all in the past now.

Perhaps I could look forward to a reply straight away.

Warm regards from here

Your daughter Gertrud, your son Rudolf, and Mother

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Didn’t you receive the letter Rudolf wrote to you back when he was in the army? We haven’t received a reply to it yet. Or perhaps you don’t have time to write to us.

My address is

Gertrud Pulenz

c/o Address Wagner, Berlin S[?] 33, Wrangelstr. 59

I think that she is trying to play to his sympathy reminding him that they were brought up without a father’s love yet their mother raised them to be decent people. Both her and her brother must work, and the mother is too weak from working so hard all those years she was raising them. Then the request comes to come to America one day. It sounds like she is hinting for him to pay for a trip to America. She tells him his wife and children don’t need to about this letter. I am thinking not if his wife gets to the mailbox first. Then she plays the sympathy card again, “Surely you must sometimes long to see your children.” Too bad DNA wasn’t around then.

I think the daughter has listened to her mother bemoan the fact that her lover, Rudolph left her and started over in America. I don’t know if they are really so upset over something that happened 22 years ago or looking for a way to come to America. Her mother married and had three children with her husband who she claims she didn’t love. She married two years before Rudolph married in America. She didn’t wait for beloved Rudolph.

Rudolph Kaiser never answered her letter. I did feel sorry for them in past letters, but there is something about the tone of this letter that rubs me wrong. I feel she is trying to play on his sympathy and guilt to either acknowledge them and/or pay for them to come to America.

My great-grandfather was not a rich man; he could not afford to send them money to help them out or pay for a trip to America. They are waiting for a reply to a letter the son wrote in 1910. Really, they still expect an answer after four years? Are they really his children or is this a scam?

First page of original letter. This will give you an idea of what I was working with and why it takes a professional.

Transcription done by EK Translations – Elisabeth Kissel

To be continued . . .

A while back I wrote about my great-grandfather Rudolph Kaiser who may have left a family in Germany when he came to the United States and started a another family here. For back ground to this post you might want to read my original posts about Rudolph Kaiser at Naughty Great Grandpa and Letter’s from Germany to Rudolph Kaiser.

I just had the second letter from Germany transcribed. It is dated 13 November 1910 and is written by his son this time.

Letter Transcribed:

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Allenstein, 13 November 1910

Mr. Kaiser,

After many efforts, we were able to determine your valuable address. We only found out from Mother this year that our father is in America. So we decided to write a few lines. Hopfully, they will be received with pleasure. Things are currently very bad for us. Mother is alone with Ida because I have been drafted into the

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Military, Infantry Regiment 146. 6 Allenstein Company. As a result, it has not been possible for me to work as I must now serve two years. Ida works in a factory in Berlin. Unfortunately, her earnings are very meagre. Mother has been sickly of late so she is no longer abler to earn any money. I Rudolf, have decided to move to America after my service. Dear Father, write

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To me please and tell me how you are and how it is in America. Hopefully, it is better than in Berlin because everything is expensive here and work is hard to come by. Therefore dear Father, we ask you kindly, please reply.

Warmest regards

From your children

Sent

From afar

Rudolf Ida

Inf. Regt. 146. Berlin S.O. 33

5^th Company Skalitzerstr. 54a

Allenstein

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Musketier [private]

Rudof Pielenz

Inf. Regt. 146.

6^th comp.

Room 22

Allenstein

I have two more letters that I want transcribed and will do as I can afford it. I am hoping one of them contains answers to all my questions that I have about these circumstances. I can’t say it any better than I did in my previous post about my feelings toward this woman and her children and my great-grandfather. I can’t help wonder about my great-grandmother in all this. Did she know? If so what did think or do about it? Did this cause a riff in there marriage? Did my grandfather know? If he did, he never told anyone. It was kept a secret, I think, except for the buried letters. By the time they were found there was no one around that could read, write, or speak German. Years ago my mother asked a German neighbor to read them and tell her what they said. The neighbor did not transcribe word for word, but just gave my mother a summary of the letters so we had an idea of the information contained in them.

Here’s my mother’s notes:

Mom's notes about German letters

Mom's notes about the German letters 2

I have a letter dated 1914 which corresponds to the note “wounded in Russia 1914 discharged”. Story to be continued when next letter is translated.

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