The letter written on 25th November 1935
Blessed be Jesus Christ the savior in your house beloved and dear children, beloved and dear son Hanri. We your parents send our greetings also to your dear wife and our dear daughter-in-law and your dear daughter and our dear granddaughter. We are sending our warm greetings one hundred times. Also your sister and Joži and their dear daughter are sending many hundred greetings and dear son, we wish you
happiness and health. Dear son Hanri, it will be almost two years that you did not write us anything and we have been waiting worrying all the time and we keep hearing that there are very bad times in America, hunger, so we worry how you live if you do not have work. We often say that if you do not write, you do not have work and you do not feel like writing, yet, you could write us how you are doing whether you can earn bare living and whether you do not starve. We have been very worried about you a lot how you live in America. We do not have work either for three years now, we only get unemployment support for six months, a worker gets 80 crowns per week, next three months only half of it, and next three months only meal and clothes vouchers. One house then gets a 20 crown voucher. Then people do not get any food in the shop, because they did not pay taxes, and they get only food vouchers. We get a 20 crown voucher every week, but we have not starved yet as Karol sends us a few crowns when he gets his salary. He cannot send us more as his children go to school, although do not study very well. He needs a lot of money for his daughter Magda because he wants that she will be able to make her own living, she studies in Iglov (today Spisska Nova Ves) in a teachers´ institute. Our dear children we have never starved, Joži is not bad and he never says a bad word to us and his Hanka will start school and she says that when she grows up she will go to America to see her cousin – only if this happens one day? Dear children, we have a cow and she gives us enough milk and we have quite nice pigs that have around 80 kilos.
The first part of this page is about work in an iron mill (iron works). Some terms in Slovak are either regional or old-fashioned; therefore, I included some notes when I was not sure.
Thus, we would not have a bad life, just if there was some job. The iron mill operates with difficulties (literally goes hard ) and would result in big debts and nobody wants to get into debt. And here men work in forest and get nine crowns per day and those who know how to make shlajfikosh (two more words are here that do not make sense to me) work far in the iron mill and one of them died and six children have been left without father. And two years ago Straka´s son-in-law, Marka´s husband, drowned in Bulgaria and one boy was left, now he is with father (I think the writer means Marka’s dad, boy’ s grand father). Dear son, many things had happened since you left home, many people died and also our priest from Gabultov died and pop in Kruzhlov also died this spring. Fridman and his wife also died, thus old people are leaving. My dear and beloved children I wish I could see you once more because we will not last long either. Dear children, day and night I think of you how you live there, and at night I cannot sleep and I think of you and pray for you and wish that dear God gives you health and blesses you. All the time I wish, dear son Hanry, be so kind and write us how you are. Dear son, you did not write us that our Veronka is so ill in head, what could have happened to her, she must have taken much burden on her, but Andrash was not bad to her. We are all very sad and we hope that God will heal her. Once more, we are sending our greetings to you, dear son, and to your dear wife and daughter, many times, one hundred times and we wish you happy and merry Christmas, and we wish you that you are healthy and joyful like angels blessed in heaven. Let Jesus Christ is blessed and we are sending greetings to everybody, to all the family. Goodbye, dear son and send then the letter to mum.
Dear and beloved son, be so good and send mum (mamichka) the letter.
We are sending our warm greetings, dear daughter, our Marička (Marichka), we your parents and we are sending our warm greetings also to your dear children – many hundred times. Vilma and Joži (Jozhi) and Ilonka are also sending their regards to you and your dear children. We are healthy and we wish you health from dear God. You do not write us a lot, we know that you do not feel like writing because you are in troubles. Dear Marichko, we were sad to read in your letter that you split from your husband and we are worried how you are going to raise your children, but if you could not be with him as he spent all the money he earned, thus it is not possible to live with such a man. Let us know whether you live in the house you bought or whether you have lost everything and whether you can make a living for you and your children. Do you know where he is and whether he wanted a divorce?
If only you had been closer to Verona you could go and see her as we do not know whether she is any better now. She wrote us earlier that witches damaged her brain and that flame burned in her head and evil entered her and that Andrash wanted to send her to a madhouse. This would not be good and we do not know anything because Andrash never writes to us; he might be angry at us. Dear children, we are very sad about our Veronka if only dear God helped her to heal because she still has small children. Verona wrote that she would be happy if you had been closer and that she had not seen Hanrich for 12 years, but when there is no work, there is no money. She also wrote to us that her children were bad to her, but now they were getting better. We have been waiting for her answer, some time ago she wrote us that she had not had money for medicine either.
She wrote that Andrash had not had job for three years and only Tomik had gone to the army and the family got 25 dollars per month, so it helped them. And here there have been no jobs for three years and they only give unemployment support, which is very small, not like if there was work. Those who had some savings do not live so badly, but some have no lard and no bread. Thanks God, we have not starved yet and we always have lard and we have a cow, a very good one as she gives us 8 litters of milk, only if nothing has become worse. Nothing wrong would happen to people, only if they follow God, but if they is no work, then it would be bad for people, because what people have stays with them. I do not know what else I could write, so I am sending many warm greetings to you and your dear children. We, your parents and Vilma and Jozhi and Ilonka are greeting you many times, one hundred thousand times and we also wish you merry Christmas and that you are healthy and joyful like angels in heaven. Let Jesus Christ is blessed, and do not wonder if there are some mistakes in my letter because one has many thought. I was at Karol’s house for ten months, but it has been one year since I am back home, I was coughing in summer, but now I do not cough so much, now thanks God we are healthy. Goodbye dear children and write us, do not forget and write also to Rochester that we are sending our regards many times and also Francik and his wife and daughter, and Rajmud and his wife many times and Tonik, Gitka, Rudolf, Karol, Tereska – all of you good bye (God blesses you).