Roots - Sally and Clara Ermann - Theresienstadt and Alice Moses

The only glimpse into their existence at Theresienstadt was given to me and Georgel Schmidt by Alice Moses, who shared and survived the ordeal and emigrated to the States.

Above: Sara Ermann age 70 (died Theresienstadt age 75), Isaac Ermann age 80 (died Theresienstadt age 83)

Translation
Letter from Alice Moses to Georgel Schmidt, Fall River, 19 May 1946

Dear Mrs Schmidt,

Heartfelt thanks for your letter which showed me your noble character just as I had imagined after all dear Frau Ermann told me about you. It does one good to be allowed to feel that there are still people of your kind in the world who look upon it as the greatest gift to help others and to do good. May you be blessed with the happiness of the contentment which one experiences in selfless actions for the benefit of others. This is the highest reward in life.

What you have told me about Helmut is very regrettable and it is as well that Frau Ermann has closed her eyes for ever. Also Oswald’s fate would have deeply affected this much tried woman. We were already making enquiries and had contacted offices which deal in these matters without receiving any information about his whereabouts or anything at all.

I have already told you all I know about our dear departed. We lived, that is we existed together for one year in Theresienstadt; then Frau Ermann preferred to be together with her niece and husband since she was looked after there and I had to look after my sick husband and my ailing 80 year old mother after doing a day’s hard work. After my mother’s death, I went to see Frau Ermann as often as I could. Her niece was deported to Poland but Frau Ermann was told not to “move,” otherwise we would have taken her with us. She was not exactly ill but she became ever weaker because old people could not stand up to constant diarrhoea.

I do not remember exactly when Frau Ermann passed away but it would have been in June 1944. I was with her late in the evening but she had lost all feeling when I kissed her goodbye. As with everything, she suffered all her grief without complaint and after the death of her husband her worries were all centred in her grandchildren. Despite this, she lost all will to continue living and did not fight her approaching death. She was spared the worst – Poland.

We learned whilst still in Frankfurt that Edith joined her father. The poor dear girl, she was spared much heartache but what she might too have experienced.

We shall leave our loved Switzerland next week and sail from Le Havre to the States. We leave with a heavy heart, at our age, to a difficult future but the joy to be together with our last relative (my brother) is stronger than all other feeling.

That you, too, had to live through difficult times saddens me greatly and I hope with all my heart that there will be better times ahead. Through Frau Ermann, you have not been a stranger to me and everything concerning you and your family will be of interest to me. I grew to love you because of the love and loyalty you had for Frau Ermann whom I loved as a mother and I am glad that you took over the concerns Frau Ermann had for her grandchildren. I am ready at any time to tell Lorchen or Frau Ermann’s relatives in England what I know about our dear departed and the times we lived through together...

ALICE MOSES

Translation
Letter from Alice Moses to Lore, Fall River, 14 July 46

My dear Lorchen,

Your dear friendly words gave me so much pleasure that I want to answer straightaway, but you must excuse me writing with pencil, because I only have time for my correspondence in the lunch hour at the factory.

I would gladly tell you more about your dear grandparents, but I think I already wrote you everything. It speaks highly of you that you have this strong wish to learn everything I know about these exemplary, brave people.

As I have already confirmed to you, your grandmother passed away peacefully. Until the end her thoughts were only concerned with her grandchildren, particularly with your brother Oswald, whom she knew to be in danger. It is fortunate that she was spared to learn about this loss, too. As for yourself, your grandmother knew you were in good hands and to distract her from her sad thoughts, I always asked her to tell me about you. How Frau Ermann idolised her beautiful Lorchen with her gorgeous black eyes and long silky eyelashes! How happy I would have been for this good woman to have seen her grandchildren again, and her relatives in England, but it was almost impossible for old people to survive.

Your dear grandfather came to Theresienstadt together with your grandmother and us. He was not ill but already very frail, and so he could not stand up to the hardships there for more than two months. He died, nursed selflessly to the last moment in appalling conditions, by your grandmother. It is impossible to describe how bravely Frau Ermann coped – far beyond her strength. I helped her as much as I could, since I loved her like a mother.

After Opa’s death, Oma lived with her niece, Frau Hayum. She was well placed there until the couple was deported to Poland. Frau Ermann spent the last days of her life in a sick-room. I went to see her every evening after work and saw how her life was slowly ebbing away.

We shall never forget her. When we lived together with your grandparents in the Scheffelstrasse, before we were taken to Theresienstadt, we spent many pleasant hours together, despite the danger we were constantly exposed to. A very special praise must go to your former help in the house (I have forgotten her name). You are sure to know who I mean. It was entirely due to her that we did not miserably die of hunger. She did whatever she could do and she ‘schleppt’ us food, despite greatest danger to herself.

What you told me about yourself, dear Lorchen, was of great interest to me. I hope your work at the BBC is stimulating. Your grandmother would have been thrilled to know you are married. I wish you happiness in your marriage with all my heart. Live for the future and do not think in your young happiness about all the sadness that so painfully touched your young life.

I am at all times happy to answer any other questions you may have. I remain with warm regards, also to your husband,

Yours,

ALICE MOSES

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