New York The 22nd Day
I got the letter from you and don’t
worry, my beloved Bronia I am, thank God, healthy[1]
[and] on [my] legs, and you, don’t worry Bronisia, because I don’t know if
we’ll see our parents anymore because my boss[2]
got a card from our parents. To travel together with [other] people they
escaped as far as Hungary, then they left from there but I don’t know how far
away[3]
from us they’re going to arrive, because then he says that he doesn’t have
anything left to travel to the country with, but let’s pray to the Lord God,
perhaps we will still see our parents. He finishes his writing [saying] I greet
you[4]
warmly, until I fondly see you[5]
and I greet Pawloski, a write me, Pawlisio, how you like America
Pa, Pa….. Bronia also to you Paw, pa,
pa, pa Until I see you[6]
again
[1]
Male form
[2]
Based on my notes, in the postcard referring to seeing “our parents” again, the
word translated as “our” is a general Polish possessive meaning “his, her,
their, our, mine, your (etc.)” according to the context. While the context of
the card fairly clearly dictates the reading “our” in most cases, the phrase
following “my boss got a card” could be translated as “from his parents,” who
would then be the people escaping to Hungary, with concern about the writer’s
and addressee’s parents implied indirectly by analogy, or perhaps more directly
as people traveling in the same group. This reading might help explain the
reference to “Pawlisio,” as someone more closely related to the boss’s family
[?].
[3]
Literally “how much”
[4]
plural
[5]
plural
[6]
singular
