THE WAR IN THE PACIFIC, THE WAR IN GERMANY, THE DUTIES STATESIDE, AND NEWS FROM THE HOME FRONT. A COLLECTION OF 54 LETTERS, ALS AND TLS, PLUS A FEW PRINTED DOCUMENTS FROM THREE WORLD WAR II SOLDIERS AND THEIR SISTER, MEMBERS OF A JEWISH FAMILY IN BROOKLYN

[World War II] [Margulis family letters]

Edité par [various places], 1946

A propos de cet article

A vivid portrait of the war lives of three service members from the same family, and their sister who wrote to them all from Brooklyn. The youngest son Charles Margulis enlisted in the Army at the age of 19 in November 1942, and was sent to the Pacific in late July 1943. Harry enlisted the following March 1943 at age 25 and was overseas in Europe by November 1944. Arthur, the oldest at 31, was in the Army by October 1943, serving his time in various places in the United States. Hannah, affectionately knows to her brothers as "Hank," made it her mission to keep them all in touch, typing out informative one page letters to the brothers, apparently sending each a copy. Many of the letters are accompanied by their mailing envelops, though the stamps have been removed. Louis Margulis, their father, had emigrated to the United States from Maripole [Mariupol], Russia [now Ukraine] as a child in 1884, according to his naturalization records. He signed his intent to become a citizen of the United States in 1906. Their mother Fanny was born in Lithuania and was not apparently comfortable writing in English, leaving Hannah in charge of the correspondence with her sons. Louis Margulis was a clothing designer and Hannah likewise worked in the garment trade as a secretary and later a trimming buyer, according to census records. Their Brooklyn neighborhood was the scene of at least one gathering of Jewish War Veterans in the year before the United States entered the war. Included in this group is Hannah's one page typescript record, "Report on Street Corner Meeting Jewish War Veterans July 24, 1940," held at Kings Highway and E. 17th Street. She was in the crowd and described the speakers who included Abe Cohen and Charles Griffin. She had some difficulty hearing all the introductions but believed Griffin was a commander in the American Legion. He was followed by a man possibly named Towle, a past president of the Jewish Federation, and Frank Surrey, President of the Kings County Criminal Bar. Along with another speaker, Rev. Richard Evans, founder of the Congress for Democracy in Florida, they praised the Jewish veteran and encouraged all in the crowd not to take freedom in America for granted. The last speaker was Rabbi Mashioff, Honorary Chaplain of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Chaplain of Coney Island Hospital, and Rabbi of the 183 St. Temple. The crowd was predominantly Jewish, with some African Americans. "The keynote of the speeches of all was Unity in Americanism, and the same type of program will be repeated all thru the country." With the U.S. entrance into the war, each brother joined the Army, and each one was sent in a different direction. Charles' letters, approx. 17 in number, some 21 pp. of ALS, V-mails, telegrams and postcards, begin in November 1942 and continue until July 1945. In Charles' first letter from Bowman Field in Louisville, Kentucky, where he was assigned to 27 Air Base Squadron, Co. I, he refers to the base as "a concentration camp or just like one." By April 1943, he was at an Army Air Base in Warrensburg, Missouri, with the 55 T.C. Squadron, 375 T.C. Group. He was not any fonder of the service. Informed that his older brother had also joined the Army he says, "As for Arthur, well, I'm prejudiced against the Army because of it's prejudice against my religion. It's tough on the Jews. We're constantly being discouraged about making advancement. I had hoped that Arthur would be able to get into something other than the army." In late July 1943, the family received a brief telegram from him saying simply, "All well." His next communication was a V-mail from New Guinea, where he reported they had cots to sleep on, good tents, showers and good food. Another letter in September asks that Hannah send him some candy and nuts, and a "basque" shirt, something dark that wouldn't show dirt. The next letter is not until June 1944 when he was on a furlough to Australia. He returned to duty, and the next group of letters are.

N° de réf. du vendeur 67994

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: THE WAR IN THE PACIFIC, THE WAR IN GERMANY, THE DUTIES STATESIDE, AND NEWS FROM THE HOME FRONT. A COLLECTION OF 54 LETTERS, ALS AND TLS, PLUS A FEW PRINTED DOCUMENTS FROM THREE WORLD WAR II SOLDIERS AND THEIR SISTER, MEMBERS OF A JEWISH FAMILY IN BROOKLYN
• Éditeur: [various places]
• Date de parution: 1946
• État de la jaquette: Jaquette
• Signé: Signé par l'auteur
• Catalogues du vendeur:
  • Americana