Handwritten letter

Handwritten letter with multiple short notes from different writers

05.03.1940from München (Munich), Germanybetween Julius Oppenheimer, Elsa Oppenheimer, Otto Oppenheimer, Anna Kuhn, Max Oppenheimer, Josef Oppenheimer, Mina Weiler

Original — Deutsch

[Archivvermerke oben links, nicht vom Schreiber: „N° 16" (Tinte) und „1944" (gestempelt/gedruckt)]

München den 5. März 1940.

Liebe Mina! Leider hören
wir immer noch nichts [... unleserlich]
geht es jedem gleich[?] aber wir hoffen daß Du gesund[?] [... unleserlich]
[... unleserlich] hast, [... unleserlich] vom 20. II.[?] [... unleserlich]
[... unleserlich, ganze Zeile]
[... unleserlich] daß die Papiere
einmal in Ordnung kommen. Es[?] hilft mir[?]
nichts als [... unleserlich] zu hoffen. Herzl. Grüße u. Küsse
[von?] uns u. l. Fritz          Dein Onkel Julius

--- [zweite Hand] ---

Liebe Mina,
            Woche um Woche vergeht u. wir hören leider
nichts von Dir ob es Dir wohl nur[?] so geht? Wir hoffen Dich u. alle
Lieben gesund wie auch bei uns gottlob der Fall ist. Gestern
war Tante Frieda bei uns sie läßt Dir grüßen, Karl[?] ist
noch in Hannover. Agnes Schwester (Soferl[?]) ist auch seit
heute hier in Stellung. Rosa war am Sonntag bei
uns. Sind eigentlich Wolfs[?] schon bei Dir? Heute war
ihre Mutter bei uns. Tante Friedas Nichte [ein Wort durchgestrichen] hat auch noch nichts
vom Konsulat gehört. Nun hoffen wir daß doch bald
eine gute Nachricht kommt u. herzliche Grüße u. Küsse
                        Deine Tante Else

--- [dritte Hand] ---

Liebe Mina!
            Hoffentlich bekommen wir bald nähere
Nachricht von dir. Von meinen lieben hörte ich daß du Klara
Dinkelsp. besucht hast, dieselben sind wirklich sehr bemüht
um mich und hoffe ich doch daß bald das Affi-
davit ankommt. Für heute noch herzliche Grüße
                                    Deine[?] Betty

--- [vierte Hand — dem Schriftbild nach offenbar wieder die erste Hand] ---

Frieda wurde aufgefordert[?] dem Consulat
die Papiere zu übersenden[?] u. hoffe[?] abzugeben[?]

Translation — English

[Archival marks upper left, not by the writer: "N° 16" (ink) and "1944" (stamped/printed)]

Munich, the 5th of March 1940.

Dear Mina! Unfortunately we still hear
nothing [... illegible]
is it the same for everyone[?] but we hope that you are well[?] [... illegible]
[... illegible] have, [... illegible] of the 20th of Feb.[?] [... illegible]
[... illegible, whole line]
[... illegible] that the papers
will finally be put in order. It[?] is no use to me[?]
[doing] anything but [... illegible] hoping. Kind regards and kisses
[from?] us and dear Fritz          Your Uncle Julius

--- [second hand] ---

Dear Mina,
            Week after week goes by and unfortunately we hear
nothing from you; is it perhaps just the same for you? We hope you and all
our dear ones are well, as thank God is the case with us. Yesterday
Aunt Frieda was with us, she sends you her regards; Karl[?] is
still in Hannover. Agnes's sister (Soferl[?]) has also been
in service here since today. Rosa was with us on Sunday.
Are the Wolfs[?] actually with you already? Today
their mother was with us. Aunt Frieda's niece [one word struck out] has also still heard nothing
from the consulate. Now we hope that good news
will come soon, and warm greetings and kisses
                        Your Aunt Else

--- [third hand] ---

Dear Mina!
            Hopefully we shall soon get more detailed
news from you. From my dear ones I heard that you visited Klara
Dinkelsp[?]., they really are taking great trouble
over me, and I do hope that the affi-
davit will arrive soon. For today, warm regards
                                    Your[?] Betty

--- [fourth hand — from the handwriting apparently the first hand again] ---

Frieda was required[?] to send[?] the papers
to the consulate, and hope[?] to hand [them] in[?]

Historical context

A single sheet carrying four short notes in different hands, headed 'München den 5. März 1940'. It appears to be a joint family letter sent from Munich to Mina Kaufmann in the United States: an uncle signing 'Dein Onkel Julius', an aunt signing 'Deine Tante Else', and a third writer signing 'Betty' who is waiting for an affidavit, plus a two-line postscript about Frieda and the consulate. The content is the standard traffic of the 1939-1941 emigration effort: affidavits from American relatives, papers 'coming into order', and news heard (or not heard) from the consulate. It fits alongside 001_018_0006, which reports a 'verzweifelten Bf.' from Munich saying that supplementary papers had reached Stuttgart 'weder für Julius noch für Betty' — the same two writers who sign here — so the Julius/Else/Betty group here appears to be the Munich branch of the family. Names on the archive metadata for this item (Josef, Otto, Max Marx Oppenheimer, Maria Ruth Kuhn) do not appear anywhere on the page.

On this transcription

Machine transcription (claude-opus-5) — not yet checked against the original scan. 14 passages marked doubtful in the text.

Re-read from the original scan on 2026-07-28. Legibility: fair. [?] marks are deliberate gaps, not transcription errors. Overall 'fair' is an average: the second note (Else) and third note (Betty) are fair to good; the first note (Julius) and the two-line postscript at the foot are poor and are mostly marked illegible. DATE CONTRADICTS METADATA: the dateline reads clearly 'München den 5. März 1940' (5 March 1940); the supplied metadata date is 1940-11-05 (5 November). The month word carries an umlaut and matches the initial of 'München' — I read März, not November; a human should check this first. NAME SPELLING: the second note is signed 'Deine Tante Else' — the final letter is an e, not an a; the metadata form 'Elsa' is not what the page says. This matches the note that other pages show 'Else'. FIRST NOTE IS LARGELY ILLEGIBLE: it is written in a thin, pale, hard-pressed Kurrent that has faded, and it is crossed by two paper folds and a diagonal crease. Only fragments are secure: 'Liebe Mina! Leider hören / wir immer noch nichts…', '…vom 20. II.' (a figure '20' followed by two vertical strokes — I read a Roman II, i.e. 20 February, but it could be a letter), '…daß die Papiere einmal in Ordnung kommen', 'Herzl. Grüße u. Küsse', 'uns u. l. Fritz' and the signature 'Dein Onkel Julius' (the word Julius is written in a Latin hand and is certain). Everything else in that note is marked illegible rather than guessed. SECOND NOTE (Else) is the most legible block. Uncertain words there: 'sie läßt Dir grüßen' (Dir or Dich); the personal name after it, read 'Karl' — capital is ambiguous between K and H; 'Agnes Schwester (Soferl)' — the bracketed nickname could be Soferl/Sofierl/Söferl (a Bavarian diminutive of Sophie, plausible in a Munich letter); 'Sind eigentlich Wolfs schon bei Dir?' — the surname could be Wolff(s). There is a struck-out word after 'Tante Friedas Nichte'. THIRD NOTE (Betty): 'Klara Dinkelsp.' is abbreviated by the writer with a full stop — probably a surname of the Dinkelspiel/Dinkelspieler type, but I have not expanded it. The signature word before 'Betty' is smudged; I read 'Deine' but it could be another word — 'Betty' itself is clear. FOURTH BLOCK: two very faint lines at the foot. 'Frieda', 'dem Consulat' (spelled with C) and 'die Papiere zu' are secure; 'aufgefordert', 'übersenden' and the final 'abzugeben' are my best readings of badly faded words and should be treated as provisional. The whole sheet shows ghost writing bleeding through from the verso, especially in the blank strips between the notes; that show-through is not transcribed. The upper-left '1944' is an archival/stamped number, not a date written by the family. Revised readings: I first took the bottom two lines to be a fourth writer; on comparing letterforms (the thin pointed Kurrent, the same pale ink) they look like the first hand (Julius) adding a postscript at the foot of the sheet, so the page has four blocks but probably only three distinct hands. In the first note I initially read the line-3 sequence as a plain word and settled instead on a date figure '20. II.'; I have left the surrounding words illegible rather than build a sentence around it. In the third note I first read the signature as 'Anna Betty'; the first word is more likely 'Deine', so I have marked it 'Deine[?] Betty'. I considered reading the month as 'Merz'/'Herz'; the umlaut dots and the M-form settle it as 'März'.