My father's brother, Nachke/Nachman Lichtshtein, was born in Vilna (Vilnius), in 1912. He was a member of Beitar Vilna.
Nachke married Nekha of Wysokie Litewskie They had a daughter, Chana, known as Chana'le. They lived in Wysokie until the Holocaust.
This is a postcard that my uncle sent to his father in Vilna, who lived there with his daughter and her husband. My grandfather then forwarded the card (probably in an envelope) to my father. This is the only document in writing that I have and I think that was the last communication received while they were all still alive.
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Return Address:
Visoko Litovsk USSR
17th September Street
N. Lichtshtein |
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| Postcard, Message Side |
The postmark is dated 14th of February 1940. The date that was written on the other side of the postcard is 13th of February (13 II 40). It is in Yiddish. The English translation:
Dear father, Dear Lena and Velvel,
I finally got your postcard. I simply did not know what to think because I sent you several cards. I hope that you get this postcard of mine. I enjoyed receiving regards from Bezalel [my father,then in Israel] and Borke [their brother in France]. What do you hear from the family in Amerika [three sisters and three brothers]?
Nothing is new with me. I work a little and it is enough for what we need. I got two letters from Bezalel and I answered him. Necha [his wife] and Chana'le [their small daughter] send their hearty regards, and send thousand kisses. The main thing is that we are healthy and there is nothing we lack.
Yours,
Nachke
Regards from Chayim and Bracha who are planning to be married.
Regards from Necha's parents.
| Notes: The street name 17th of September commemorates the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939. It ended with the Soviet Union occupying the Polish territory all the way to Bug River and, after taking them prisoners of war, executing 20,000 Polish officers in Katyn forest. This street name persists to the present day. |
