My dear Lorle,

Yesterday I received your letter with the usual great pleasure.  I am fine and I hope the same with you.  Today I can’t write to you in French, as I don’t have that much time, and when I write in French I need time.  I didn’t find any mistakes with your French anymore, don’t believe that you made any, and if you made a few, I wouldn’t find them anyhow.

You write that you made an excursion to another colonie, 66 km away.  If you did that, you can come here too, it isn’t much further.  As far as I know approximately 75 km.  I don’t know when the trains are.  You probably can look this up once you manage to get to the train station in Annecy   The next station here is “Artemare St. Martin”, approximately 4-5 km from here and “Culoz” 10 km from here.  I don’t think that there is a bus.  Let’s see if you can manage to come.  Just come here on an excursion for a few days.  It would be the simplest and the cheapest for you.  This will probably not work.                                    I did not hear anymore about Albert, only Hugo wrote to me that I probably could visit him in September.  Wish I were there already as I don’t believe in it anymore right now.  We don’t go swimming anymore, we just go to the lake to wash ourselves as there is no water to shower because it has not rained in a long time.  Dear Lorle, you ask me about my shoes.  They are pretty bad.  I am always wearing my sabots [1], of course without socks, as my boots would be all broken up for a long time already if I wore them all the time, and they cannot be resoled, if one pays for it or if one does not pay for it.  I don’t work in the field anymore.  One only gets shoes if one is completely barefoot.  I am glad that I don’t need any as yet.

Now I don’t know anything more.  I already wrote you a lot and this is already the second letter this week.  Then one just can’t know so much again and I never know as much as you do.  With the kindest regards and kisses from

Your Brother

MANFRED

Dear Lorle,  Now I am writing a second time on your letter but I remembered a few more things, and if I write a little more than one side you will surely be happy.  Yesterday I received a letter from Mama that unfortunately they have to leave now.  Nobody knows for sure where to, but they say to Poland.  She sent my good suit to Papa who should send it to me.  I wrote him that he better send it to you as it is in better hands with you.   Write to him if he should not do it.  But I believe that it is better off with you than with me.  Did you hear anything further about my coming to your place?  Mama wrote that your directrice assured her that I will come to stay with you.  Hopefully soon.  Let’s hope that we receive good news soon from Mama and from Hugo.  Kindest regards and kisses

from your

MANFRED

Dear Lorle, be so good and include one or two envelopes as I write so much and we don’t receive so many and we can’t buy any.   That’s why this letter is taking a little longer, as I wrote to Papa with the envelope that I still had.  I had written to you first anyhow.

Regards MANFRED