My dear All,

Yesterday I received your letter with great pleasure and also Papa’s letter.  Lorle wrote to me too.  She wrote to me that I should write in full detail how it is here.  I wrote her a very long letter, a double notebook sheet.   She also sent the letter to Papa which you already wrote to me about.  I sent her Papa’s letter, the one you sent me.  So that I don’t forget to write about the food I want to start right away.  Friday at noon there was first soup made with cereal.  Tasted very good as I wrote to you in my last letter.  Afterwards there were turnips and for dessert 3 sardines.  Friday evening there was the same soup again, turnips and jam.  On Saturday at noon there was such a soup, turnips and for dessert cheese and in the evening there was the same soup, turnips and a cookie.  Today it is Sunday and I wrote to you last time already what we get.  There is always 1 slice of bread with each meal.  Yesterday and the day before instead of cereal cooked in milk there was rice cooked in milk and 1 slice of bread.  Sometimes there is chocolate with the milk at noon.  This week there was once 1 egg.  Now I have written exactly what we get to eat.

On Thursday we went for a walk to a small lake close by.  It was very pretty.  We climbed up the mountain.  During the climb up, a Spaniard caught a rabbit.  Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday we have to work either by sharpening knives or helping in the garden or doing what needs to be done.  There are March violets here too and such yellow flowers, I don’t know their name.  There are also snakes here.   Above, where I wrote about food, I forgot something.  This morning there was 1 Danish pastry, 1-1/2 actually because so many children who misbehaved got bread.

Dear Margot, the numbers are sewn into the underwear.  In some clothes the numbers were marked with red color which made red spots in the wash.  One couldn’t read them afterwards.  I have everything sewn in except for my grey pants where it ran but one does not see the spot because it is on the inside.  We have class with Ilse Gottschalk every noon, either German, Geography or Arithmetic.  My French is already quite good.  Bertie works in the infirmary.  Today I really have to think hard but don’t know what to write.  I just read your letter again and so I could think of a few more things.  I already wrote to you how our Home is set up.  That there is hot and cold water and steam heating everywhere.

Lorle wrote to me that Schwester Ruth visited them and told her that Hugo is in a very good convalescence barrack and that Margot weighs only 40 kg by now and that you, dear Mama also lost quite a bit of weight.    On Lorle’s letter, the sender’s name was written in Mama’s handwriting.  How come?  You are probably already in îlot J.  There are no wooden barracks there, right?   You will have to get out of your “rabbit hutch”.  Lucky that it is not so cold anymore.  There are probably no more children in îlot B.  Who does the cooking in the OSE kitchen?  Hopefully you will soon be permitted to visit Papa.  I haven’t written yet to Albert.  I wanted to write to him but then I got a letter from Lorle and so I wrote first to her.  Soon it will be Pessach but I won’t be able to eat any matzos.   When is Easter when Albert wants to come?  I am enclosing a picture of the castle’s courtyard.  No more children from camp are coming here.  I am thinking very hard but nothing comes to mind.  So I will stop.  Hopefully you can read my scribbles.  With the kindest regards and 1000 kisses and  prompt recovery for Papa

Your

MANFRED