Dear Manfred,

Enclosed is a letter from Lorle.  You can forward same to Margot when convenient.  I sent your letter and drawing to Lorle together with a few letters from Margot in which she describes her big outing and other things about her Home.  In any event, Lorle will send you the letters.  It will take a few days.  I don’t know if she has the time to read everything in one day.  Mama sent me the letters.  Hugo did not visit me on Saturday.  He went straight to the Camp.  He went with a few others as it is more fun that way even if they have to walk three hours.  I will send you a graphology character evaluation, i.e. according to the handwriting and for me according to my palm lines.  Mr. Dreifuss (from barrack #32) put it together it and it seems to agree overall with the facts.

You should keep this evaluation.  I haven’t heard yet whether an answer about you came from Toulouse.  All this takes a long time.  Sally made an application for my liberation which has to go through the local committee and which the Montpellier committee needs to direct elsewhere.  I don’t know anything else about it.  It would certainly be better if one could be outside the Camp.

One hopes, of course, that the war will end this year but we have been hoping for a long time.  You ask, in your letter, if the Perpignan water works broke down.  As far as I know, all of Perpignan was without water.  Now things are better but in our hospital, the drinking water is still distributed, one bottle per day.  The water is picked up in a square nearby.  The city fire department’s tanker truck delivers the water for the kitchen.  Last week a few people had to leave, supposedly for Noé[1], however they were sent to Récébédou[2].  Mr. Niedermann was among them.  Another transport is supposed to leave in the next few days.  The younger of the Niedermann boys left on the America transport, not the older one because he was already 12 years old.  They probably would have excluded you as you would have been over 12 years old at the time the transport left.

The weather was windy during the last few days and today it rained but altogether it is pleasant and summer weather.  Lately quite a few people were sent away, mainly to work units, so that the wards are half empty.  The food is mostly good.  During the last few weeks, we got potatoes, beans, noodles and green vegetables, this week more turnips.  However, the hole in the stomach has not yet been filled, as you write as well.  If one can spend money, one can buy peaches, apricots, pears and different other things.  For this one could use 100 Frs per day.  How is your school and your language studies.  The best way to learn the language is when one has to use it in order to be understood.  It certainly cannot hurt, because one can always use foreign languages in one’s later life at the most different occasions.  This will definitely be the case in the future.  So keep practicing and apply yourself.

I am always the same.  I could always use more food.  Well, perhaps things will work out that we will get out of here soon.  We’ll hear something about it in a few weeks.  Next Sunday it will be four weeks that Mama, Hugo and Sally were here.  So I hope for more visitors soon.   Time goes by real fast, on the other hand it is very boring.  This week I am here four months and you are already somewhat longer in your Home.  I hope that you remain in good health and with hearty regards and kisses,

Your PAPA

[2] Another camp