Gisela’s 1956 “Letter to the Classmates”
Original Letter
Dear class,
For a few days now, Ursche's letter to us from March 11 has been sitting on my desk, staring at me in warning. And I must confess to you that I am beginning to regret that I have made this autobiography proposal.
Yes - but where do you start?
Perhaps first the purely chronological external framework:
Everything before the Hitler era seems very hazy to me, somehow insignificant compared to the other, later experiences that had a decisive influence on my life. As far as I remember: Winter 1931-32 London (London School of Economics) - less devoted to economics than to trying to master the language. I remember the first day in the boarding house I had no iron in my wardrobe. What, oh horror, is "iron" in English. We had NEVER learned such a useful word. - Oxford in the summer of 1932 - I wasn't a proper student, for that I would have had to commit to 2 years, which my parents didn't want. Translated Rilke's "Letters to a Young Poet" and attended a few lectures. The German club there - I remember that - asked me if I could help them invite Albert Einstein to a special festive event. That was still in 1932 -- The next two years I was a volunteer at my father's bank. I enjoyed being there, even though I didn't retain any of what I learned.
In 1935, my aunt from America invited me to go to Palestine with her. As you may remember, I had been very interested in Zionism since my first trip to Palestine with my parents and Chaim Weizmann (later the first president of Israel) in 1928. (I wrote my term paper on Zionism in high school.) Hitler had turned Zionism from an idealistic movement into a practical necessity. On this trip to Palestine, I met Henriette Szold (one of the most wonderful people who had a decisive influence on my life). She was the director of the Youth Aliyah in Palestine at the time, and I was naturally very interested in seeing and, if I could, helping the rescue of the German-Jewish refugee children. I actually wanted to stay there at the time, but I followed my parents' urgent cable request to come back, as I thought my parents were in some kind of danger. From my return until August 1938, I lived with my sister in Berlin and worked in the Youth Aliyah. The work consisted of selecting and preparing the children for Palestine (4 weekly camps with 4 hours of agricultural work, 4 hours of learning, including Hebrew, and living in a community), preparing visas and transportation (that sounds easy today, but dealing with the authorities to obtain passports and exit visas was perhaps the worst, because you were helplessly exposed to the harassment, insults and humiliation of the Nazis), obtaining immigration visas for Palestine, negotiations and contact with the parents. - Ursch had the courage (as a German Girls’ Union leader) to visit me at the Jewish youth welfare center. I have never forgotten that she did that. - There were troubles every day. Here is one, for example, that you probably never knew about. I think it was in 1936, at least at the time when National Socialism was still camouflaging the extermination of the Jews in a cloak of some legality. A law was passed that immediately revoked the residence permits of all Polish Jews in Germany. After the First World War, these Jews had emigrated to Germany, and only some of them managed to obtain German citizenship.
Understandably, Poland did not want to be forced by Hitler to "welcome" 30 thousand emigrants to Poland. Poland then passed a law that only those who had lived there for the previous 5 years could return. At our preparatory camp in Schniebuechen near Kottbus, there were about 20 Polish children (born in Germany who had never been to Poland). We found out that those who had relatives or friends in Poland were allowed to join them. Late in the evening, we called all the children's parents, wherever they lived in Germany, to ask them if they still had relatives in Poland to whom the children could be sent. (Why not the parents too, you may ask. Because the dates of deportation depended on the district’ Gauleiter, and this was one of the first districts). Of course, the children didn't know whether they still had relatives there.
We only managed to get names and addresses for seven of them. We telegraphed, went to the station in Berlin, got tickets and took them to Schniebuechen that night. The 20 had to be at the station at 7 in the morning. All the thousands of Polish Jews (who had no relatives left in Poland) were dropped off in so-called "no man's land" - 1 kilometer between the German and Polish border, had to leave everything behind - no shelter, no food, until the Jewish relief organizations brought the aid. Our children and many others, after several weeks of feverish negotiations with the Polish government and a guarantee on our part that they will go further to Palestine from there, were finally allowed to enter Poland, where they were taken to preparatory camps similar to those we had in Germany. (When Hitler's war with Poland broke out, they fled to Lithuania under bombing raids, finally arriving in Palestine via Sweden and France). -- I am only telling you this episode because I am sure that it was one of the countless chapters of this horrible time, of which you had no idea, but which filled our experience. "Our" in this case means the ghetto in which we always lived. For although we still lived in the same country, it always became two worlds - ours was the underworld, made for us. Nevertheless, I would be lying if I told you that it was an unhappy time for me personally. We, who worked together and tried to save what could be saved, lived in a community spirit and a willingness to help, like people in the trenches, and I still have the deepest friendship with those, tragically few survivors, from that time.
Of course, I had known for a long time that I would be leaving Germany - but I had resolved to stick it out for as long as I could. After all, I had no family responsibilities, no financial worries and no relatives in America, so I told myself that I could be one of the last to leave the sinking Jewish ship. In August 1937, I invited my two English girlfriends and drove with them through Germany in my little car. It was a deliberate farewell trip for me - I wanted to see Germany, which I didn't know too much about, one last time. For my Catholic friends, this trip was perhaps even more harrowing than for me, who had already become accustomed to it, despite the beautiful scenery (Weser, Rhine, Warburg, Miltenberg, Rothenburg, Nuremberg). Every second village had banners from one side of the street to the other: “Jews, die", "Tauberbischofsheim is Jew-clean“, etc. Every second inn had “Purely Aryan" on the front door. A student from Marburg, whom I asked for directions, proudly told me that the last Jew had left Marburg University. I replied that he was unfortunately walking next to a Jewess, and he hurried away with a quick wit. (He angered me less than the many who told me that they “don’t mean Jews like us”. Every Nazi knew such an exception - so there were 60 million "decent" Jews in Germany according to the geometry, instead of the 600,000 that actually were there).
1937 was also the year my father had to hand over the bank after 5 generations. I think my father showed his human greatness that day. I will never forget that day. The bank's 350 or so employees were gathered in the canteen. My father gave his farewell speech and handed over the bank to the new owners. Before we went upstairs, my father asked me to buy him a carnation, which he wanted to wear in his buttonhole, as he always did on this day. Then he signed "M.M.Warburg und Co." for the last time under a letter in which he wished the new business all the best. The picture of Hitler, to be hung in my father's office the next day, after the Warburg ancestors had been removed, was already standing in the wooden shed in the corridor. His old faithful servant mumbled "I'm not hanging the picture, they'll have to get someone else". Then to the canteen. Father read his speech, which he usually never did - he didn't want to get emotional. He spoke about his philosophy of life, about the values that had guided him and his ancestors in running the business. At the end, he shook hands with each of the officials to say goodbye. A sob was audible. I have never seen so many men cry. After that, although father still lived in Germany for more than a year, he never entered his beloved bank again. He stayed because he felt like a captain who would not leave a sinking ship, and because he believed that through his connections with many officials of the old-guard who still held government positions, he could facilitate the emigration of the Jews - to which he devoted himself entirely.
He was never bitter. He did not resign from any board of directors, but waited until he was kicked out. He didn't care for the position, but since he saw no reason to resign, he wanted the others to take the moral blame. When he was removed by the HAPAC board of directors, he stood up at the last meeting and said he now wanted to give the farewell speech to Albert Ballin and himself for the others that were supposed to give a speech but couldn't. (Forgive me - I'm rambling.)
In August 1938, my parents went to visit our relatives in New York. They still had a passport, but from me it was taken away.
I think I have to tell you this story. It is so tragically typical.
In 1935, when my sister Anita had already emigrated to England, we met for a two-week vacation in Switzerland. I still had a passport valid for 2 years. At that time, Jews were only given passports valid for 6 months, and I knew that mine would probably be taken away from me on my return and that I would only get a new one for final emigration.
The following scene took place on my return at the Swiss train station in Basel: A German couple got into the coupe. She was visibly agitated. He: "Mummy, calm down, I'll deal with it". He opened a handbag and started hiding coffee, chocolate and cigarettes en masse under the seat, in coat pockets, etc. in front of my eyes. The German customs officer came and, after seeing their passport, asked if they had anything to declare: "No, nothing at all, but here's the handbag". The customs officer stamped their passports without any checks. Now he comes to me, sees the big red J in my passport and empties my bag down to the last item. - Then passport control, everything is in order with my couple, they take my passport and say that I will get it back valid for 6 months. As I had heard that you never get them back, I asked for a receipt for my passport. A torrent of "Jewish pig, conditions are not made here" came down on me. The couple looked on smirking with satisfaction. My stomach choked. I wanted to scream: "You cheat on your fatherland - and my passport is being taken away from me", but of course I had learned to keep quiet.
Now comes the grotesque: 1949 - 14 years later. Charles was at a meeting of the International Labor Organization in Geneva, I had come along. There I received a very sad letter from my Nunne… I was so close and yet so far away. Charles persuaded me to go to Hamburg for 3 days - he said that otherwise I might never see her again. With mixed feelings, I went (and saw Ursch and Erica at the time). At the same border in Basel, a German lady in my coupe, with an occupation pass, and me with an American one. She shivers, assures the German and French officials that she has no foreign currency, has been invited and only has half a chocolate bar. Then my turn. The German official sees my passport, clicks his heels together, bows - everything is fine. I ask the foreign currency officer to give me a form to declare my foreign currency, as I knew that otherwise I wouldn't have been able to take it out again. He literally humphed: "No, not necessary at all". I repeat my request to the Frenchman in my best French. He confirms that I must have a foreign currency import certificate, which the German official had not given me out of sheer awe.
I was the same person, I just had a different piece of paper. These extremes in how they treated me were disgusting.
Back to August 1938. My siblings had all emigrated (my brother to America, one sister to India, two to England.) You remember, it was just before Munich. My parents didn't want to leave me behind under any circumstances, they were afraid that if war broke out, I would be trapped alone in Germany. I absolutely didn't want to leave, there was too much urgent work. In Berlin I would never have gotten a passport (which you could only get for emigration). In Hamburg, on my father's special proposal that I could facilitate the emigration of Jewish children by raising funds through my American trip, I got a passport. I think I was the only German Jewess who cried in those years when she received her passport. Our Nunne came to help me pack. I can still see us crying, as if we had a premonition that I wouldn't come back. - In New York, I was glued to the radio from morning till night, waiting for Munich. When it came, I immediately booked my return trip for November 8, 1938, but my brother advised me to immigrate to America first (I was only here on a visitor's visa) so that if I had to leave Germany, I would have a country I could enter. Visitor's visas cannot be converted into immigrant visas. You have to leave the country and enter again.
That made sense to me - but there were no quota numbers. By a miracle, we heard that 2 quota numbers in Canada were free for the German quota. However, Canada did not allow Germans to immigrate to the US from there (for fear that they would get stuck there if they didn't get the permit). I'm only telling you this to show you that when I was asked at the Canadian border if I was coming to immigrate to the USA (my American Visitor's Visa became invalid the moment I crossed the border) - it flashed through my mind "Now Hitler is even forcing you to become a liar" - because I had no choice but to say "no". Everything went wrong there for 10 days (with only a 3-day permit to stay), because I couldn't get a character reference from the Hamburg police, because then I wouldn't have been able to go back, I'll spare you the details of those horrible days. The only important thing is that by the time I succeeded (on November 10, 1938), my ship had left and my uncle, who had flown back to Hamburg from Sweden, where he had emigrated, to try to get the evacuation period for the Jewish hospital (one week) extended to three weeks by the Hamburg Senate, was arrested at the airport by the Gestapo. You remember - November 10, 1938, after which my family forbade me to commit suicide by returning. I felt full of guilt - a deserter of my Youth Aliyah.
I went to Hadassah - Women Zionist Organization of America - representative for Youth Aliyah in the USA - and offered my help. I was received with great joy and tasked with collecting donations and giving public speeches. I told them that I had never spoken in public before and had always refused to do so in Germany. No such excuses were accepted. They forced me. 6 weeks later I spoke at the Hadassah Convention in St Louis in front of 2000 women, shaking. - In December, England opened its doors to 10,000 Jewish refugee children in response to the November persecutions. A cable called me to England to organize the same preparation camps and work for the Youth Aliyah as we had set up in Germany. On December 26, 1938, I left for London. It was the hardest 9 months of my life. Imagine unheated summer camps by the sea where the children - thousands of them - were housed. Imagine "foster parents" who "choose" children. The pretty, younger ones get taken, the ugly, difficult ones and the older ones go through many commissions and get even bigger complexes because nobody wants them. Each is tormented by the worries of the father who has been dragged away by the Gestapo and the abandoned mother. No one has time for what is going on in these poor orphans, because it is a mass operation. We took the older children, whom no family wanted, in groups, but who can prepare so quickly? And then, foreigners themselves, full of ideas about what preparation is needed for Palestine, something the English had never heard of. On a farm where everything was prepared for 10 children, overnight came 400. ONE W.C., no washing facilities - tents, old railroad trains. - I lived with my sister in a dreadful boarding house in London, and didn't feel like coming back to this filthy place at night. In August we moved into a nice little apartment. After two weeks, war broke out. We were "enemy aliens". I was only on a visitor's visa in England, if I didn't go back to America by a certain date, my American return permit expired. With one of the last ships - "President Roosevelt", built for 150 passengers - with 200 passengers back to America in October 1939.
Went back to Hadassah. In December I was sent on a speaking trip to California. 6 weeks, 21 days on the railroad at night, speaking 2-3 times a day in each city. I got to know the country - that is, there was little time for sight-seeing, I became an expert in train stations, hotels, meeting halls - and got to know hundreds of people who were all incredibly warm and understanding. For four years I worked for Hadassah, partly speaking, partly full-time in the New York Bureau, leading the Youth Aliyah work for the whole country. I first lived with my aunt, later with my parents.
In December 1943 I came to Boston for a speech. Small world - when I first came to Boston in 1938 - from the station directly to the meeting - a woman introduced me with the following words: "The last time I saw this girl, she was swimming in a beautiful pool on a gorgeous estate outside of Hamburg!" - I almost fell off my chair, I didn't recognize her at first, and I wasn't prepared for personal words. A young doctor from Boston, who had worked under Dr. Lichtwitz in Hamburg in 1931, gave her and her family an introductory letter to us when they went on a trip to Europe in 1932, and they had spent a day at Koesterberg. I became very friendly with this lovely woman in the following years in America. In 1942 she died suddenly of leukemia. When I visited the sad widower in Boston in 1942 - I met my Charles there for lunch. We married in July 1943.
How I would love to write you so many pages about my husband and children. I am undeservedly and infinitely happily married. Charles is a wonderful person in every respect. That is more important to me than his above-average intelligence, his reputation as a judge and his objectively recognized qualities and career. His circle of interests goes beyond the law - with him as an Overseer of Harvard and Trustee of the Ford Foundation, our world is wide. I have remained true to my interests and my work. Of course, I could write volumes about the children. But as this is already far too long a book, I would rather just make a few "philosophical" comments.
"What" - Ursch asked me when we met again - “do you think about Germany today and don't you sometimes long for your homeland?"
Both Ursch and Deti wrote to me in the last letters I received from them before the war: "We hope you will not become bitter during this time." I can honestly assure you that I have not become bitter. I don't think I ever had any real feelings of hatred either. Which, as far as one can generalize at all, I think is a typical Jewish weakness (or quality). We are very bad at hating. I think the hatred of the Germans towards the Russians today is greater than the hatred of the Jews towards the Nazis ever was. My feelings towards Germany were those of sadness, disappointment - more like if a personal friend betrayed you. - I wish nothing more fervently than for the good elements, which have always existed, to gain the upper hand in Germany. I personally could not actively help to rebuild Germany. There is still a bit of mistrust in me. Where are the murderers of the 6 million? Are they all dead? Where are the former Nazis? Have they woken up from their nightmare? But believe me, I say it without reproach. Especially after being back in Germany and knowing about so many personal stories. There is little white and black in life. Most of it is gray.
I know, to be more personal, that Ursch and Deti always remained decent people - and naively only wanted to see the good. I have deeply forgiven most of them. I regret today that when Schwabe wrote to me spontaneously after the war asking for forgiveness, so to speak, I didn't give it in full, but replied that I could never understand how he, with all his intelligence, could go along with it. Almuth got me - and badly - she came from such a cultured background, her family had so many good Jewish friends, she lived off Thomas Mann and Stefan Zweig, Franz Werfel and all the "tried" ones. How was it possible? Edith Lewin - I never heard of her again after leaving school. I have the eerie, horrible feeling that she must have been killed. I'm almost certain she would have contacted me somehow, at some point. Would it be right for us to plant a tree in the Forest of the Martyrs in Israel in her memory?
Do I feel a longing for "home"? I had already lost my homeland long before I emigrated. It had been systematically driven out of us. All that was left of my "patriotism" was local patriotism, i.e. love for Hamburg and especially for Koesterberg, and this was also the reason why I moved to Koesterberg with my family 2.5 years ago. That's why I had always wanted to go to Israel, because that seemed to me to be the only sincere change of nationality that I didn't want to make for opportunistic reasons. Now things have changed, and I have to say that I could honestly become an American, since my ancestors in this country (and not that far back) are all immigrants who mostly came for reasons of religious or political persecution. There really is cultural pluralism here that is consciously preserved, separation of church and state, no leveling to a common denominator.
I was never a patriotic flag-waver — an accusation that is often made against the Jews (I accept it and consider it more a protection against narrow-minded chauvinism). Hitler always spoke of the "Cosmopolitan Jews", which he really did make the survivors into. Charles, through his marriage to me, has only 10 nationalities among first cousins (8 of which were once German). My poor grandparents could not understand the language of almost any of their great-grandchildren.
Don't think I think everything is perfect here - but it is true democracy. There is active personal and and public interest groups participation in local, federal, city and educational branches of government. Government by the people, for the people, and of the people.
Forgive me the length - and yet it is only a beginning. How nice it would have been if we had been able to talk in person about everything.
I promise to come to the 50th class day in a wheelchair.
Your faithful Gisi
I will be very interested to hear about your worldview development. My thoughts will be with you on April 4.
Addendum
Dearest Ursche, you must be surprised to hear from me again so soon. However, my hastily written "book" is still dancing around in my head and I would like to add three more things, if possible.
At the point where I write about Almuth, I would like to insert the following: "Almuth was never naive, like so many of us were. She was more mature than I was in many ways. She was also not romantically idealistic. She had a clear, analytical mind. How was it possible that she too fell for the cult?"
Just before the end of the first part, before the wheelchair sentence:
"I'm sorry I won't be with you on the 4th. I'm still grateful to Ursch for having the initiative to call a class day in 1952. I would never have had the courage. There was still too much mistrust in me. But our class day had so much real human warmth that you helped me to overcome this mistrust, and I am deeply grateful to you for that."Where I talk about changing nationalities (towards the end of the first part): “I believe I am the only woman in American history to have been made an American citizen by her own husband. When we married, I was still an “enemy alien” and could only travel with prior permission. I was still missing one of the required five years before I could become an American, but when you marry an American, it only takes three years. However, for an "enemy alien" there was an additional three-month period during which each case was reviewed and which could only be waived by the president himself. The last personal letter Charles received from President Roosevelt was a charming reply in which he waived the three months for me. Since it was the time of the court’ summer vacation, during which no naturalization sessions are being scheduled, but Charles did not want to wait any longer, I was naturalized alone in a solemn "special session" in court with all the court officials present and Charles standing before me, saying "Your Honor".
I am sending you a copy of the naturalization speech that Charles usually gives (his was, of course, "special" because I find it very impressive and because it gives you a good idea of the meaning of American “citizenship"). (Can I have this copy back sometime?)
Sorry, Ursch, that I have written too much. But it is so difficult to choose and in my attempt to bring you closer to another world. Most of the world's evils come from not knowing and not understanding others.
In old friendship,
Your Gisi
As I read through this letter, I realize that I have not yet given you any idea of my life in the last 12.5 years since I have been living in Cambridge as a married woman. Since it really has to be short, I will try to write less about what is the same internationally - the responsibilities and activities of a housewife and mother - and only tell you what is different here. Yes, the life of a housewife is so much easier. I think that despite the luxury of my youth, I was never spoiled, and material things mean very little to me. But I realize with horror how spoiled I have become here and how dependent I am on the obvious conveniences of life. For example, we heat the house with gas. In the dining room we have a thermostat, that is a thermometer that you set to the desired temperature in the house, and which turns the heating on and off by itself. It's no more expensive than coal central heating and of course it's ideally convenient and clean. We have a washing machine that washes for 10 minutes, then you turn it on again and it washes and rinses and dries, so I turn it on when I leave in the morning and take out the laundry when I come home. We have an "electric pig", which means that all kinds of waste go into the kitchen sink and are being grinded in the drainpipe. We are one of the few households that still do not have a dishwasher (much to the dismay of the children). We also do not have a deep freeze, which is cheaper in the long run for large households. These are not luxury items; even the poorer middle-class families have these things, which many buy on long credit. Unlike most people, we also don't have a television (not for the lack of money - the poorest buy it on credit) but for the sake of the children, because it kills all sources of self-engagement. But in the end, we will probably give in. During the presidential election, we will rent one and see how the children survive.
Many – especially the poorest – do it for the sake of their children, who are then left alone with their mother and are “safely and quietly” glued to the television for hours. But despite all this, most young women here do not have it easy. Almost no one has servants, 1) because they do not exist and 2) because almost no one can afford them. If a young couple wants to go out in the evening, they have to find a babysitter, which I don't remember happening in Europe. Nobody would leave their children alone - that's another question of money. I have always brought in either a Swiss or a German young girl who had no specific childcare knowledge but was not a "servant type" either, just a sweet person who wanted to see the country and was good for the children. The only catch is that they usually only stay for one to two years at most. At the moment I have a heavenly creature - a 27-year-old East German refugee, who was recommended to me by my first Swiss girl. She had lived in Switzerland for 5 years, and we had to wait a year for the visa. Now she is finally on her feet. I love her enough to feel happy for her.
But now to the important things. The average European has a completely wrong idea of America - at best, his image ends up with New York and Hollywood, which are both quite untypical of this country, and it is not a country but a continent. - To start with religion. "Denominational" - which was quite common in Germany in my day - does not exist here. The average American does not belong to just one church (and there are an infinite number of variations here, such as Baptists, Methodists, Presbytarians, Episcopalians, Congregational, Unitarian - just a few of the Protestant denominations).
Since my children do not have religious education at school, they go to Sunday school (there is no school on Saturdays here). This means that parents have to belong to a church community and participate in its activities (which go far beyond church services). There are courses - not only about the Bible, events of all kinds - of course also Christmas bazaars, parent-teacher associations and God knows what. Since all charities and most hospitals, all private schools and many colleges (only a small percentage of universities are state institutions) are privately funded, there are countless fund-raising events, and you are responsible for their success both through giving and through your involvement. Our children, for example, go to a wonderful private school, because the municipal schools in Cambridge are very bad. Our school is poor, most of our parents are not wealthy either - the majority are professors at Harvard or the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (the best technical university in the country). This means that the parents (mothers) work together to finance the school through a Christmas bazaar - for which things are made - and a Thrift Shop (where second-hand things are sold), which creates a wonderful community spirit. In addition, our school has a very active parents' committee. The parents of each class elect a mother as their representative on the Parents' Committee, which meets twice a month with the director and faculty representatives, and they discuss about everything. Once a year, the Parents' Committee and faculty invite all new parents to a dinner at the school (cooked by the Parents’Committee members). Once a year, the parents meet with the teachers in their child's class and on that evening the faculty explains in detail the annual plan for each subject. Then there are questions and discussion. Twice a year, each mother has a talk with the class teacher about her child. Each year is dedicated to a central theme. In 1st grade (youngest), it was the Indians, everything was about their history and traditions. In the 2nd class, it was the Bible (Old Testament) as a history and story book, and also about the school and city community (individual children had to visit the town hall, fire department, water and electricity works, etc. and report on them). 3rd class, the Pilgrims, 4th class the Greeks - a real experience for the children - history, literature and art. At the end, they stage a Greek drama, have the Olympic Games in self-made, Greek-motif-decorated "tunics" and self-painted signs. Laurel wreaths are being presented to the winners with the appropriate words, who all have Greek names which they choose for themselves. 5th grade, the Romans, where they learn ancient and modern European geography, thanks to the vastness of the Roman Empire. At the end of the year, they can draw the map of Europe from memory, with countries and latitudes. 6th grade, the Explorers. Each child chooses one, about whom he must independently seek the material and study it - then orally submit a thesis to the teacher, then write it on paper, then copy it neetly and present to the class, without looking at the paper. The main difference with our schools is that the education teaches to think independently, to find reference books early on - to skim through them and find the essential. Most importantly, however, the education of the whole person - not just learning the material. Our children are at school from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., so they eat and do sports there, keep their classrooms clean, empty wastepaper baskets, bring toilet paper and paper towels, serve the food, in short, they are made co-responsible for the entire school community life. I am always stunned by how well the teachers know the individual children. By the way, our school also has a school psychologist. There are no class-graduation certificates, up to the 9th grade, but rather "reports" that the teacher discusses with the children themselves. The main emphasis is on the child working on himself and mastering his weaknesses. By the way, almost all parents call the director by his first name.
Cambridge is to Boston as what Altona is to Hamburg. One merges into the other. You already know that Harvard College is in Cambridge. I mentioned that Charles is an overseer. Harvard is governed by a corporation of 7 and 30 overseers. The 30 overseers are all graduates of Harvard College (they must have been graduated at least 5 years before), of whom 5 are elected each year by mail-in vote for a term of 6 years. Any former Harvard student can theoretically be elected. A committee of graduates draws up a list of about 20 candidates (by mail-in nomination). Professors are elected by the faculty on the recommendation of the president and must be confirmed by the Board of Overseers.
Harvard is of course the dominant influence in the Cambridge atmosphere. By the way, there are many other universities in Boston and Cambridge: Boston University, Boston College (Catholic), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Radcliffe College (for girls, most courses are shared with Harvard), Simmons College (for girls, specializing in social work and library science), Wellesley College for girls, Northeastern (evening university for working students). Thanks to Harvard, Cambridge has a very international atmosphere – no sense of being hemmed in, yet it is still small enough that people help and know each other without looking over each other's shoulders.
I hardly know any woman among our friends who does not have some interests outside of family. I myself was the Youth Aliyah Chairman of Boston for four years, which means that I was responsible for collecting $70,000 per year. The Hadassah group in Boston is divided into nine districts, each of which has a Youth Aliyah Chairman and Committee. I had about 300 captains under me, each of whom was responsible for about 20 women. Of course, this does not just involve fundraising, but also keeping interest alive through speeches, events, etc. I am also a member of an interfaith organization for Youth Aliyah. It is called "Children To Palestine" and here Christians of every sect, Jews, whites and blacks work together, and it has not only done good for the children in Israel, but has brought about a better contact and understanding between these diverse groups. Then I am on the board of a shop (a restaurant, bakery and clothes and crafts), which was founded for refugees by Elsa Brandstroem, who lived here until her death. The first group of employees were almost all concentration camp survivors. Over the years, we have added refugees from many other countries. Our profits go to the needy and for scholarships. I am also on the board of the Girl Scouts, not to mention all what has to do with our school.
Politically, everyone here is more active and feels more responsible than in Germany. There is an excellent non-partisan women's organization (League of Women Voters) that analyzes pending legislation so that people can form an opinion, and above all asks election candidates essential political questions, so that one can vote more intelligently based on how these candidates answer the questions. Then there is a Cambridge CIUIC organization that, when elections come, supports certain candidates after thorough examination, which then means that we, who are their members, work for these candidates. Everyone gets a small district in which they try to influence the voters.
I often write to my congressman or senator about a political decision that is important to me and I always get a letter - sometimes a personal reply - and I follow how he votes on these issues, and decide whether I will vote for him again. These are just examples to show you that there is no such distance between politics and daily life here, and that individuals are very aware of their shared responsibility for government.
One more thing about children. Since the semester break here lasts three months, most children go to camp for anywhere from two weeks to two months. The poorer ones go to day camps nearby, where they spend the whole day, while the others go to camps further away in more rural areas, where they live in tents or primitive barracks and do all kinds of sports and explore nature under good supervision of the councelors. (Many teachers are summer camp directors or counselors.) It's a wonderful invention. It makes children more independent and is a good counterweight to the overly soft city life.
Speaking about the differences, there is one more significant difference here. People have more respect for the law. There are far fewer things that are "forbidden" here than in Germany, but what is forbidden, nobody ever does. This applies to taxes, customs duties and school fees for children. "Cheating", “stealing answers" and all the things we did at school simply do not exist here. Up to 20% of income is tax-free if you give this 20% to charity. As you can see, the education to charity is strong. It is expected of almost everyone that they give an annual amount to their former school and university (if the institutions are private) (in recognition of the fact that no school charges as much tuition as the education actually costs). To give you another example: EVERYONE gives to the Red Cross, which you also have in Germany.
The P.S. has now become a book, when will you have time to read it? And I probably haven't yet touched on essential things. I'm happy to answer any questions.
(The fact that I had the time to do this is thanks to a snowstorm with 1 meter of snow, which is why everything has been canceled and we are "at home" except for snow-shoveling!)