September 15, 1943: Bored Opa

Letter from Opa to Grandmother

Transcription:

T. Doeppner :: W. Sheffer

Translators

German/French/English/Dutch

North Ash Street            McPherson, Kansas

September 15, 1943

Miss Marjorie A. Sloan

Selden, Kansas

U.S.A.

My dear Miss Sloan:

We find ourselves in possession of your letter of September 14, 1943. Please accept our thanks for the contents of said object.

In section 1, paragraph 2, of the above mentioned letter, you were kind enough to let us know about the changes which have occurred in the official schedule of the Union Pacific, as well as the Rock Island, Railway Lines. It is our candid and unalterable opinion that said changes have been introduced for the only purpose of causing inconveniences to an oppressed and terrorized minority, viz. the population of Selden, Ks., in general, and the academically trained part of said population in particular. Unfortunately, this office is in no position to declare war on the before mentioned Railway Lines as yet; if, however, your party will succeed in entering an alliance with other powers such the combined allied strength will exceed the strength of the combined Railway Lines by at least 37.8% of the former one, the case will be taken into reconsideration. In that event, please fill out application blank no. 457-A-37-89.

It has come to our attention that the famous Movie Star "Mickey Mouse" is going to debark at the piers of Manhattan on the 27th day of this month. We shall be grateful if you will have your Services find out the exact time of this debarkation and notify our office promptly. It will be our task to take care of the usual welcome ceremonies, as providing the bands, fanfare, skunks and rotten eggs which such arrivals necessitate. Any suggestions from your part will be greatly appreciated. In your correspondence with this famous movie star, you may care to mention the fact that the date of arrival may be hastened without that this would cause any difficulties on our part. Under no circumstances, however, will a later date be accepted.

We acknowledge receipt of your remarks concerning the way cities might affect the moral, ethical, and spiritual qualifications of an individual. One of the members of this committee believed to be able to find a trace of sarcasm in these remarks. In order to satisfy any suspicions on your part, we are happy to be able to inform you that the individual referred to in your letter was able to restrict himself to such a degree as to be able to stay within the limits which he himself had set for himself before he himself proceeded on the trip. These limits formed a very reasonable capacity. Even though the official report has not been published yet, usually reliable sources report that the limits which were not to be exceeded were 8 gallons of whiskey, 23.9 gallons of beer, and 84.7 gallons of wine per minute. As we said before, we are very proud to be in a position to say that the individual referred to stayed within the limits each minute of the day.

This north-east room of the first floor of the Zimmerman mansion on 1011 Moro Street, Manhattan, Kansas, has been occupied by a new roomer. This new roomer, according to visual examination by experts, appears to be a lady of female sex. Her official name is hereto unknown; the business in which she is engaged at the present is the pursuing of studying to be an aircraft inspector. This above all degraded her to the wearing of a pair of flexible tubes, commonly designated as "slacks." It is needless to say that these slacks lower the sales-value of said specimen by approx. 30%. Unfortunately the face value, or at least the face, of the specimen is detrimental to any interest in further investigations. It might be argued, though, that the lack of better specimens at the present time would justify the use of the prevailing one; this, however, is a question for debate which has not been decided as yet.

It is our understanding that your party bears in mind to consider playing with the idea of possibly thinking about maybe accepting a job to help pass the time during the coming academic year. If this should be the case, and, if your party is not too condemned particular about the nature of this job, this office may be in a position to send a representative to the assistant of the second assistant to the assistant of the assistant librarian. This representative, then, might be able to reserve a seat in the waiting list of the candidates for a position. It will be appreciated if answer to this will arrive at this office within the near future.

Very respectfully yours,

Thomas W. Doeppner.

Thomas w. Doeppner, Esq.

Asst. to the Chief Spy.

Oh Opa. He kept his character throughout the entire letter, God bless him. I'm going to be honest- I was bored out of my mind with this shtick. It's cute, but I don't know if it's two pages cute.

The translation: Grandmother is due to arrive sooner rather than later, although Opa wishes sooner. A new girl moved in on the street and Opa doesn't think she's attractive. Grandmother made fun of Opa's affinity for big cities and perhaps teased that they were a bad influence. He responded with similar sarcasm. Grandmother is thinking about getting a job and Opa might be able to get her a gig with the library.

I think Opa is bored, wants Grandmother to just get there already and is giddy about it. So he wrote a long letter with too many words. He definitely didn't think I'd be scrutinizing it a lifetime later, so I won't give him too hard a time.

September 10, 1943: Completely Reliable

Letter from Opa to Grandmother

Transcription:

Kansas City, 9/10/43

Dearest Margie,

I am sitting in the bus depot and have an hour's time before my bus leaves. So I shall just have time to tell you how I got along. I am very glad that I went, for there were many things I found out which I could never have done by mail. In the first place, my status is completely secure as long as the war is on, i.e. I shall be able to accept any kind of employment after graduation which I can get. If the war is over, I would theoretically be required to leave the country. Practically, however, this would not be enforced unless they have something special against me. My record with the F.B.I. is "completely reliable," the same holds for the Immigration Dept. As far as naturalization is concerned, things don't look quite so good, yet better than I thought. There is a chance of my getting the first paper during wartime, due to my peculiar citizenship. Under American law, I am an alien-enemy all right; under Canadian law, though, I am a resident of Holland. For that reason, I could apply for the first papers in the U.S. from a Canadian port of entry. The procedure would run some-what like this: I would apply to the State Dept. for what they call pre-examination. If this should be granted, I go back here to Kansas City and get examined like I would at New York or any port of entry. If I pass this, the State Dept. applies for a visa for me to Canada. Since under Canadian law I am no longer a German, this visa would probably be granted. Then I wait here, i.e. anyplace in the U.S., till my number is called up, go to Canada, stay there a few days, just long enough to see the American Consul, and return to the U.S.A. as an immigrant, ready for my first paper. The drawback is, besides the financial point, that the whole procedure takes lots of Red Tape and plenty of time; about a year, they say.

There is one easier way of getting the first papers in a very short period of time; I shall tell you about that when you get here. Anyhow, I won't make any final decision till I have talked to you about it.

Since I did not get a reply from Philadelphia on the letter I wrote concerning your status after we get married, I inquired about that, too. You would retain your American citizenship without any question whatsoever, and our children would be citizens if they are born in this country. If they are born abroad, they may become citizens if they and we want to. I also inquired about other minor things; I shall tell you about that later. 

Kansas City is all right; it felt good to spend a day in a "big city." 

Yesterday was rather enjoyable, too. Teeter and I went up to County Club Hill(?) and played golf; it was my first attempt, and you can imagine how he beat me. Last night, the SignalCorps gave a farewell banquet at the Wareham. Troutman talked; rather mediocre.

Time for the bus.

Love,

Tom.

Opa's visit to Kansas City seems like it went well. It's really intriguing to see the details of how refugees and immigrants have to navigate a pretty jumbled process, especially when it's my own grandfather. 

If I'm not mistaken, Kansas City was the first "big city" Opa got to visit since his arrival to the United States. He spent time on the East coast in New York and Philadelphia before heading to Kansas, but after that he was fairly confined to the plains. The hustle of a city must have been a little nostalgic for him- even if it was completely different from Berlin. 

Opa shares the answers to some of the questions he brought up, but not all of them and I'm really curious! We know that he is secure in the U.S. as long as the war is on. After the war ends his status gets a little shaky, but as long as he stays out of trouble, he should be able to buy enough time to get his citizenship papers rolling. One way for him to get citizenship is to jump through a thousand loopholes. I volunteered for an organization that helps vulnerable immigrants, and one such person was in the United States on a special visa that marked her as a refugee of sorts. There was an insecurity in the person's status, because at any time the policy could change in a way that might declare the country of origin to be "safe" and therefore she was no longer in need of refuge. The problem was that under her special status, the only way she could start a path to citizenship was to leave the country and come back in as a different kind of immigrant (under a different status). This is exactly what Opa was being told to do some 75 years ago. 

Opa said that there was an easier, shorter way of getting his first papers towards citizenship and then leaves everyone hanging by saying he'll tell Grandmother when they see each other. Seriously?! You went into the gritty details of the other option but won't even give us a hint on this one? What was it? I'm wondering if it was joining the military. We know Opa eventually joins the military, but it didn't happen till later, and we know he didn't (at least period to this) have any interest in joining. So I am super curious what happens and what the letters will tell us from here!

He answers the question about the marriage- but leaves out the most obvious answer we were looking for! Of course Grandmother retains her citizenship, but what about Opa? Maybe that was the quicker route and he didn't want her to feel pressured or rushed? 

Opa played golf for the first time, which cracks me up because I can't imagine playing an entire game with zero experience. 

So far Opa has options, seems fairly safe in his status as a visitor to the United States. Anything and everything can change in a heartbeat, but for now, in the eyes of the United States, he is "Completely Reliable." 

September 8, 1943: Lucky Days

Letter from Opa to Grandmother

Transcription:

September 8, 1943

Dearest Margie,

Whether I want to or not, I have to believe in lucky days; today was one of them. First your letter, which made me feel a lot better, (comment on that in another paragraph), then the unconditional surrender of Italy, which came rather unexpected, and also an introduction to our new librarian, who will take Mr. Smith's place. Apparently Miss Roberts has laid some groundwork for this introduction, for he asked me to work for the library any number of hours I want to at the highest possible rate for a student. So now I have three jobs to select from.

Thanks for your letter: it took quite a load off my heart. No, Margie, I was not offended by your frankness, in the contrary, I always did and will appreciate that. The reason I was worried was that I feared that you were preparing me for some bad news. Probably I was a little unjust in my letter; a little jealousy had kept up to me. You need not fear that my feelings may change. As long as I am sure of you -- and I am now -- I will be glad to wait and fight together with you against anything and anybody who wants to separate us. It won't be hard if the two of us stick together. You are perfectly right concerning that plan of yours. Under the circumstances, it is better that I won't come up to see you. I won't have come anyhow as long as I would have the feeling that I am not wanted by your folks. It won't be long now anyhow till you'll be back in Manhattan, and I think we have passed the test of separation already.

I'll send you under separate cover a play in which I had a part in McPherson; it might be something for your mother to read. The play itself is very amateurish and definitely poor from the artistic point of view. It might have some bearing on our problem, though. Even though the analogies are just a very few, some parallels can be drawn. Better read it first, though, because it also might aggrevate things. Let your psychological experiences decide whether or not to show it to your folks.

I had written to the Immigration Service in Kansas City last week and asked for an interview with them, and they agreed to have me come this weekend, so I shall leave tomorrow morning at 5:57 per bus for K.C. Among the questions I am going to discuss with them are the possibilities of applying for first papers now; I just read in a new Executive Order that the President has the power to grant first papers to alien-enemies "in special cases." There is no reason why I shouldn't apply for that. The odds are 1000 to one I won't get it; however, when I was in Holland, the odds against my getting here were worse than that. Also, I shall ask them about the steps I have to take to be able to accept employment in essential industry. Also, I shall ask them about what happens to you and our children when we get married, how it will affect the question of citizenship, etc. I never did get an answer on my letter to Philadelphia concerning that matter. Also, a question about the draft need some clearing up and similar things, so I decided it would be better to just go there and talk things over instead of waiting for their letters. I shall probably return tomorrow night, unless they want me longer.

Well, it seems as though I shall have to work harder next year than I thought I would. A friend of mine in Seattle took sick and went to the hospital for an operation. Since he has neither folks nor money, the hospital refused to perform the operation, so I sent him hundred bucks. I shall still have enough to enroll the first semester, but will have to make enough for the second semester during the next few months. If things become tough, I could always borrow from the Student Loan Fund, but I much rather make the money myself.

We are having a little trouble with the "Engineer." My article on Radar may not be printed without special permission from th e Chief Signal Officer, a certain Lieut. Col. McIntyre. I forwarded the article to him, but I am afraid that he won't send it back in time for us to print it in the October issue. Furthermore, we may not even get the permission. So, I just started writing on some thing else which we shall put in in case we don't get the release of the article in time. I would hate that, because I spent quite a bit of time on that stuff.

I'm longing to see you!

Tom.

I try to remind myself of the rich blessing it is to learn that your Grandfather was a really good man, even in private. In my luxury of letters, I forget that this is not normal. For me to have evidence of Opa's goodness, as 23 year old man writing to his fiance in 1943.

Opa was not intimidated by Grandmother's candor, nor did he  hold back his own feelings and opinions. He respected her. You know, it's interesting, my Dad can say some of the most ridiculous sexist stuff ever- but he has never and would never disrespect my mother. And same goes for his daughters- he never told us that we couldn't do something because we were girls. He learned that from Opa. 

Opa's generosity pops up here too. I remember hearing about this loan to his friend in Seattle, I think his roommate's wife told us about it when we interviewed her. My guess is that this friend is also a refugee. Opa gives $100, today's equivalent of $1,418.50 to his friend in need of surgery. That's a chunk of change! As a child, I was very generous, I think I still am but perhaps less innocently. I have heard many stories of Opa's generosity. Renate, his cousin, tells of when he sent money to Germany to her mother who was struggling. Then there's the fact that Opa and Grandmother single-handedly paid for the college tuition of myself and my two sisters. 

Opa's meeting with the INS agent should be fascinating. I'm anxious to hear about it, he's got a lot of questions! I'm most interested to hear about the marriage question and the draft question. He doesn't really specify about the draft and what he wants to know about it. Perhaps he is concerned that gaining American citizenship or going after it would require that he sign up for the draft? Till now, we have only heard of his pacifist views (other than his advice on how Americans can win the war). He seems to be shifting, but is he shifting to the point that he wants to join the military?

For Opa, lucky means hearing from his fiance, getting another opportunity for work, Italy's surrender, and helping a friend. For me, a lucky day is when you realize what a good man your grandfather was.

September 4, 1943: Adulting with the INS

Letter from Opa to INS in Kansas City

Transcription:

st. 16645

U.S. Immigration and 

Naturalization Service

Kansas City, Missouri

Gentlemen:

I would like to obtain some information and advice concerning matters dealing with my present status as a student and my future status in the United States, as well as some other problems which have come up.

It will be possible for me to go to Kansas City on Friday, September 10 and Saturday, September 11. Could you arrange for somebody who is acquainted with my case to give me an interview on one of these days?

I shall appreciate if you will let me know about this soon and give me details as to the place and time of the interview. Thank you.

Very truly yours,

Thomas W. Doeppner

A quick little note to the INS. Opa has questions and he's hoping for answers. I think about the effort he has to take in order to talk to someone. Cheap phone calls and emails are a luxury he doesn't have. Plus, I imagine he feels that meeting in person might give him a boost if anything is subjective. 

I wonder if the problems he is referring to is the job he's trying to nail down. The Physics department is trying to hire him, but the government is getting in the way. We don't know the exact issue, but I have seen some of the complications of immigrants needing their employers to sponsor them for a work visa. It's a costly and paper-stacked endeavor. I wonder if Opa is going to see if the INS can help him out in this at all. Plus we haven't heard back on the marriage thing, have we? Opa wrote a bit ago about whether marriage to an American would affect his status or his children's. So far- no answer.

Opa is nearing the end of his time as a student, and he knows that his status will change, and likely become more complicated. Just like any kid graduating into the "real world" except Opa has just a few more things to worry about!

I hadn't really thought about it as clearly as now, but Opa really had to become an adult completely on his own. Instead of talking to his parents about his decisions after college, he's talking to an INS agent.

September 3, 1943: Archie (again)

Letter from Opa to Grandmother

Transcription:

             September 3, 1943

Dearest Margie,

Imagine -- I just lost a bottle of ginger ale. Remember that bet I made with Miss Roberts in June, when I said Italy would be invaded between August 27 and 30? Well I missed it by half a week. I shall write to Eisenhower about that and complain; he did' keep my schedule and should be the one to pay for that bottle. Things are moving now, though, and I am getting more optimistic. Maybe the war will be over next year, at least in Europe.

Before I forget it: I saw your dearly beloved roommate today and chatted and gossiped with her about people like you. She seemed to be completely broken-hearted. Reason: that long-necked Mickey-Mouse from Selden had not written to her for over a month. Now if something like that happened to me, I would write a special communique to my Furhrer and have him drop a block buster over that Western Kansas village. When I was able to convey the news that said mouse of Selden was still to be found among the walking-talking mortals, roommate's eyes regained their juicy-blue sprinkle, and for once she laughed and even smiled again. She then poured out what was left of her heart concerning somebody overseas and told me all the whys and wherefores, but you probably know more about that than I do from her letters, so I won't comment on it.

Last night, Bob Dawley and I went to see the show which I think is one go the best ones I have ever seen: Ox Bow Incident. It deals with the problem of lynching, but Bob and I spun it out and applied it to present-day problems of war and pacifism. If you have a chance to see that show, don't miss it. It will probably come back to the Carlton when you are in Manhattan, and we can see it together.

You apparently were peeved at what I said about Archie. The reason why I had been wondering about it so much during the last weeks was this: That Friday night you told me about your engagement, you gave me the impression that you were planning on breaking the engagement to him anyhow. This impression was fortified all through the coming days and weeks, so that I felt completely free to continue dating you and then, finally, to propose to you. I thought that you would have broken the engagement to him even if I had never entered into the picture, and I still think that this is the way you felt about it at the time. Had I known that you still loved him, I would probably have stayed away from you at a time when it was still easy for the both of us to do so. After you returned Archie's ring, you had, I noticed, a feeling of guilt, you also felt sorry for him, and thought that you may have done something wrong an that you may have acted in too great a hurry. I had expected that you would probably react that way at first, and I did not say anything about it, hoping that you would make up your mind definitely very soon. I think, though, that you ought to know by now what you want, take one course, and stick to it. Not that there is any particular hurry about the problem; I am afraid, though, that you may never know what you want to do if you don't know it now.

This may have sounded a little harsh, and I do wish we could talk about it rather than just write about it, but by the time you will be back in Manhattan, you probably want to have things settled; that's why I wrote about it now.

Please don't misunderstand me; I love you now as much as I ever did; but I just don't care to run after anybody, and I would like to know where I stand.

Well, I finally got one of my correspondence courses finished and am starting in on the second one. All I have left of the first one is to take the test; I shall probably take it next week some time. It seems to me as though correspondence courses are much easier than the same courses taken in class; too bad you can't take lab by correspondence, too; in that case, I would quit school and finish up by mail.

Nothing has been settled yet about my new job; the government has not signed the contract yet, and there is no telling when they will. I am not very much worried, though, for there are plenty of other jobs if I don't get this one.

As ever,

Tom

handwritten note: I wished we could talk about our troubles instead of writing. Is there a chance that you could come to Manhattan a few weeks early? I could get a job for you here!

Opa did get a little satisfaction with his close estimate of the Italian invasion. I'm sure he was pretty pleased with himself, even if his near miss did cost him a bottle of "ginger ale." He feels optimistic with the war movement, hopeful that next year it will be over- at least in Europe. I think the general consensus was that the war in Europe would be over before the war in the Pacific- I wonder what led to that belief? As a student of the war, the Japanese were never really talked about other than the context of Pearl Harbor, Kamikaze pilots, and Hiroshima. We sort of dramatized the Nazis and their power but the war in the Pacific was sort of this weird side event- at least in how I perceived it growing up. I'm sure the news of the war front in real time were more detailed and helped shape people's perspectives of when things would happen. 

Grandmother must have been too busy with her family and Archie to answer her poor roommate's mail, ha. Opa's description of the whole thing is kind of hilarious, as if the roommate were in some dire situation. 

Thanks to Opa's glowing recommendation, I watched the Ox Bow Incident. It was a powerful movie, and sat with me in ways I didn't expect it to. I have found that a lot of the good older movies are fairly simple in their plot. This movie was like that (similar to the simplicity of 12 Angry Men), where it zoomed in on one event and explored the scene from every angle and character. The main premise of the movie is that someone comes riding into a Western town declaring the death of a beloved ranch owner - gunshot to the head. The listening men gathered in the saloon are quick to organize a vigilante group who will seek a "faster" justice than a judge and jury can offer for the sought after murderer(s). A lynching mob arises. There are characters who are motivated by justice for their murdered friend. Some characters (a minority) are advocating for legal recourse from the beginning, trying to speak reason to the group. There are some characters who don't care as much about justice as they do about being a part of the "fun" of a lynching mob. One father-son duo is playing out a power dynamic where the father hopes that a good lynching experience will toughen his "weak" son. A woman tries to prove her equality by being the most bloodthirsty in the bunch. The group is eerily calm and even attempts to legalize their actions through questionable loopholes. There are some on the fence on the matter who change their mind when faced with the act. Ultimately, the three men who are caught in the web of the lynching mob are indeed hung despite their pleas, and the pleas of 7 in the group who are against the majority. Predictably, we learn that they were innocent, and that in fact the murdered man is in fact alive. The men respond in different ways to their mistake, but most respond by silence. 

That movie for Opa was about the problem of lynching, which  he sort of relegated to the past, but applied it to the current issues of war and pacifism. I'm so curious about what that conversation would have been. Is Opa still a pacifist at this point? I think he would have argued that the Americans entered the war through a similar mob mentality, or hell- that the Germans instigated the war in this way. I'm not really sure though. For me- I thought about lynching in America. I thought about the countless stories of black men and women who are killed while unarmed and for petty crimes if any crime at all. I thought about the mob mentality that rules social media when people form violent and unshakable opinions or feelings, with little to no valid information. Propaganda, systemic racism, unchecked bias, and other means of communicating misinformation are a way to whip an entire nation into a frenzy - without legality- without facts- without morality. I thought about how people feel very dignified and civilized in their rampage. How we make logical excuses about it all. How logic, when turned against us, becomes the enemy. How brutality is stretched to look like justice. See- that movie really is powerful. 

Between war predictions, movie critiques, and roommate rendezvous, Opa has a little mic-drop moment about Archie. I am actually on team Opa right now- I can't believe Grandmother is still carrying Archie around in her pocket, talking about him and letting him visit. Opa basically tells Grandmother to figure it out and get it over with. Is she his or Archie's? Because if she doesn't know now- she may never know- and that's not a foundation for a marriage. As always, Opa reminds her that despite his sharp words, he loves her, wants her, and hopes that she will be his. 

It seems like the fall semester starts very late- poor Opa just wants Grandmother to get back already so he can continue wooing her and keep her from the Archie chorus back home. Maybe once Grandmother reconnects with Opa she will feel more secure in her choice and stop talking and thinking and worrying about Archie.

August 31, 1943: For Some Reason or None

Letter from Opa to Grandmother

Transcription:

                       August 31, 1043 (1943)

Favorite (Liebste) Margie,

Since I wrote yesterday, there isn't much to write; since I know, though, that the only way to get a letter from you is for me to write, I write.

Please accept my sincere feelings of deepest sympathy to the tragic event of the intruding mouse. I shall immediately tell my adjutant to give orders to have the captain send out his sergeant to pick out a bunch of husky pfc.s who will make an efficient and loyal body guard so as to protect you from further disturbances of this cruel and torturous nature. In the mean time, I advise that you wear slacks which are tied to your ankles with elastics.

I'm glad you liked the pictures. As to the necking party -- how can your folks ever get an idea of a modest, timid girl like you. Remember that time I tried to hold your hand and you slapped me for it? So you can't get used to my mouth; well, you just need a little more practice, that's all.

Pretty bad news from the Physics department. They are not able to get the government to sign their contract for some reason or none, so will have to wait with hiring people for at least another week. It seems as though I shall get into the mess as the last time; have to take another job for sure in order to play safe. I shall wait a while, though, and try to keep the Kansas Power and Light Co. in the fire.

Old Papa Zimmerman gave us a lecture yesterday about making too much noise after ten. We pacified him, though, by commenting on the efficient way he runs that station of his and other unmeant compliments. I sure hope the old lady gets back soon.

I am working on an article for the "Engineer" on Radar; have a devil of a time trying to get pictures for it, though. The companies are not allowed to give any out, and Signal Corps won't give any out, and Prof Martin thinks I had better not photograph our material here in the lab. So, I guess we shall run the article without pictures.

Maybe I am unnecessarily worried, but just why does Archie have to go to see you? Surely, he won't come against your will. Are you still corresponding with him?

I wished you had not found a room yet; there is a room for rent at 1005 Moro, which is next door; also one right across the street from my place. Think how we could have aided the war effort by all the shoe leather we would have saved.

Last night, I went roaming with Johnny, and we settled all post-war problems about Germany. It really is very simple; all you have to do is kill all Germans and burn their cities. Simple, ain't it? Just think of all the troubles it would have saved you if they had done that in 1919.

Well, I notice that my mind is drooping proportionately to the square of the time variation.

Love,

Tom

Did you hear about the little Margie who was so modest she went into the closet whenever she changed her mind?

I am anxious to hear about that idea you have been playing with.

Opa is already teasing Grandmother about her fear of mice. This cracks me up because for as long as I can remember, there was a sort of light-hearted joke in the family about Grandmother's fear of mice. I never saw her encounter one, but I did see the dozens of mice-themed cards that her friends would send in taunting fun.

The next paragraph reminds me that my Grandparents were young, in love, and apparently necking. Ha. I do feel a little bit like I'm reading their diary in these moments, but the cheekiness and flirting makes it so much more real and relatable!

It sounds like the Physics department is having trouble getting permission to hire Opa- I love his line about this: "for some reason or none." A lot of things in Opa's life happens or doesn't happen in this sort of arbitrary context. He is hopeful that this better job gig will come through, but might have to go to his fall back plan with the lesser paying but more sure Kansas Power and Light.

Ah, Archie comes up again. Opa has a point. Why on earth does Archie need to visit Grandmother? And of course she must be corresponding with him or there would be no way she would know (or consent) to Archie's visit. It's kind of like Opa is realizing this and trying not to be rude about it, but also putting it out there- like- you know YOU have full authority to tell Archie not to visit, right? Poor Opa.

While Grandmother makes plans for Archie's visit, Opa is trying to work it out for her to live next door. All in the name of efficiency, of course. 

This last paragraph of Opa's sort of took me back a bit. I'm reading a book called Americanah (by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie), a fictional tale of a woman who leaves Nigeria to study in the United States, and a peek into how people adjust to different cultures. It has made me sort of hyper-aware of when we adopt the culture and sentiments of the world around us, rather than being true to ourselves. This paragraph makes me a little sad, like Opa has sort of clothed himself in American dude-ism. "Kill all the Germans and burn their cities." I know he says it all tongue-in-cheek, but some of his family is still there. Many of his friends are still there. He is already burning the bridge behind him a little bit, allowing himself the privilege of looking at Germany as if it is unattached to him. Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but this is not something Opa would have written in a letter to Gisela, this is not the Opa who wrote to the AFSC about his convictions that he would never fight in a war. This is a changing Opa, and I'm not sure how I feel about it.

August 30, 1943: Marked as Safe

Letter from Opa to Grandmother

Transcription:

Dear Margie,

I had intended to write to you yesterday, but didn't get around to it. Believe it or not, I have really been busy during the last three days or  so. We gave tests on Saturday which had to be graded by today, and today we started a new group of experiments -- the last one -- which took some preparation. I am also giving Jerry some tutoring lessons in Analytical Geometry, which he is about to flunk flat. If we work on it, he may be able to flunk it just peaked instead of flat.

I kept the radio on all over the weekend, for I had really expected an Allied invasion, but it did not come. Really, I can't quite understand it; the Allies seem to miss their chances again; this revolution in Denmark would be a marvelous time to step in; maybe they will yet within a few days. Naturally, I am a little worried abut the bombing of Berlin, especially since the residential section in which my mother lives has been severely hit, according to the New York Times. On the other hand, though, this bombing is the best thing the Allied can do to break German morale; it will start a panic in Berlin which will just be grand.

I rewired my radio set to match the impedances of the record player I bought to the ones of the radio, and now it just plays fine. During the process, I burned out one tube, but Prof Martin gave me a new one without even charging for it, so I am happy again. Bought two new records on the off-the-record market; "There are Such Things" with "Daybreak" on the other side, and "Der Fuehrer's Face" with "I Wanna Go Back to West Virginia" or something like that on the back. Another domestic improvement consists of my new bookshelf which I finally got done. It's made of white pine (which is the only lumber I could get) and finished with varnish-stain. Looks sort of puny, but will fulfill its purpose.

Old Papa Zimmerman got back, which definitely detracts from the homey atmosphere; I can't play my record player any more at two o'clock at night, as I used to. (Maybe I could; I am not going to try it, though.) Herb got back too, which definitely more pleasant than the old man's return. The Mrs. and Ruth are still in California; probably they want to enjoy their vacation without the old meat grinder.

Did you get the pictures? They turned out better than I thought they would when I saw the proofs; especially yours looks really nice, and I am sure proud of having it on my desk, where it takes the place of honor among my ink bottles, lams, and a five-dollar bill which I just remember having left lying on that desk.

Something new has been added to the campus, in which your brother Glen would probably be interested. John Eppler, a graduate in Civil Engg., has finally finished a model of the Smoky Hill River, which is used for a study on flood control. The model extends from the West Ag building early all the way southwest to the Vet hospital and is an accurate relief of the Smoky, with identical slopes, elevations, etc. Several canals have been suggested by the Kansas Flood Commission and are put in with cement plugs; as soon as the concrete will have dried and preliminary tests are made, they are going to flood that thing to see just what makes it tick. If it works, there will be no more floods in Manhattan from next year on, because whatever they are going to find out on this project, will be built this fall on the Smoky. You will see the model when you get back.

I find myself in a very agreeable predicament. Should I accept a job with the Kansas Power and Light Co. for $0.49 per hour, which is permanent, or should I teach in the Physics Dept. for $1.25 an hour, which is temporary? Since I am not quite convinced about the permanence of the former one, and since the financial part of the latter one speaks a very convincing language, I think I shall accept the latter one. I have one week time to decide, though, and I shall sleep it over a few more times. Cardwell of the Physics Dept. has been on my toe quite a bit; he must be very hard up on teachers, or he wouldn't pay that much nor ask a guy like me. The Physics Dept. job would start n the 13th of Sept., at which time we get 600 new soldiers.

Did I remember to tell you that I love you?

Well, I do!

Tom.

This was a nice letter from Opa, where he seems to be in a good and optimistic mood. Grandmother is close to returning, it seems Archie didn't win her back (or at least we don't know anything yet), and Opa has job prospects! It's been a good week!

Opa cracked me up with his comment about his friend Jerry, who he is tutoring in hopes that he does not fail flat but rather  fail "peaked." 

Opa's intuition and attention to the details of the war astound me. He was right, by the way, the Allies started their invasion of Italy in early September, just a few days after this letter. How did he know that was the next step? I'm curious if this was the sort of thing that everyone knew was coming and was also waiting for by the radio, or if Opa was particularly in tune to the movements of the war process. I'm sure there were folks who were sort of happily obvious to the whole scene, but for those who cared, where they able to watch the war like a movie, with accurate predictions about what might happen next?

This confronts me with the reality of how much "war" has changed. I know nothing about modern war and tactics. We Americans only ever hear when something goes decisively right or wrong. We hardly know who we are at war with. There is this feeling like war happens somewhere else, in secret, with little to no repercussions for my life. We're disconnected. 

Opa's connection to the war front has a lot to do with his precious radio, to which he has made modifications. I have a friend at our church who supplied me with pictures and examples of what Opa's radio was like, and the tubes and connectors he used to get it in working order. I learned that even amateur radio folks had restrictions during war time on how they used their radios. It kinda reminds me of our current  hackers- people who can outsmart technology to get behind the scenes. I'm sure there were radio hackers in Opa's day, doing the same. Opa was so pleased to get a free radio part from Professor Martin. What a kind thing! I bet Prof. Martin understood what Opa was doing and took pity on the boy from Berlin, listening for news. 

Before I move on to Opa's music choices, we need to pause for a brief history lesson. Opa mentions Denmark's revolution, and I had no idea what he was talking about. As you might remember, Denmark and the other Scandinavian countries were among the first to fall into German occupation during the wildly successful invasion of May 1940. I assumed that Denmark functioned like a lot of occupied countries during this time: sort of bowing to every wish of the Nazis in order to survive. But then I did a little research and I have got to say, I have a newfound respect for the Danish. Please, please, read this short article from the Holocaust Museum on hw Denmark managed to prevent the majority of their Jewish inhabitants from being deported, and even endeavored to save as many of those who were deported (even ones that weren't citizens!). Go read that, then come back...

Wasn't that fascinating?!

Ok- so the music- I had to look up Der Fuhrer's Face- and it is basically a big fat middle finger (musically) to Der Fuhrer. Lovely. It's pretty mild though, but I'm sure satisfying to listen to when you're especially angry at him. 

Opa pokes fun at Old Man Zimmerman, the man of the house who has returned in order to squash any of the late-night fun Opa might be having.

Opa tells Grandmother all about this model of the Smoky river, which sounds fascinating, but I do wonder if perhaps Grandmother responds to these detailed accounts of engineering feats the same way I do when my husband starts talking a tad too long about some leadership tactic or committee meeting. You care... but then you start to care a little less. Because it's boring. 

Opa closes his letter with a fabulous predicament: he has two job offers! I'm trying to figure out if he is completely done with school or if these jobs are meant to happen while he is also finishing up his studies. I agree with his current leaning- go for the higher paid job. Usually permanence is a better gig, but the pay difference is so significant, and Opa has every bit of a reason not to trust anything labeled permanent. 

I skipped over a part in the middle of Opa's letter because I wanted to end on it: Ella's safety. Opa in previous letters was wondering why the Allies don't bomb Berlin, as he saw that to be the most effective way to hurt German morale. Well, it seems the Allies were listening, because now they are bombing Berlin. Opa is faced with conflicting emotions. He knows this is the best thing to end the war. He also heard from the New York Times that Charlottenburg was one of the hardest hit, which is where his mother lives. This is before any easy communication, like we have on Facebook where we can mark ourselves as safe in an instant. Opa has to face this dichotomy throughout the entire war: rooting for the Allies  while also fearing for the lives of the people he knows and loves on the other side of the gun. 

Will we get a Red Cross letter soon from Ella, where she is Marked as Safe?