Before, if one had money, at least one could get flour, or bread,
but now, one cannot get this even for money. Now we stand in line
for a pound of bread. Sometimes, we stand and stand, but they
run out of bread. And so, we go home without bread.
—— Fruma

Simochka, I wish I could see my sister and my brother-in-law,
even if through a tiny crack. Simochka, I only envy you,
because you are there [America], while we have remained here to suffer.
—— Fruma

Leyke gave birth to a son and we named him after our grandfather Levi.
 
Taybl mentions you all the time, 'When will our Aunt from America come
with Selke and with Sonya?'
—— Bentsi & Leyke

We can write you about your leaving home [Tarashcha]. When we returned
from the train and came into our house, Taybl looked for you in
every corner. When we asked her where her aunt was, her response
was that she had gone to the market and she will bring back babies.
 
We couldn't convince her otherwise until she got used to the idea,
and now if she is asked where her aunt and the children are, she says
that they have gone to America. But when she sees a girl go by, she
shouts, 'There go Selke and Sonye,' and she says, 'Selke and
Sonye are coming today.'
—— Leyke

Jews in Tarashcha 'will go on living until the Messiah comes
riding into town on a white horse!'
—— unknown writer

Simochka, you write that you miss home [Tarashcha]. I can write to you that there is nothing to miss,
because you know everything. Now it is even worse than before.
 
Simochka, my life is very bad now, because since Easter there has been no work at all.
—— Fruma

So, Pessie, what should I write to you? I am very weak. I wish that I were well.
I am in constant need of a doctor and prescriptions. And I no longer travel anywhere.
I have done whatever traveling I was going to do. I wish that I were well enough
to go to my children. I used to pull and carry everything myself, and now it has taken
its toll. But what can I do? I cannot travel. It is a lost cause.
—— Reva Gofman

Believe me, dear Selke, I write letters but my head is so confused that I do not
know what I am writing. Can you imagine – I am working for a year already
and I take home barely two rubles a month. As hard as I work, I should be earning
more. You can imagine what I can buy with that, with those two rubles.
You can tell my good uncles that they could at least take me and Nekhama to America.
—— Klara Guchman