Trudel Adler, my mother, came to the United States 1934 when she was 21 years old. She frequently wrote long letters home to her family in Germany and asked them to save her letters and they did — over two hundred handwritten pages.
Trudel was an amazing young woman who grew into a fascinating warm wonderful woman, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. She was funny, serious, forthright, and considerate. She worked hard all of her life and gave to the world more than she ever got. The tale of the rest of her life was full of challenge,sadness and joy. These early years are more than that. They reveal the strength of character, the chutspa, the love, that helped her through all those years. Preparing her letters for this blog has been like entering a conversation with her and getting to know the young woman I never met.
Trudel as in Strudel
When asked how to pronounce or spell her name, Trudel, would reply, “Trudel, as in strudel.” She always said the “s” in strudel was for sugar and she was sweet enough without it. But all was not sweetness and light. In 1933, Trudel wrote in her diary, “There is no future for Jewish youth in Germany. I think I shall go to Palestine.”
On May 8, 1934 she sailed for the United States. What happened next is told in her letters which are posted here on the anniversary dates of their original posting.
Here is a link to the most recent post:
Trudel on the S.S. Manhattan, May 1934
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News about Trudel’s Truth
- Trudel’s Truth was the subject of a featured article in TribLocal –Blogging the past – one letter at a time
- Trudel’s Truth was featured in a recent article “Archive helps genealogy blogger ID World Fair child violin prodigy” on the The Archive Blog | JTA – Jewish & Israel News
Trudels Son
May 8, 2011 at 8:17 pm
Yes, I know Trudel’s Son should have an apostrophe, but the software won’t allow it.
Len
Lynn
May 8, 2011 at 10:46 pm
Len, thank you! I can’t wait to read the words of my wonderful, warm, adventurous, smart great-aunt!
Barrie Ward
May 29, 2011 at 7:09 pm
This is truly such a kind ‘share’ …
Linda Gartz
June 1, 2012 at 8:36 am
Hi Len,
Yes, isn’t it wonderful to have the thoughts of our parents (and grandparents) recorded in their own hand — and at the time of their writing these thoughts. None of this would have been remembered in the same way in which it was experienced. I have a trove of letters and diaries too–even love letters between my grandparents from 1911! They saved everything. I needed a 90-year-old woman in Germany to help me decipher the ancient Sütterlin script, but then I could translate to English. You have a wonderful project here.