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.”
Now in Chronological Order
On May 8, 1934 she sailed for the United States. What happened next is told in her letters which are now posted in chronological order. If you are on the home page just scroll down. Otherwise, start here.
(Note: Because the usual order of posts in a blog is latest first, the navigation links at the bottom of each screen are reversed – “older posts” will take you to the next set. “Newer posts” will take you to the previous set. I’ll find a way to fix that later. An alternative method would be to use the month by month archived posts.)
Here is a link to the most recent post:
Trudel on the S.S. Manhattan, May 1934
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For more information about this blog visit the About Trudel’s Truth.
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.
gretel ghamsharick
June 13, 2015 at 10:19 am
Hello Len,
I accompanied your cousins Mari and Alan in Frankfurt and now I am sifting through my notes and trying to make sense of them. I am also using this Blog. I thought you might like these two websites. They are in English. One is about the project Jewish life in Frankfurt. One of the biographies is about Gretel Baum. You can find it under the name of her son Micha Ramati (letter R) We were wondering if Gretel Baum knew your mother. This is the site:
http://www.juedisches-leben-frankurt.de/english/home.html
The other site is about the Viktoriaschule (now Bettinaschule). They have the name of Trudel´s sister Lotte on a memorial. And I think your mother went to this school as well.
http://www.gedenkarchiv.com/einfo.htm
Best regards and good luck,
gretel
Leonard Grossman
June 13, 2015 at 2:13 pm
Thank you, Gretel.
I don’t remember the name Gretel Baum, but I will think about it. And, indeed I do think Trudel went to the Viktoriaschule… She talked a lot about going to a Gymnasium with both German and Jewish girls. I don’t remember the name. About 20 years or so ago, one of the girls held a reunion of her classmates in Lugano, after which my mother and a friend went on to Frankfort for the first time.
Thanks again.
Len
gretel ghamsharick
July 4, 2015 at 11:26 am
Hello Len and thank you as well,
greetings from Frankfurt which is under a hot spell at the moment.
Your information is very useful. That meeting in Lugano might be a lead.
I hope to put my text about Mari Ann´s visit and the story of her parents on the website. But there are still 5-6 facts that need to be checked up in the archives. I would also like to use the portrait of the three Adler girls in the article. As soon as I have completed the article I would send it to you.
Best regards and thank you for sharing your stories.
Gretel
Leonard Grossman
July 4, 2015 at 1:37 pm
I look forward to seeing your articke when it is finished, Gretel.
Please feel free to use the photo.
Here, we are having a cool summer, which I prefer. But too much rain.
Best wishes.
Len
gretel ghamsharick
July 4, 2015 at 3:26 pm
Many thanks for letting me use the photo. It is a beautiful photo.
How I wish it would rain here. This heat is not normal.
best wishes as well
gretel
Leonard Grossman
November 5, 2015 at 12:26 am
I just came across your note. I hope you survived the heat and are now ready for the other extreme.
Best wishes.
Len
gretel ghamsharick
December 10, 2015 at 2:37 pm
My article about Trudel´s sister can be read in English and in German on this page:
http://www.juedisches-leben-frankurt.de/english/home/biographies-and-encounters/biographies-r-v/mari-ann-schwartzenberg.html
Thank you so much for letting me use the photo of the sisters.
Best wishes from Frankfurt,
Gretel
Leonard Grossman
January 18, 2016 at 10:06 pm
I thought I thanked you long ago when I read this. Wonderful.
I hope you are staying warm and are in good health.
Len
Gretel Ghamsharick
April 11, 2016 at 8:18 am
Hello,
I am glad you liked the article I wrote about Lotte