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»Meine innig geliebte und unvergessliche Frau«

Friedrich Steiner | »Meine innig geliebte und unvergessliche Frau« | self-evidence | German Empire | Oct. 6, 1940 | voi_00038

Rights held by: Friedrich Steiner | Provided by: Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance (Vienna/Austria) | Archived under: Konvolut von vier Briefen und drei Postkarten von Friedrich Steiner

My exact address
Protective custody prisoner

Steiner Friedrich
No. 7148
Block 30
Concentration Camp
Weimar = Buchenwald

6.X.1940

My dear wife!
I’ve received your letter and the 15 Marks from my sister Loli, for which many thanks, and I thank my sister and my brother-in-law from the bottom of my heart, hopefully I can […] one day express my thanks to Oscar and Loli personally.
My dearly beloved and unforgettable wife! For the second time I have to send you my most heartfelt and warmest greetings to you on your birthday from far away and by letter, please take them for the moment as if I were doing it in person and giving you a very long birthday kiss from the bottom of my heart and with teary eyes.
My dearest Rosa! Imagine how I feel, having to congratulate you on your birthday like this. But dear Rosa! I’ll keep standing my ground and holding my head high because I am, thank God, still healthy, and I wish and hope the same for my children, for my and your mother, and of course for you, too, my dear birthday girl.
My dear wife! Tell me the latest news from Vienna and from my mother-in-law and sisters-in-law Anna & Ilusch. Please greet them all affectionately from me, also the Natz family, Pirek and Rakodri. My dear wife! About the woollen items – pullover, socks, gloves and scarf – I’ll let you know if you can send them.
Now, I send you lots of love and kisses, my dearest, my two sons Stefi and Dolfi, and lots of extra greetings to my dear old mother and nanny, an extra dear birthday wish for my brother Sep [?]. Affectionate greetings to my dear brother-in-law and sister Loli.

Meine genaue Anschrift
Schutzhäftling

Steiner Friedrich
Nr. 7148
Block 30
Konzentrationslager
Weimar = Buchenwald

6.X.1940

Liebe Frau!
[I]ch habe deinen Brief sowie die 15 Mark von meiner Schwester Loli mit viele[m] Dank erhalten [u]nd ich spreche meiner Schwester sowie mein[em] Schwager meinen [inn]igsten
[D]ank dafür aus, hoffentlich erlebe ich es […][,] das[s] [i]ch persönlich mein[em] Schwager Oskar u[nd] Loli mein[en] [D]ank aus Liebe [mit] volle[m,] warme[m] Herzen überbringen kann.
Meine [in]nig geliebte u[nd] unvergessliche Frau! Zum 2. [M]al muss ich dir aus so weiter Ferne meine allerherzlichste[n] u[nd] wärmsten Glückwünsche zu deine[m] Geburtst[tag]e [b]rieflich übersenden, ne[h]me sie vorl[ä]ufig so hin als wen[n] [i]ch [p]ersönlich dies aussprechen [täte] u[nd] dir [p]ersönlich aus volle[m,] warme[m] [H]erzen u[nd] mit feuchten Augen einen recht langen Geburtstagskuss geben [tä]te.
Liebs[te] Rosa! Stelle dir vor[,] wie es mir heute zumute ist, dir so zu dein[em] [G]eburtstag […] zu [g]ratuli[e]ren. Aber liebe Rosa! Ich [stehe] schon meinen Mann u[nd] halte den Kopf hoch, den[n] ich bin [Gott] sei [D]ank bei voller Gesundheit[,] was ich auch von meine[n] Kinder[n,] meine[r] u[nd] deine[r] Mutter sowie auch von dir[,] mein liebes [G]eburtstagskind[,] wünsche und hoffe.
Liebe Frau! [T]eile mir mit alles [Neue] aus Wien u[nd] auch von meine[r] Schwiegermutter und Schwägerinnen Anna u[nd] Ilusch[.] [Sie] lasse ich alle herzlich [g]rüßen sowie Familie Natz[,] Pirek u[nd] Rakodri. Liebe Frau! [Und] wegen d[er] Wol[l]sachen [–] P[ull]over[,] Strümpfe[,] Handschuhe u[nd] Schal [–] werde ich dir schon noch bekan[nt] geben[,] wen[n] du sie mir schi[c]ken kan[n]st.
Nun [v]iele [h]erzliche Grüße u[nd] Küsse an dich[,] mein [L]iebes[,] [m]eine 2 Söhne Stefi und Dolfi u[nd] [e]xtra [v]iele Grüße an meine liebe alte Mutter u[nd] Kindermädchen, [e]xtra mein[en] Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag an mein[en] Bruder Sep [?]. Viele Grüße an meinen lieben Schwager u[nd] Schwester Loli.

Miri adresa
O araklutno phanglo
Steiner Friedrich
No. 7148
Block 30
Koncentracijako Lager
Weimar = Buchenwald

6.X.1940

Miri kamli rromnije!
Me lijem tiro lil thaj e 15 marke kotar mi phen i Lolita, but, but palikerav, thaj palikerav vi me phenjake thaj me šogoreske kotar miro vilo, paćav kaj jekh dives šaj korkoro ka mothovav miro palikeripe e Oscareske thaj i Lolitake.
Miri mangli thaj nikana bistardi rromnije! Dujto drom agija dural thaj e lilesa bičalav tuke mire majtate thaj majlošale baxtarina vaš tiro bijamutno dives, rugiv tut, thaj kerav kodo sar kaj korkoro dav tuke jekh but lungo bijamutno čhumidimo kotar miro ilo thaj asvenca ke mire jakha.
Miri majkamlije Rosa! A sar si mange, kadija te baxtarinav tiro bijamutno dives. Numa kamlije Rosa! Numa me ka ačhovav pe punre te ačhovel mo šero upre, soske, najis e Devleske, vi dureder sem sasto, thaj kodo mangav thaj me čavorrenge, me dajake thaj tuke miri bijamutne diveseski čhajorije.
Miri kamli rromnije! Mothov mange sa e nevipa andar o Beč thaj kotar e daj, mi phen e Ana t. Ilusch. Bičhal mandar savorenge baxtarina, baxtarina bičhal vi e familijake Natz, ko Pirek thaj o Rakodri. Miri kamli rromnije! Thaj katar e tate uravimata– puloveri, čarape, vastune thaj šali– ka phenav tuke kana šaj te bičales olen.
Akana, ilestar but baxtarina bičalav tuke, miri kamlije, mire 2 muršorenge e Stefeske thaj e Dolfeske, thaj ekstra butvar baxtarina dži ke miri lačhi thaj phuri daj, thaj e čhajori, ekstra baxtarin sebet o bijamutno dives dži ke mo phral o Sep [?]. But baxtarina thaj me čugroske vi me penjake i Lolake.

Credits

Rights held by: Friedrich Steiner | Provided by: Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance (Vienna/Austria) | Archived under: Konvolut von vier Briefen und drei Postkarten von Friedrich Steiner

Playlist

Lesung des Selbstzeugnisses von Friedrich Steiner
2.08 min
voi_00098
Lesung des Selbstzeugnisses von Friedrich Steiner | Spoken word | Germany | 2018 | voi_00098
EN

Contextualisation

Unique testimonies from four concentration camps

Friedrich Steiner, born on 29 January 1912 in Minden, Westphalia (Germany), and a vehicle operator by profession, lived with his wife and their two sons in Floridsdorf, Vienna’s twenty-first district. They were members of a very large family of Sinti and Lovari who had lived in the Mühlschüttelstraße since the early nineteenth century and earned their livings as carters, market vendors and horse traders. On 28 June 1939 Steiner was sent to the Dachau concentration camp in the first wave of deportations of Austrian Roma and Sinti. From there he was transferred first to Buchenwald, then to Neuengamme and finally, in June 1941, to Mauthausen.

The letter shown here is part of a unique collection of four letters and three postcards Friedrich Steiner sent to his wife while being held in concentration camps. His messages are testimony to his will to survive, his effort to carry on playing a role in the life of his family and his hope of being reunited with them.

On October 1941 Friedrich Steiner was moved to the so-called ‘Lackenbach Gypsy camp’ in Burgenland in preparation for the large-scale deportations of Austrian Roma. From there he was deported along with 5,000 Roma – who presumably included many of his family members – to the Litzmannstadt (Łódź) Ghetto in occupied Poland during the early days of November 1941. Like everyone else included in these deportations, Friedrich Steiner did not survive. He was murdered at the Kulmhof (Chełmno) extermination camp in February 1942.

Playlist

Lesung des Selbstzeugnisses von Friedrich Steiner
2.08 min
voi_00098
Lesung des Selbstzeugnisses von Friedrich Steiner | Spoken word | Germany | 2018 | voi_00098
EN

Details

übersetzer Titel
»My dearly beloved and unforgettable wife«
übersetzer Titel
»Miri mangli thaj nikana na bistardi romnije«
übersetzer Titel
‘My dearly beloved and unforgettable wife’
Country
Production
Oct. 6, 1940
Credits
Production Credits
Object Category
Material
Technique
Object Number
voi_00038

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