Letter of January 17, 1940
The letter below was addressed to both my Mom and her sister Anneke (Tante Ank) and was signed Vader (Father). From the context, it seems Opa Ploos stayed at the Hotel des Indes while working in Bandoeng and commuted several hours by train to be with the family on weekends in Batavia (Jakarta). Interestingly, the Hotel des Indes still exists. Thanks to Karla Riach for the translation following the letter.
Dear Anneke and Letty
It is the middle of the evening and a busy day is now behind me. The time just seems to fly by and on Monday I arrived in Bandoeng. Before I know it, Friday will be upon me and I will go to see Mother and the children. The last few weeks we have been preparing for the holiday season but I will be holding the holiday on Friday evening. The last train out of Batavia leaves at 5 pm and 8 hours later I will be back in Bandoeng. I’m going to take some work with me while I’m there but for the most part nothing seems to come of it. I need to spend some time entertaining mother because for the most part she just spends her time sitting. Before I know it the week will just fly by.
Things seem to be improving for Bobsje, but we are still very concerned with Carala. She still seems to look very weak. Mother luckily does not seem to be suffering from anymore dizzy spells since she stopped taking the medication the doctor gave her. She does however seem to have some other symptoms so not everything is in order yet. The best thing for her would be to return to Holland permanently because I think a lot of her symptoms have to do with the climate. I can’t seem to convince her of this quite yet however I would like nothing better than for this to happen. I can worry myself quite silly over this but I need to remember that God is with us on this.
Thank you so much for your letters from Baarn. The outing to Bussum must have been really nice. Die Wiet is a rare individual. I would be a little cautious if I were you about my opinions about him, I never really understood him. Is he still in love? His Aunt and Uncle have always been pleasant people. How was the trip to Enkhuizen? Is there any chance that you can take Letty one day? It is a beautiful trip and you would be able to take the bikes to Zeist. (That’s 5 minutes from where I lived!) I guess your trip to Switzerland is no longer a possibility. Probably nothing will come of it.
Gerard celebrated New Years at his place this year. It was really nice that it happened to fall in his vacation. This next year will be a very important year for him. Have you had an opportunity to connect with him recently? He continues to write me every two weeks. Have you had an opportunity to visit with Truus? Have you seen anything of Catrien?
That was a really nice picture of you Anneke, with that really nice hat. I got a real kick out of it. Can we get a picture of you like that as well Letteke? Mother thought it was really nice.
You wrote about that small vase you sent me Anneke. I placed it on my writing table. The hotel boy places a new flower in it every few days. It looks really nice.
All the best and may God be with you all.
Father