Letter of January 23, 1940
The letter below was addressed to Mom and is an admonition from Opa not to get too involved with a young Swiss guy named Fredy that she had met. Thanks to Karla Riach for the translation following the letter.
My darling Letty,
Mother is writing a separate letter to Anneke this week and I am writing to you. There are frequently subjects that need to be discussed, which are not easy to approach; it is this subject, darling Letty, your correspondence with Fredy that you referred to in your last letter, that I’m writing to you about. Let me begin with saying that your mother and I are so pleased that you are able to be open with us about this. It is because of this that we want to respond with the same openness. It is not at all bad that you have feelings for this young man, even though you only had a chance to meet him in Switzerland in a superficial setting. But, my darling child, you are to young too even think about a relationship, and it is because of this that we feel it is best that you do not correspond with him at this time. If we were together it would be so much easier to discuss this. It is difficult to do this through correspondence. Keep your thoughts; that you have feelings for this young man to yourself and see if in the future you still feel the same. Young people will have many feelings for each other through the years. It is possible that in later years you will meet someone in Holland that you will have these same feelings for. It is important that you do not make a game of this. When you were in den Haag there were also some young boys you were interested in. Now it is happening with a Swiss boy, a French boy, and possibly later another. For this reason darling child, I suggest you calmly wait until you are a bit older. You have just recently turned 15. It is very natural for you to have feelings for a young man, it is very common. It is not natural to think that this young man will be there for you in the future. He is still so young himself. Do not forget that God also has an outlook on who is best for you. Let us not all forget this. Your mother and I also feel that as your parents we have some insight into who is appropriate to marry our daughter don’t you think? We don’t know him at all and you have just come to meet him. For this reason I strongly suggest that you do not correspond with him. Or have you done so already? If so, your mother and I strongly suggest that you write him and tell him that we do approve any further correspondence. In a few years we will be together again and it is my hope that you will meet someone then. Do not forget my darling child, that your happiness is also our happiness. For this reason you must be very careful to not do something that you will regret later. Keep all of these things in mind when you are making future choices Letty. Please continue to correspond with this matter with us. We are pleased that you have done so. If you want, you may want to say a prayer for this young man. Do not go against Gods or your parents will. It is not your time yet. I think if you take the time, you will agree with your mother and I, don’t you think? We have writer Anneke the same letter at a time when she dealt with the same subject.
I hope things go well for you darling child.
Good luck.
Father.