Letter from Ernst Papanek to Bea Pappenheimer, December 17, 1965

I am very sorry to answer only today your very nice letter of July 16th. I am on my sabbatical year and was in Europe until two weeks ago. Going over the piles of mail, I got to your letter just now.

Ernst Koppel intends to come over to the United States, perhaps by January. We did not yet fix a date because now I am supposed to go to Japan and from there to Israel. Of course, Ernst would like to come when I am here and I still do not know whether this will be before my trip to Japan or after I return from Israel.

I believe I wrote you that I was not sure that Ernst will stay in the United States, but all of us believe he should come over for a time to find out that he has many friends here, and if someone would visit him, he would no longer believe that it could only be the Papaneks. Some of the former kids from New York to California have invited Ernst to stay with them for a while, so that he can find out about the country and people, and whether he would like to stay. I would like to say that with all the bad things we have gone through – this means you, your sister, and the many of us who were in similar situations – one must regain belief in humanity when we see how people reacted to Ernst’s story.

I am sending you enclosed a mimeographed copy of a letter which I wrote to former OSE children who, I don’t know how, found out that I was 65 this year. I thought you would also be interested in the information about the others, some of whom you know.

All the best and kind regards to you, your sister and both your husbands (your husband’s calling me I still consider one of the most positive expressions of outstanding human understanding and feelings).