Letter from Jeannette to Francis Silbernagel, Febuary 7, 1941

February 7, 1941

Dear Aunt Frances:

I feel very much ashamed of the fact that I have not as yet acknowledged receipt of your letters of January 31st and February 3rd, containing your checks for $6.00 and $3.00, respectively. In addition, to complete my contrition, your package arrived here yesterday afternoon.

My delay has been occasioned by several causes. One of them was the fact that I have been literally overwhelmed with work this week. The second is that I have been somewhat uncertain in regard to the matter of sending a package of food by parcel post. My reason is this: I have known right along that there were individuals in New York who had contacts in Lisbon and, through these contacts, have sent cabled orders for food packages to be shipped from Portugal into unoccupied France. Naturally, packages shipped in this way get through to the people with much less delay. Here at the J.D.C., however, we are not permitted to give out information in regard to this means of sending food packages because, you can readily understand, any word from us would seem, in the minds of some people, to constitute an endorsement, and actually we do not know too much about the people conducting this service. In addition, there is a danger that, at any point, the Portuguese Government which scrutinizes these food shipments very carefully might refuse to permit any further shipment of food out of their country.

However, in the matter of parcel post, there is a very long delay and also a great deal of uncertainty and so, on thinking the matter over very carefully, I have decided that you might be willing to have me risk your money on the chance that Mrs. Rhein will receive help sooner than she whould otherwise, and I have gotten in touch with a woman here in New York who handles these orders for Lisbon. If this should be displeasing to you, I hope that you will forgive me. I am really trying to do the very best I can for you and in this situation it is not easy to decide. I shall forward the package on at once. I believe that the money you sent me will more than cover what is needed and I shall return any surplus amount to you.

There is one more thing I would like to tell you about. From what we hear at the present time, it is possible, in some cases, for our representatives in France to obtain a release of persons in Gurs in order to permit them to live in the neighborhood of the camp with private families. Each case has to be taken up separately with the authorities and, as we understand it, in order to have any consideration given to the case, the person must be able to count on the willingness of a relative in this country to provide a monthly sum for maintenance. We do not know exactly what this sum could be, but from what we hear, it would not to be less than $25.00. We understand also that the chances for affecting the release of people are greater if they have the possibility for emigration which, of course, Mrs. Rhein has.

If you will let me know whether you are prepared to guarantee maintenance for Mrs. Rhein and that you are willing to pay the cable charges (which usually amount to something between $2.00 and $3.00), I shall cable to our representative in unoccupied France and ask him to see what he can do toward effecting her release.

Julian is very well and sends you his love, and we both hope that you and all the family are feeling fine.