My troubled heart
Elisabeth (Lisi) Gartz, Jan. 1943 Ebner’s mother was undoubtedly finding that writing her son in English was so difficult, she fell back to writing to him in German. Below is a translation into English of what she wrote, [...]
“Unlimited opportunities…”
Will Gartz, Harlem Airport, 1943-1944 Writing Ebner became focal point of Gartz family life. Here’s a letter from the oldest Gartz brother, Will. Born in 1913, he was eleven years older than Ebner. Age 29 when Ebner was [...]
“Here to help.”
My grandmother's letters to her son were written in a foreign language—English. Lisi Gartz's schooling back in Austro-Hungary, before it became Romania after World War I, only went as far as the fourth grade, so even in her native tongue, spelling and grammar had never been mastered.
A WWII Draftee’s First Day
My uncle Frank Ebner Gartz was drafted into World War II on January 23, 1943. The next day he wrote from his new home at Camp Grant, near Rockford, Illinois. Until I found the letter below, I hadn't know where he had started his training. Here's how the first day in training was reported by a new inductee on his first day in camp.