German hand writing...help

[huddyhuddy]

Hi,


Would be great if someone can help to understand the text of this little note...

Thanks,
Neil

[HPL2008]

This is a bit of a tricky one. While the note is written in German, it is a somewhat odd and awkward German and laced with many grammatical, spelling and punctuation errors.

The first sentence, for example, is:

Teiere eltern ich bin gott sein dank beim folkomen gesundheit.

...which should be...:

Teuere Eltern, ich bin Gott sei Dank bei volkommener Gesundheit.

The writer probably was not a very educated man; furthermore he was apparently an Ethnic German, so his German was additionally flavored by his regional dialect.
(The note is addressed to the writers' parents who lived in Lipecka Poljana; this is a Transcarpathian village in the Ukraine.)

Here's what I come up with:

"Dear parents! I am, thank God, in perfect health. I am in Russia as a prisoner. Berl [...] from Lipcse [= another Transcarpathian village] is here as well and many other acquaintances. I hope I will soon be able to tell you everything in person. I wish you all the best. I greet you and my dear brothers and sister as well as all friends. Berl greets [...] Your faithful son [signature]"

[huddyhuddy]

Thank you.
All I know is that he was most probably Jewish who immigrated after the war to British Palestine or Israel (if after 1948).

[huddyhuddy]

Yes, writer is Jewish, signature is in Yiddish for Markowitz...

[huddyhuddy]

I can assume he was deported around 1939 to 1941 when eastern Poland (then Galicia and now western Ukraine) was annexed to the USSR. Many Jew and non-Jews who refused to keep their former nationality, and wanted to be sent to western Poland (before June 1941) where shipped east instead...that most probably saved their lives during the war...

[HPL2008]

Thanks for the additional info. The writing style makes much more sense now - "folkomen" is not a totally misspelt "vollkommener" - It is simply Yiddish!
I must admit, I had not thought in that direction at all; I guess I automatically assumed the letter to be from a German in Russian captivity.

[huddyhuddy]

I always thought Yiddish to be written in Hebrew characters.
This small note was not mailed, maybe smuggled or hand-transfered.

[HPL2008]

I always thought Yiddish to be written in Hebrew characters.

Yes, you're right, of course. What I meant was that it was a transliteration of spoken Yiddish that had flavored the letter. (What I originally assumed to be misspellings and/or some kind of dialect spoken by Ethnic Germans.)

[huddyhuddy]

Many thanks for the help.