"Dear Mama, You asked about various
relatives and friends. I already wrote to you about Mr. and Mrs. Scherer (these were the
brother and sister-in-law of our chauffeur). They were arrested by the Gestapo because
they had a Jewish friend and were never heard from again. Of the more than 100,000 Jews
who were deported from Holland, less than 5,000 are still alive, according to official
statistics. The gaps amongst the circle of our friends are horrible - one rarely meets
anyone. In Auschwitz alone, 4 to 5 million Jews were gassed, in addition to many, many
Gypsies and Russians, as well as 400,000 Jewish children. I don't like to talk or write
about these things, but everyone should know what these swine have done to us - and one
must never forget."
