Letter from Edwin A. Shanke to parents, November 24, 1938 |
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Thanksgiving Day
Berlin, Germany
Dear Folks:
Here I am back in Berlin after three weeks in the beautiful city of Budapest-eating sauerkraut and ham bone on Turkey day.
My transfers within the last month must have been just about the two fastest on record in AP annals. In a way I was sorry to leave Budapest. It's a
nice city to work in, there's plenty of excellent food at reasonable cost, you don't have to work as hard as you do here, etc. Then too, the change was welcome
and time seemed to fly. Actually I didn't see as much of Budapest as I should have because I figured I would have plenty of time.
The shift back to Berlin came out of the sky like a flash late last Friday night. Instructions were I was to pack and return immediately to Berlin. So here I am. A1 Steinkopf, as a result, is sitting in Budapest all alone for the present with our Hungarian aide.
Reason for the sudden transfer back is still somewhat of a mystery. Mr. Cooper was in London some two and a half weeks ago where Mr. Lochner saw him. He seemed surprised that I had been moved
on to Budapest and told Mr. Lochner, "I didn't know about that; that's poor economics when a man just has learned his way around Germany."
Then the question of retirement of Mr. Bouman who is in his sixties came up and twas decided he should retire on pension next March. Mr. Lochner offhandedly remarked it would be tough on him to have two new men on his hands - my successor and the successor to Mr. Bouman next March - and there's where the matter ended although Mr. Cooper said he was going to look into reasons for my transfer. While my return to Berlin next March when Mr. Bouman retires would be understandable, the present precipitate switch back is a mystery, especially so because Berlin was fully staffed, probably more so than at any time in the more than a year that I was stationed here. Well, that's the way things go in this profession.
I missed part of the big Jewish story here - the actual violence - but I'm getting plenty of the aftermath. It's real tragedy, and some of the persecution inflicted actually moves one just about to tears. All over town there is still evidence of the store smashing orgy. Countless stores boarded up because it's impossible to obtain window glass fast enough to replace the broken panes.
Before I forget there are a few things for mother to do. One, of course, is to notify Time and Saturday Evening Post to change my address back
to Associated Press of America, Zimmerstrasse 68, Berlin SW 68, Germany. Then I wanted to tell mother about some checks which should now be added to my account and in your next letter tell me whether they were deposited. They were to be sent direct to our bank. One should be for $400 and the other for $496.20. I can't
explain this now.
Mother wanted to know if she should send the clippings on the war crisis. Rather than send them, it would be better just to save the pages so that
I can see them when I come home. It will be interesting to relive those days by scanning the papers of that time. Somehow or other every time I move I have a
little more to squeeze
Object Description
| Rating | |
| Title | Letter from Edwin A. Shanke to parents, November 24, 1938 |
| Description | Typewritten letter from Edwin A. Shanke to his parents, November 24, 1938. Shanke is writing from Berlin on Thanksgiving, after his sudden, unexpected, return from Budapest. |
| Creator | Shanke, Edwin A. |
| Date-Original | 1938-11-24 |
| Rights | This image is issued by Marquette University. Use of the image requires written permission from the staff of the Department of Special Collections and University Archives. It may not be sold or redistributed, copied or distributed as a photograph, electronic file, or any other media. The image should not be significantly altered through conventional or electronic means. Images altered beyond standard cropping and resizing require further negotiation with a staff member. The user is responsible for all issues of copyright. Please credit: Department of Special Collections and University Archives, Marquette University Libraries. |
| Subject |
Shanke, Edwin A. -- Correspondence World War, 1939-1945 -- Journalists -- Correspondence War correspondents -- United States -- Correspondence War correspondents -- Germany -- Berlin -- Correspondence Foreign correspondents -- Germany -- Correspondence |
| Format-Original | Typescript |
| Identifier-OriginalItem | Box 1, Folder 1 |
| Digital Reproduction Information | Scanned as TIFF at 300 dpi on Epson Expression 10000XL. Display image is generated from the archival TIFF. |
Description
| Title | Letter from Edwin A. Shanke to parents, November 24, 1938 |
| Page No. | p. 1 |
| Identifier-DigitalFile | MUA_EAS_00102 |
| Rights | This image is issued by Marquette University. Use of the image requires written permission from the staff of the Department of Special Collections and University Archives. It may not be sold or redistributed, copied or distributed as a photograph, electronic file, or any other media. The image should not be significantly altered through conventional or electronic means. Images altered beyond standard cropping and resizing require further negotiation with a staff member. The user is responsible for all issues of copyright. Please credit: Department of Special Collections and University Archives, Marquette University Libraries. |
| Transcript | Thanksgiving Day Berlin, Germany Dear Folks: Here I am back in Berlin after three weeks in the beautiful city of Budapest-eating sauerkraut and ham bone on Turkey day. My transfers within the last month must have been just about the two fastest on record in AP annals. In a way I was sorry to leave Budapest. It's a nice city to work in, there's plenty of excellent food at reasonable cost, you don't have to work as hard as you do here, etc. Then too, the change was welcome and time seemed to fly. Actually I didn't see as much of Budapest as I should have because I figured I would have plenty of time. The shift back to Berlin came out of the sky like a flash late last Friday night. Instructions were I was to pack and return immediately to Berlin. So here I am. A1 Steinkopf, as a result, is sitting in Budapest all alone for the present with our Hungarian aide. Reason for the sudden transfer back is still somewhat of a mystery. Mr. Cooper was in London some two and a half weeks ago where Mr. Lochner saw him. He seemed surprised that I had been moved on to Budapest and told Mr. Lochner, "I didn't know about that; that's poor economics when a man just has learned his way around Germany." Then the question of retirement of Mr. Bouman who is in his sixties came up and twas decided he should retire on pension next March. Mr. Lochner offhandedly remarked it would be tough on him to have two new men on his hands - my successor and the successor to Mr. Bouman next March - and there's where the matter ended although Mr. Cooper said he was going to look into reasons for my transfer. While my return to Berlin next March when Mr. Bouman retires would be understandable, the present precipitate switch back is a mystery, especially so because Berlin was fully staffed, probably more so than at any time in the more than a year that I was stationed here. Well, that's the way things go in this profession. I missed part of the big Jewish story here - the actual violence - but I'm getting plenty of the aftermath. It's real tragedy, and some of the persecution inflicted actually moves one just about to tears. All over town there is still evidence of the store smashing orgy. Countless stores boarded up because it's impossible to obtain window glass fast enough to replace the broken panes. Before I forget there are a few things for mother to do. One, of course, is to notify Time and Saturday Evening Post to change my address back to Associated Press of America, Zimmerstrasse 68, Berlin SW 68, Germany. Then I wanted to tell mother about some checks which should now be added to my account and in your next letter tell me whether they were deposited. They were to be sent direct to our bank. One should be for $400 and the other for $496.20. I can't explain this now. Mother wanted to know if she should send the clippings on the war crisis. Rather than send them, it would be better just to save the pages so that I can see them when I come home. It will be interesting to relive those days by scanning the papers of that time. Somehow or other every time I move I have a little more to squeeze |
