MARGARITA IVANOVNA RUDOMINO

And to the question why they haven’t spoken up in the past 12 years, they say that people were hypnotized although they always wished he had been dead. I am not clear about them but I can’t believe them.
There haven’t been any developments for the better in my work yet. A lot of things have been taken away or hidden or still under the rubble. We get tired to death. We are staying in a countryside. We have rest in the evenings. Food is ok. How is your trip, Tolek? Are you writing often to Adrian? If you leave, please ask Marusia to do it.
I embrace you warmly.
How is Marianka?
So she hasn’t seen her mother in military uniform.
M.

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Now about us. We are staying on the outskirts of Berlin, in a lovely countryside, which has been left almost intact in the war. We live in a country house of our own with a tiny garden attached to it. (Honestly, I would prefer it to our summer house.) These are plenty of lilac shrubs, mainly Persian, all around. Lilies-of-the-valley, tulips and a bunch of decorative bushes have already gone into bloom. I wish you, my dear, could see the garden and plan our own garden in a similar way. Here we have blossoming apple trees, cherry trees, pear trees; currents are getting bigger and there are a lot of gooseberries. Now we are making ourselves at home and are looking forward to a good harvest, although I do hope we won’t stay here long enough to harvest the apples. My room is upstairs overlooking the garden. My colleagues’ rooms are adjacent. The rooms downstairs are empty, we are planning to occupy them, otherwise they may

I have already written about Berlin that it no longer exists, if only on the outskirts. But I got so much used to this sight that I no longer pay heed to it unless a newcomer draws my attention. The Germans continue to excel in servility and giving directions. They have hidden all they could underneath the ground. So now it’s up to us to search. I‘ll tell you more in a few days when retail businesses open. Those who visited Warsaw described it in still gloomier terms but one needs to see it for oneself to believe it. Every time I see it, I feel satisfaction as if it was the right thing to do. We need to stamp out the Nazi spirit. Certainly now they all have turned against the Nazism but we don’t believe.
I embrace you warmly, my darlings. I can’t wait to hear from you but we need to wait until they’ve given me my postal address.
M.

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About myself. I am in a much better mood now. But at times I feel annoyed with all the troubles (though not utterly discouraged). We have done a lot, but we could have done more if we had known in advance. Our time here is flying too fast. Again, no cars available and our work has come to a standstill. Now I feel more at ease because reinforcements have arrived – Chaushansky from the Lenin Library and a staff member from the Historical Library.

The local life keeps changing every day.The Germans have come out their shelters and put up with the present status. Now they seem happy that the war is over. Some of them (if you can believe them) are grateful to the Red Army for the liberation from Hitler and the end to bombing raids. The income inequality among Germans is visible, but none of them would admit the guilt of the war. Most of the streets are free from the rubbles, have a lot of greenery, which makes it easy to overlook the destroyed houses on both sides. On Sundays Germans dress their best and stroll across the city in ruins.
I will describe them in more detail later on.
Embrace you all. M.

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