Dear Mr. and Mrs. Lohmeyer,

I read of the neo-nazi hoodlums in Germany burning down your barn recently on the BBC. I want to express my strong regret and total solidarity with you.

Regrets, because this evil has not yet been eradicated — 77 years after mobsters with the same beliefs, in 1938 Berlin, destroyed, damaged, or confiscated my parents’ store and livelihood, our apartment as well as my education and German citizenship. We didn’t have a crystal chandelier for them to smash.

Solidarity, because I can easily imagine some of what you are feeling now; to be a victim, I remember, is always very upsetting and frightening. I note happily in the BBC article however, that you now have police protection (which was not available to us then), so things have improved somewhat.

Had more good Germans like you protested against Hitler in the early 1930's, the world might have avoided World War II, and millions of innocents needn’t to have suffered and died.

I also enclose a small check to help rebuild your barn. I hope it gets to you.

Cordially yours,

(Signed) Alfred Fiks

email: aifiks@yahoo.com

PS: Unfortunately, the original letter to the Lohmeyer’s (which was sent by snailmail with the best address I could tease out of the BBC article) did NOT reach them. My letter was returned a few months after mailing, complete with check. If any Medium reader might know, or have access to the correct & current Lohmeyer street address in Germany, I would be very grateful for the information. AF