Quick Take: A Last Love Letter on Display
Frank Grunwald didn’t find his mother’s letter among his father’s belongings until 1967, long after they were imprisoned together at Auschwitz-Birkenau. While Frank and his father, Kurt, were selected for labor, his older brother, John, who walked with a limp, was not. Vilma Grunwald chose to accompany her son to the gas chamber so he would not die alone. The letter she sent to her husband shows the state of mind — and humanity — of someone who was about to be killed:
“You — my only and dearest one — do not blame yourself for what happened. It was our destiny….Take care of the little golden boy and don’t spoil him too much with your love.”
After the war, Kurt and Frank immigrated to the United States. Frank donated the letter to the Museum so it would be preserved for all time and be in the public domain “to reassure people that this is not fiction…. This is a real note, written by a real person just hours before she was killed.” Last year, he visited the Museum to see the letter on display. “When I’m gone, this letter’s going to be here. And I want people to see the strength of a person that really had a tremendous amount of dignity and a fantastic character — someone filled with love rather than hatred and resentment.”
