December 19, 1936

Dear Sister-in-law and Cousin,

At the turn of the year I want to send you dear ones a few lines. I often think of you who are so far away. From you, dear cousin, I have heard frequently; for this I want to thank you.

I was born July 8th, 1861, am now 75, and you, dear cousin and your husband, are, as far as I know, several years older than I. My six brothers and sisters have all died; I, the youngest, am the only one left. The good Lord alone knows, how much longer I shall be spared.

I live with my son; we are faring well and are all enjoying the best of health. God be praised for this! However, life is a great struggle and we have endured much hardship. I myself was at the front during the war with my two sons; one of them was lost. My son was without work for 3 years, and those who have had such an experience, know what unemployment means. For 5 years we had 6 million unemployed; now there are about 800 thousand. God be praised, the dreadful days are gone and a better time is here. All we had to do "was to pay" the amounts we paid in money and now materials etc are beyond temptation. What was Woodrow Wilson thinking about at that time?

However now a new day has dawned and we are free again. How the French carried on in our dear fatherland! Yes in the Rhineland, in the home of your own dear father! They behaved like savages-the Americans went back home and let the French do as they liked.

Now we are free-but we are poor, we lack raw materials and there is a shortness of food stuffs, especially fats and eggs. There is little gold to buy with, and paper money people do not want. Nevertheless things are much better now; we have to adapt ourselves to the conditions and struggle along.

I myself am not faring badly. For more than a year my son has had employment and the cares and worries of former days are gone. We are grateful to God! The dreadful days are over and gone. When we get our colonies back things will be better; in the meantime, we have to keep up the struggle.

There is only one political party now, with Hitler at the head of the government; formerly there were 30 parties! The party (Nazi) have their own uniform, brown, their emblem is the Swastica. The new form of greeting is the outstretched arm, standing at attention and "Heil Hitler".

Thus we are secure and enjoy peace-we must labour and struggle to preserve our national unity.

Another thing, Unbelief is lifting up its head and they say we should no longer believe in God and his Son Jesus Christ-for this faith they would substitute the old German faith of Aryan blood and race. They say, "We have no use for the Jews; they are too bad. They reject the old testament, and Jesus Christ. Man, especially the German, has no sin, therefore he needs no redemption and no Saviour." What is going to be the upshot of all this? Russia and France are saturated with unbelief, and they are our neighbors.

Our young people's education is entirely under the control of the party and they are taught the new ideas. Old people no longer fit into the new time. Nevertheless, I believe in the Eternal God, the creator of heaven and earth, and on Jesus Christ His Son. He is not the God of the Jews only, but of all mankind and all the world. Should we quarrel with Him because He chose the Jews for His people? Far be it from us! He favours all peoples, and if the Jews disobeyed, he will deal with them. He is Lord of all and He will deal righteously with all. In this quarrel He is sure to be victorious-of this we should be glad, and trust in Him only and wait for His coming again. Therefore our confidence is in Him alone, the great and holy God, praying that He will bring about His Kingdom in spite of human disobedience and unbelief.

The nations are arming again for war; there is unrest and mutual distrust and suspicion. What will all this lead to? Have the peoples not learned the lesson of the dreadful war?

Now dear cousin, I hope that you and your husband are well and are enjoying the best of health. And may you have a very happy and blessed new year. God grant you His peace and blessing. And you dear sister-in-law and family, may the peace of God which cannot be taken away be yours. This wish comes to you from me and my son and his family.

Dear Sister-in-law, I hoped that I would get a letter from you; this would rejoice me greatly. And you, dear George, let me hear from you too, won't you.

Farewell and God bless you all.

Your cousin, brother-in-law and uncle,
Carl Hauenstein, Senior
Lanzstrasse 21/II
Munich, Laim 42, Germany