Paris-Manchester 1918
Conservatoires in time of war
Letters from Olga Picard to her sister Anna Brodsky
20th October – 4th November 1919
Olga Picard née Skadovsky writes to her sister Anna Brodsky from Russia after the war. Her son Léon was injured on active service.
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Transcription
Très chère sœur
Je suis heureuse de vous savoir tous les 4 en vie, mais je suis très inquiète de même temps de notre Léon, il me semble que les suites des brûlures qu’il a reçu à la guerre sont très graves et que tu me caches la vérité.
6 mois j’étais sans avoir de vos nouvelles, enfin ce mois-ci j’ai reçu ta lettre écrite le 1er Avril, il m’a dit que le docteur lui conseille 2 mois de repos. Quelques jours après je reçois ta carte du 1er Sept. Cette carte n’a été en route que 6 semaines. Tu m’envois l’adresse de Léon, mais je n’ai puis me décider d’en profiter, j’attends qu’il m’écrire lui-même quelques mots et je te prie m’envoyer la lettre ci-jointe. Je lui ai écrit plusieurs lettres adressés toutes rue du Louvre poste restante Paris-
Je me porte bien, je travaille toujours beaucoup sans trop me fatiguer, l’habitude et devenue si grande… naturellement nous vieilissons et nou faiblissons un peu…
Translation
20/10 4/11 19
My dear sister
I am happy to learn that all 4 of you are alive, but at the same time I am very worried about our Léon. I have the feeling that the effects of the burns he received in the war are very serious, and that you are hiding the truth from me.
For 6 months I didn’t have any news of you, but finally this month I received your letter written on the 1st April. He told me that the doctor advises him to have 2 months’ rest. A few days later I received your card dated 1st September. This card took only 6 weeks to arrive. You sent me Léon’s address, but I have not been able to make up my mind to go there. I am waiting for him to drop me a line himself and I ask you to send me the attached letter. I wrote several him several letters, all of which I addressed to him poste restante at the Rue du Louvre post office.
I am still working a lot, but without getting too tired – I’m so used to it . . . naturally we grow old and we get a bit weaker . . .
8th June 1921
Olga Picard née Skadovsky writes to her sister Anna Brodsky from Russia after the war. Olga is staying in the country; Léon has resumed his work as a chemist and is working with war-wounded convalescents.
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Transcription
8/6 21
…Je suis à la campagne, à 22 verstes d’Odessa, en plein champs, là où j’étais l’année dernière, dans le même apartement. Je m’y trouve en[c]ore mieux, parce que mes propriétaires sont déjà bien connus, braves et honnêtes gens. Je comptais en avoir Léon ici pour un mois, mais cela ne sera pas. Il a tellement à faire et de plus en plus. Au labo il fait le travail des chemistes partis sous les drapeaux, à l’hôpital pour les blessés. Il se charge de la besogne de ceux qui s’en vont pour tout l’été à la campagne…
Translation
8/6 21
. . . I am in the countryside, about 15 miles from Odessa, surrounded by fields, in the same apartment where I was last year. I feel all the better here because I already know my landlords well; they are good, honest people. I was hoping to have Léon here for a month, but that will not be possible. He has so much to do, more and more work. In the lab he does the work of the chemists who have been called up; at the hospital he cares for the wounded. He stands in for the people who go off to spend the whole summer in the countryside . . .