New content on the We Were There Too website provides a touching look at life during World War One.
We Were There Too, a unique cross community project created to capture, record, and preserve the contribution of Britain’s Jewish communities during the First World War era has recently added new material to its website according to its most recent newsletter.
The organisation has managed to acquire a special collection of postcards exchanged between Eva and Myer Newman. Most were sent by Eva (‘little Eva’), typically starting with a variation of “glad to hear that you are well, same as it leaves the kiddies and myself.”
While the postcards rarely contain much more than assurances that all is well at home, brief messages from Eva and Myer’s children Sydney and May, and well wishes from wider family, they are intimate in their tone and capture the anxiety of a young family separated by war. In one postcard Eva writes: “I feel quite well, especially when I receive a letter or card from you, those days I enjoy best so write as often as you can.”
One postcard, dated 30th January 1918, mentions a welcome visit by Eva’s cousin Louis and “his young lady”. Louis made a big impression on the children: “They came Friday afternoon and go back Sunday night. I was glad to see him. He took us all to the Empire and had a good time. Sydney loves him because he is a soldier like his daddy.” This refers to Louis Allonowitz, who died eight months later of pneumonia and malaria and is buried at Damascus Commonwealth War Cemetery.