Letter from Amy D Mehnke to Mrs Ray, Stawell (sent to the Editor of the Sydney Morning Herald)





[*PR82/8*]
Am enclosing a snap I had
taken for Mother. You see I
am quite well again.
'Rotenburg'
Stawell
Sept 19th. 15
Dear Mrs. Ray.
We were so pleased to receive
your letter. Please forgive me for not writing
to you before but I have been very ill.
In May last we received a letter from Mother
saying that Father had been interned at
Ruhleben. He begged Mother to come home at
once but she said she could not leave Father
alone, a prisoner in Germany. She has taken
rooms at a private house in Rotenburg and
is living very quietly there. They visited
Rotenburg when they first got to Germany. It
was Father's birth place and Mother liked
the little xxxx town so went straight there.
Of course she cannot now have anything to
do with any of the relations. She is not
permitted to see Father but writes to him
and sends him food often. It is terribly
lonely for Mother but she says she could not
possibly leave Father quite alone. She does
2.
fancy work all day long. We have only had
four letters - of one page - from Father since
January - when he was taken. There are
about 6000 men quartered in stables and hay
lofts. They feel the Winter very much and are
dreading this coming one: but Father has
just been elected Captain of No 2 Barrack's
so he has the privilege of have a fire &
of buying decent food. He always comes
out top. They wrote that they had no
possible chance of escaping from Berlin
when war broke out.
The week I received word of Father we were
very busy at the shop. It had all been
such a strain on me all the time and my
nerves gave way. They took me to a private
hospital in Melbourne where I very soon
got well again but for four months I
lost the power to walk. I am thankful
to say I am perfectly well again and
am going to take things very quietly now.
My sister has resigned from the Cookery
school and has taken over all my
work but very soon I shall help her.
3.
What a number of socks you have knitted. We
are all working too.
I wonder if you would care to write to Mother
She would love to hear from you.
If you will promise very faithfully not
to mention one word about my illness I
will give you the address. You see Mother
is so lonely we always try to cheer her & it
would worry her if she knew. We are all in
perfect health and are as happy as we
can possibly be under the circumstances.
Everyone is so very kind to us.
Enclose letter in an open envelope addressed
Mrs. G. Mahnke, Rotenburg, i Hannover.
Germany. Pin an International Coupon
for 3d on the envelope - obtainable at P.O.
Place inside another envelope and
address Dr. Ernst Carroll, Commonwealth Trade
Commissioner, Basel, Switzerland. This
envelope may be sealed. 2½d stamp. Dr. Carroll
then forwards letter to Mother.
With love from us all,
Yours sincerely
Amy D. Mahnke
Mrs. Hay
"Riora"
23 Woolcott Street
Darlinghurst.
N.S.W.
INTERNED AUSTRALIANS
MELBOURNE, Wednesday.
The following cable message has been recived
from the High Commissioner's office:-
"With reference to your letter of June 4,
1915, regarding the transmission of letters to
persons in Germany, many letters are arriving
in this office from Australia with coupons attached, valued at 3d. Our only way of transmitting
letters is through Cook's. This costs
1s each. We recommend the publication of
a public notice that letters should be sent
through Cook's agencies in Australia, and not
transmitted through this office. Letters can
also be transmitted through any friend in
neutral countries."

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