Veisteri from Stalingrad

This is a letter from Stalingrad city in the USSR to Latvia. Unfortunately, the time, when it was written, is not known. I guess it should be the end of the 1920s, when the industrialization of the USSR started on and rather many factories were being built in Stalingrad. The author of the letter worked in the Metallurgic factory of Stalingrad what can be judged from the working leaflet for the managers of this factory that he used to write the letter (see, below). The letter contains information about the prices in the USSR at that time, but as the time period is not known and the author did not inform about his salary level, it is difficult to make conclusions. In any case the figures do not correspond well to those that are mentioned in the letters of Rainen written in 1936.

The text is written in the orthography that was not used in Latvia at that time. Evidently the author acquired the writing skills in the prewar region of Latvia. He made some mistakes also in this orthography what is easy to explain by the lack of practice.

I have some other texts and photographs relevant to Vaisters family, but they need additional study. What I could say at this moment is that I think the addressee of the letter was Pēteris Vaisters, who lived in Gropiņi farm of Vecpiebalgas pagasts. It is possible that quite near was also situated Vec-Gropiņi farm where Augusts Bračs - an author - lived, because several documents relevant to him were offered at the same time.

The author of the letters presumably was A.Veisters. There is also in the archive a photograph of him that was taken in Staraja Russa health resort, where A.Veisters evidently spent holidays in July 1933.

The text of the letter in Latvian:

Mihļee Weisteri

Juhsu sweizeeni gluschi negaiditi tā ka no semes izlihda un taisni us jauno gadu - ja nebuhtu pats lasihjis un apskatijees aptaukstijis ka Toms - netizetu gan.

Antons ar weenu peemin kad onkuls man sawu fografiju atsuhtihs - tatschu gaidahm kad vinschs atsuhtihs ne tikai weenu a wisus leelos un masos.

Kad sinu ka esat wehl Gropiņos un dsihwi tad norakstihschu ko wairahk un aprakstihschu ka dsihwojam jaunā padomes Kreewijā - ihsumā dsihwojam nav ko schehlotees - buhtu jau nesmuki ja paschi komunisti teiktu ka slikti dsihwojam jo muhsu familijā no trijeem diwi esam komunisti (tehws un dehls)

Darba peeteek deenests tas pats kortehls labs, alga peeteekoscha naw ko ne schehlotees ne leelites weens kas naw paprahtam maksaju par fabrikas korteli 16 rub par mehnesi gribot negribot jadoma pascham par sawu, un ja wiss buhs ta tagad tad rudeni buhsam sawā mahjā.

Ehdamahs weelas kas Jums nemas neintrese mums ir pirmā weetā. Maise rupja 7 kap. klgr. (ap 3 k. mahrzinā) gaļa leellopu 15-25 k. zuhk. gala 20-30 k. sweests kausehts 1 rub. swaigs 70-80 k peens swaigs 15 k. pudelē. Manufaktura - dahrga wadmala 5-15 rub. metr. sitezs ap 35 metrs un tt.

Sirsnigs paldees par sweizeeneem no wiseem - un wiseem Weistereem.

My translation (the names are transcribed according to the modern rules):

Dear Veisters

Your regards were quite unexpected, just like they jumped out of the ground and right to the New Year - if I have not read and touched by myself, I had not believed like Thom.

Antons frequently asks when the uncle will sent his photograph - we are waiting eagerly when he will sent and not only one but many of them with all people - adults and kids.

When I know that you are alive and still living in Gropiņi, then I write more about life here in the new Soviet Russia - shortly speaking, we have nothing to complain to - and it would not be nice, if the communists themselves complained about the life, because in our family two from three are members of the communist party (the father and the son).

We have enough of work, the flat is good, the salary is sufficient, nothing to complain to or to be proud with, one thing I do not like is that I pay 16 roubles monthly for the flat provided by the factory, so somehow or other one should think about his own flat, and if everything is O.K., at the autumn we move to our own house.

The food, that has no importance for you, is at the first place for us. The rye bread costs 7 kopecks for a kilogram (about 3 kop. for a pound), beef 15-25 kop., pork 20-30 kop. melted butter 1 Rouble, fresh butter 70-80 kop., fresh milk 15 kop. a bottle. Textiles are expensive - woolen cloth 5-15 roubles one meter, printed calico 35 for a meter and so on.

Thank you for your regards and best regards from all of us to all of you Veisters.