Körbecke, December 6, 1922 Dear Cousin Bernhard!

Last night I returned from a trip to Dortmund and thus I will once again take the time to finish my letter. D.C.B., I still own a large business building in Dortmund, which I built myself in 1909. Therefore I have to check on the tenants once in a while, and so I had a Dortmund brew and also some lunch. A small meal and one glass of beer cost 500 Mk. You cannot imagine all the rest of the inflation. I wanted to buy one Mille cigars from my supplier, the same brand that I used to smoke for 15 years; they were 100 Mk for one Mille before the war, now they are 100,000 thousand Marks. That was too much for me, I did not buy, especially since the quality has gone down. The same way all goods have gone up in price, before the war one liter of good spirits was 1 Mk, now it is 1600 Mk and so on. This is not even the worst; the situation of groceries in the cities is very, very tense. I already wrote enough of that and might sadden your heart even more. Germany is defeated if America doesn't step in. Right now much is being written about America

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intending to send us food supplies for 50 million dollars; if only that was to come true, otherwise it will certainly happen the way I already described to you. Now enough of lamenting, Now all you dear cousins with wives and children, from your formerly beautiful fatherland I call out to you a warm farewell, accompanied by the wish to see one of you again some time. Should this wish not be fulfilled, then it'll have to be a reunion in heaven. Then once more the most cordial Christmas wishes to all of you. Dear cousin Bernhard, hopefully this letter will find itself in your hands if it is delivered like your last one. Then here's wishing to all your loved ones a heartfelt and happy New Year, and I assume these wishes may be the last ones from me. Now, dear Bernhard, I am once again bundling all my good wishes and blessings and am calling out to you, dear Bernhard, a warm farewell, I love and value you. You remember your homeland and your mother, who is resting here, in every one of your letters. Therefore go into your church at Christmas time; I myself have ordered a holy mass for her to be read during Christmas time, and so it can come to pass that on the very same day when you are sending a child's prayer for her up to heaven, she is being remembered here, too. Like always, my dear wife sends her regards as well; my children have all left the house, and I remain in unwavering love, your cousin Aug Stockebrand

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Should I have forgotten to write about something, forgive me, my memory and my eyes are no longer in good shape.