Toby Jensky, cont.

As I got further into Toby Jensky’s archive, some of the answers to my original questions came to light, though I don’t think my further investigations lead me to any new insights on Jensky’s character –it seems pretty consistent through out her correspondence. I discovered that the archive box also includes the correspondence of Max Schacter (her brother in law) and Philip (Paul) Schacter who was serving in Spain. In a letter dated September 2, 1937, Toby writes her sister saying that Phil has gone missing after the Battle of Brunete in July. Toby tells of all her elaborate attempts to get more information on Phil but he had either been capture or killed, but his whereabouts were completely unknown. The files of Max Schacter begin with a March 25, 1938 letter to the Department of State. Over months and months, the Department of State continued to respond with repetitive, letters detailing how still no information on Philip or Paul was available and that that type of inquiry usually takes quite a bit of time. By December 19, 1938, the Schacter family received a letter that “feared Mr. Paul was killed in action at Belchite sometime in August 1937. Of course, this information is only partly true, but hopefully at least brought the opportunity to mourn their son and brother. Reading these letters, created a vivid image of how much suffering a family could go through knowing nothing of a missing loved one. It details how frustrating dealing with the bureaucracy would have been.