Tom,

from what I know about correspondence in my own family during that

time it is very possible that it was code.

I imagine that there was justified fear of letters being opened after
they were mailed etc., so it was likely that people who wanted to
communicate something private and/or dangerous would have used other,
inconspicuous terms. In the end you will have to judge that for
yourself, taking into account what happened around the time these
letters were written, how they were written, the context, and also
considering personalities etc. But I would not discount this at all
because I know that it happened in my own family.

Irene Peters, Berlin, Germany iupfamilyresearch@...


On Fri, Apr 15, 2016 Tom Krakauer thkrakauer@... wrote:

My parents , Hans S. KRAKAUER and Elizabeth GOTTSCHALK KRAKAUER left Germany
for Buffalo, NY in 1937 and at that time two of my uncles had already made
it to Ecuador. >from 1937 until after my grandparents made it to England in
July 1939 they wrote at least weekly letters to the 4 Ueberseeers which
fortunately my mother saved. So I have a treasure trove of the events that
the family faced in Hannover including Krystallnacht. These 400+ letters
have been donated to the Leo Baeck Institute.
In looking through the letters I am struck by the number of times that
trips to the dentist (Zahnarzt) were mentioned. With all that was going on
in Germany, the US and Ecuador, I am surprised that the trips to the dentist
rose to that level of significance.
Is anyone aware if Zahnarzt might be code for something that was taking
place? Or is it just the level of discomfort of a toothache.
I would appreciate any thoughts.