It can immediately be seen from this letter than David Thomas was very poorly educated in English, and it was almost certainly not his first language. However, beyond his liberal use of capital letters and almost non-existent spelling and punctuation, it is clear that he was a very loving man, who cared deeply for both Evelyn and Herbert. On more than one occasion, he speaks very fondly of Herbert, and seems proud of the education he is receiving.

David's underlining of the word "God" each time he uses it could be an indication that he had a pious upbringing, although he does not use the form "G-d", as many pious Jews do today, to avoid perceived inappropriate use of Hashem's Name.

David refers to Herbert as his nephew's son, and Morris Kowalski as his nephew. Morris' parents are believed to have been Dawid Szloma Kowalski (1864-1930) and Szejna Gitl Tobiaszora (1864-1925). As Dawid's brothers are known, it could be that David was a brother of Gitl's, born under the surname Tobiaszora. Certainly, Thomas is a plausible anglicisation of Tobiaszora. There is a David Thomas listed on the 1930 census in Brooklyn aged 55, who arrived in the US in 1905, who could be a candidate for this David S Thomas. His age implies a birth year of 1874/5, which is consistent with his being Gitl's brother, and certainly within his mother's fertile years. If this David is the author of this letter, he would be around 70 years old at the time he wrote it, which is consistent with his mention of his and his wife's health and recent stay in hospital.

Later in the letter, David refers to Evelyn and Herbert a second cousins, which is inconsistent with Herbert being his nephew's son. If this is the case, Evelyn and Herbert would have been first cousins, once removed. However, even today, many people are confused by the method of labelling degrees of "cousinship", so this is not to be taken too literally.

It is obvious that David is keen to introduce Evelyn to Herbert and vice versa. My instinct as a single Jewish man initially told me he was trying to make a shidduch between the two! However, if David was born c.1875, it is unlikely that Evelyn would have been a similar age to Herbert, who had not long had his 17th birthday. On the 1930 census listing, David's wife, Tillie, is aged 54. If Evelyn was even 20 at the time this letter was written, that gives her a birth date of c.1925, when Tillie would have been in her late 40s. However, ages on censuses are notoriously inaccurate, so nothing can be assumed about Evelyn's age until further evidence is collected.

In conclusion, this letter gives us a wonderful glimpse into a father's love for his daughter and brings to life the characters involved. Items such as this remind us that our ancestors were more than just names, dates and statistics on sheets of paper or in software programs; they were real people with real loves and fears, many of whom lived in a world far more dangerous than the one we live in today.

Read David's letter to his cousin Morris Kowalski of 10 February 1945