Montevideo

República Oriental del Uruguay

May 3, 2012

Dear Family and Friends,

Soon after I purchased my Lonely Planet Argentina travel guide, I wrote a strong letter to the editor.  I told him I was disappointed that the front cover, the spine and the inside cover neglected to indicate any reference to Uruguay.  The small Uruguay chapter is at the very end of the book and appears to be just an afterthought.

The editor responded with some silly explanation but will consider my recommendation for the next edition.   (I checked.  The latest addition is modified per my comment.)

Uruguay does form a buffer state between its enormous and popular neighbors, Brazil to the north and Argentina to the south

Montevideo

Uruguay

El 2 de Mayo de 2012

My Dear Family and Friends,

Forty years ago, in 1972, my father Otto decided to draw a Polatschek Family Tree.  He wrote to his sister Ida Kiewe in London and to his cousins around the world to gather information.

 Eventually, with pen and paper, Otto drew a chart.  He included the names and dates of his relatives, past and present.  In addition, he added as much information as possible about his many uncles, aunts and cousins who had “disappeared” during the Holocaust in Europe in the 1940’s. 

When the large chart was complete, Otto mailed copies to his relatives in Europe, Canada, California, South America, South Africa and Israel.

Over the years, my father and I discussed our Family Tree.   I was curious about where his (my) relatives had lived in Europe and where their descendants were now living.