#1944 Maria

[tina-aumont]

Bervely Hills, el 14 de noviembre de 1944

Querido primo Armando:

Con inmenso placer recibí hace tres días tu cariñosa cartita y tu foto y la foto del primo Isidoro que tanto se parece al pobre tío Joaquín (q. e. p. e.).

Tu carta y tu retrato estaban esperando en casa, pues yo estaba en Nueva York adonde fui a hacer una aparición en la Radio y al mismo tiempo ir a buscar a mis hermanas Ada, Consuelo y Lucita las cuales están como yo contentísimas de encontrarse con un primito tan simpático y elegante.

Yo enseguida que recibí tu primera carta le escribí a mis hermanos y al primo Aquilino para que se pusieran en contacto contigo.

Gracias por el recorte de periódico que me mandaste, eres muy gentil y tengo muchos deseos de conocerte personalmente, tal vez te das un viajecito por estos lares o te veré cuando yo vaya por allá que será tan pronto se acabe esta maldita guerra.

En sobre separado te enviamos las muchachas y yo varias fotos de nosotras, para que tú veas cómo en realidad son tus primitas de América.

Te agradecería infinito si me das la dirección del resto de la familia —de mi prima Australia y los hijos de tía Tomasa la cual me dijo Aquilino el primo, está muerta, ¡la pobre!— ¿Cuántos hijos dejó Tomasa? ¿y Gaudencia?

¿Y están aún vivos los tíos de papá?

¿Cuántos hermanos son usdes.?

¿Adónde están el resto?

¿Y hace mucho tiempo que están en Madrid?

Pásame la dirección del primo Isidoro —desearía escribirle a él también y enviarle unas fotos.

Nosotros somos diez, ¡sí, diez! Cinco hembras y cinco varones. Mamá se mudó a la capital que se llama: Trujillo City y queda sólo cuatro horas de Barahona adonde nacimos nosotros —allá con mamá están todos los hermanos, y la pequeñita que sólo tiene 12 años y se llama Teresita —y es lindísima—, mi hermano Isidorito que es el mayor está con mamá y es un señorito muy simpático pero holgazán, mi hermano Aquilino es el jefe de la familia y el encargado de nuestros negocios que es una plantación y negocios de madera los cuales importamos a Inglaterra y Estados Unidos y en tiempo de paz a Alemania y Holanda, Joaquín está aún en la escuela, lo mismo Luis y Jaime, que acaban de entrar en cursos teóricos —Luis se parece algo a tu foto, y Jaime es muy rubio. Aquilino se parece a papá y es muy alto y guapo. Teresita está también en un colegio, mejor debo decir, convento, muy buena estudiante y habla ya el inglés bastante bien.

Ada, Consuelo y Lucita, las cuales puedes ver en las fotos cómo son, se van a quedar aquí conmigo y tratan de hacer carrera —Lucita quiere ser artista de cine y Consuelo modista diseñadora de trajes y sombreros, y Adita no quiere hacer nada, sólo casarse con un millonario, lo cual no es mala carrera, ¿eh? Pero yo no la fuerzo a hacer nada, ella ya verá cómo le gusta la vida sin trabajar, lo cual aquí es muy difícil de sobrellevar. Aquí todo el mundo trabaja, es un vicio.

Tan pronto se acabe la guerra, mamá piensa ir a vivir a España, tal vez en Barcelona o Teruel y se lleva allá a Luis, Jaime y Teresita y formar hogar adonde está nuestra familia, pues en Santo Domingo no tenemos nosotros a nadie, sólo el primo Aquilino.

Espero, pues, hayas ya visto «Arabian Nights» que fué la primera película estelar que yo hice de importancia, después de ésta hice: White Savage que creo la llaman La Blanca Salvaje ó «La reina de la Selva», «La Mujer Cobra», «Ali Babá», «Alma Gitana” (Gipsy Wildcat), y una en trajes modernos llamada «Bowery to Broadway» (no sé cómo la llamarán en español) y mi último film llamado «La Reina del Nilo», la cual es muy bonita película y de un tecnicolor precioso. Aún no sé cuál será mi próxima.

Ésta es una carta enorme y llena de información, ¿verdad?

Cariñosos abrazos a Isidoro y la demás familia.

Ada, Consuelo y Lucita te envían sus afectuosos saludos.

Cariñosamente, tu prima.

María

~*~*~*~

Beverly Hills, November 14, 1944

Dear cousin Armando:

With immense pleasure I received three days ago your affectionate little letter and your photo and the photo of cousin Isidoro who looks so much like poor uncle Joaquín (r.i.p.).

Your letter and your portrait were waiting at home, because I was in New York where I went to make an appearance on the Radio and at the same time go look for my sisters Ada, Consuelo and Lucita who, like me, are very happy to meet with such a nice and elegant cousin.

As soon as I received your first letter, I wrote to my brothers and cousin Aquilino to get in touch with you.

Thank you for the newspaper clipping you sent me, you are very kind and I really want to meet you personally, maybe you will take a little trip around these parts or I will see you when I go there, which will be as soon as this damn war is over.

In a separate envelope, the girls and I sent you several photos of us, so that you can see what your little cousins from America really look like.

I would be extremely grateful if you would give me the address of the rest of the family—my cousin Australia and Aunt Tomasa's children, whom Aquilino, the cousin, told me is dead, poor thing!—How many children did Tomasa leave behind? And Gaudencia?

And are Dad's uncles still alive?

How many brothers are you?

Where are the rest?

And have they been in Madrid for a long time?

Give me cousin Isidoro's address—I would like to write to him too and send him some photos.

We are ten, yes, ten! Five females and five males. Mom moved to the capital called: Trujillo City and it is only four hours from Barahona where we were born - all the siblings are there with Mom, and the little one who is only 12 years old and her name is Teresita - and she is very cute - my Brother Isidorito, who is the eldest, is with mother and is a very nice but lazy young man. My brother Aquilino is the head of the family and in charge of our business, which is a plantation and wood business which we import to England and the United States. in peacetime to Germany and Holland, Joaquín is still in school, as are Luis and Jaime, who have just started theoretical courses —Luis looks something like your photo, and Jaime is very blonde. Aquilino looks like dad and is very tall and handsome. Teresita is also in a school, I should say, a convent, a very good student and she already speaks English quite well.

Ada, Consuelo and Lucita, who you can see in the photos what they are like, are going to stay here with me and try to make a career - Lucita wants to be a film artist and Consuelo a dressmaker, a designer of suits and hats, and Adita doesn't want to do anything, just marry a millionaire, which isn't a bad career, eh? But I don't force her to do anything, she will see how she likes life without working, which is very difficult to cope with here. Here everyone works, it's a vice.

As soon as the war is over, Mom plans to go live in Spain, perhaps in Barcelona or Teruel and she will take Luis, Jaime and Teresita there and make a home where our family is, because in Santo Domingo we have no one, only cousin Aquilino.

I hope, then, that you have already seen "Arabian Nights" which was the first major star film that I made, after this I made: "White Savage", which I think they call "The Wild White" or "The Queen of the Jungle", "Cobra Woman", «Ali Baba», «Alma Gitana» (Gipsy Wildcat), and one in modern costumes called «Bowery to Broadway» (I don't know what they will call it in Spanish) and my latest film called «The Queen of the Nile», which It is a very beautiful film and a beautiful technicolor. I still don't know what my next one will be.

This is a huge letter full of information, right?

Affectionate hugs to Isidoro and the rest of the family.

Ada, Consuelo and Lucita send you their affectionate greetings.

Kindly, your cousin.

Maria

~*~*~*~

First of some letters that are going to be published here just to know a little bit more about Maria, her family and her relationship she had with his cousin Armando Gracia Sanfiel.

This transcription is possible thanks to @74paris who sent me a document called "Los orígenes turolenses y canarios de la actriz de Hollywood María Montez" written by María Victória Hernández Pérez, courtesy of Cabildo de la Palma.

[theworldatwar]

Soldiers from the US Fifth Army advance in to the ruins of Santa Maria - Italy, May 1944

[olivethomas]

Maria Montez in Gypsy Wildcat, 1944

[mallouca]

Me receba no seu coração, longe de todo ruído, me abrigue mais um pouco e depois comecemos a viver esse amor que não pode se cansar. Você inteira, sem uma reserva, é disso que estou ávido – com todo o meu ser.

[barkingbonzo]

Maria Guadalupe Villalobos Velez, aka Lupe Velez, July 18, 1908 to December 14, 1944

[magauda]

Certamente la sicurezza e l’incolumità dello Stato và garantita, ma nel farlo non è consentito ai pubblici poteri calpestare i diritti fondamentali della persona

Nel 1927 nacque il primo nucleo istituzionalizzato: “l’ispettorato speciale di polizia”, costituito presso la Divisione Affari Generali e Riservati del Ministero dell’Interno, che nel 1930 prenderà la denominazione di OVRA <16.Lo studioso De Lutiis, riprendendo quanto affermato da Guido Leto <17 (capo storico dell’OVRA), riporta come la struttura dell’organizzazione fosse articolata in circa…

[nordleuchten]

Brautbriefe Zelle 92

I am currently reading the Brautbriefe, the “bridal letters” or love letters and correspondence between German Pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer and his young fiancée Maria von Wedemeyer and �� they are so very touching and sweet as they are, but knowing all that we know today, knowing how their story ended, they are even more touching and at times quite painful to read.

Bonhoeffer was a member of the Bekennende Kirche (Confessing Church), a movement within in the church in Germany at the time who opposed the attempts of the Nazis to lump all protestant churches together to one large, Nazi approved and approving church. (That is a very short summary, and I would highly recommend you do some reading if this topic interests you. The resistance and compliance within the church at the time and the differing theological views are quite interesting.) Bonhoeffer was involved in the civil resistance against the Nazi regime and arrested 1943 for a number of more or less vague charges. He was executed on April 9, 1945, at the expressed command of Hitler at a time when everybody knew that the Nazi cause was lost, at a time when every death was even more senseless than before, because there was no changing the outcome of the war.

To this day he is one of the most revered theologists of his time in Germany, valued not only for his theological writings but also for his ethics.

Today, he is maybe best known for a poem turned song that he wrote on December 19, 1944 in his prison cell as a Christmas present for his young fiancée Maria and their parents and siblings. It a deep expression of faith and hope and trust in God: Von guten Mächten wunderbar geborgen.

[crushondonald]

Marlene Dietrich in London on 25 September 1944, in uniform of USO Camp shows - a WAAC outfit with forage cap.

"Marlene was staunchly opposed to autocrats and fascists. When she got to that position of security and fame she took every opportunity she could to oppose the Nazis. German foreign minister von Ribbentrop came to visit her [in 1937] at the Lancaster Hotel in Paris bearing a 'Mother's Cross' to woo Marlene back to Germany. It would have essentially made her 'Queen of Germany' with the promise of a carefree life. She said no then and many other times. Hitler never asked again, just labeled her a traitor to the Fatherland." ~ Maria Riva, Marlene's daughter

"I don't think she was ever happier, more fulfilled, than when she was serving the Allied troops." ~ Peter Riva, Marlene's grandson

[condamina]

Certamente la sicurezza e l’incolumità dello Stato và garantita, ma nel farlo non è consentito ai pubblici poteri calpestare i diritti fondamentali della persona

Nel 1927 nacque il primo nucleo istituzionalizzato: “l’ispettorato speciale di polizia”, costituito presso la Divisione Affari Generali e Riservati del Ministero dell’Interno, che nel 1930 prenderà la denominazione di OVRA <16.Lo studioso De Lutiis, riprendendo quanto affermato da Guido Leto <17 (capo storico dell’OVRA), riporta come la struttura dell’organizzazione fosse articolata in circa…

[collasgarba]

Certamente la sicurezza e l’incolumità dello Stato và garantita, ma nel farlo non è consentito ai pubblici poteri calpestare i diritti fondamentali della persona

Nel 1927 nacque il primo nucleo istituzionalizzato: “l’ispettorato speciale di polizia”, costituito presso la Divisione Affari Generali e Riservati del Ministero dell’Interno, che nel 1930 prenderà la denominazione di OVRA <16.Lo studioso De Lutiis, riprendendo quanto affermato da Guido Leto <17 (capo storico dell’OVRA), riporta come la struttura dell’organizzazione fosse articolata in circa…

[tina-aumont]

Here you have the beautiful Gracia/Montez Sisters!!

These set of photos was taken in 1944 and you can see (L-R): Adita, María, Consuelo and Lucita.

Very special thanks to @74paris for sending me some of these photos, the others come from ebay, worthpoint and 2014 documentary about María Montez.

[adrianomaini]

Certamente la sicurezza e l’incolumità dello Stato và garantita, ma nel farlo non è consentito ai pubblici poteri calpestare i diritti fondamentali della persona

Nel 1927 nacque il primo nucleo istituzionalizzato: “l’ispettorato speciale di polizia”, costituito presso la Divisione Affari Generali e Riservati del Ministero dell’Interno, che nel 1930 prenderà la denominazione di OVRA <16.Lo studioso De Lutiis, riprendendo quanto affermato da Guido Leto <17 (capo storico dell’OVRA), riporta come la struttura dell’organizzazione fosse articolata in circa…

[bagnabraghe]

Certamente la sicurezza e l’incolumità dello Stato và garantita, ma nel farlo non è consentito ai pubblici poteri calpestare i diritti fondamentali della persona

Nel 1927 nacque il primo nucleo istituzionalizzato: “l’ispettorato speciale di polizia”, costituito presso la Divisione Affari Generali e Riservati del Ministero dell’Interno, che nel 1930 prenderà la denominazione di OVRA <16.Lo studioso De Lutiis, riprendendo quanto affermato da Guido Leto <17 (capo storico dell’OVRA), riporta come la struttura dell’organizzazione fosse articolata in circa…

[bigarella]

Le recriminazioni italiane si concentravano sulle modalità di applicazione del controllo alleato

Nei paragrafi iniziali di questo capitolo si sono analizzate le politiche e gli atteggiamenti degli anglo-americani nei confronti del governo italiano, nel tentativo di approfondire la comprensione del ruolo svolto dai tre poli alleati nell’evoluzione del panorama politico-istituzionale italiano nel corso dei cruciali mesi compresi tra l’installazione del governo militare e l’arrivo alla…

[pietroalviti]

Ceccano, 26 gennaio 1944, la distruzione di S. Maria a fiume

80anni fa, il 26 gennaio del 1944, la distruzione di S. Maria a fiume a Ceccano. Ecco il filmato di un minuto realizzato dagli allievi del Liceo di Ceccano Oggi, 26 gennaio 2024, alle 14,00 davanti a Santa Maria il suono della sirena ricorderà quel tragico momento, simbolo della sofferenza di un’intera comunità. Qui la ricostruzione di quella drammatica giornata, secondo le informazioni,…

[marcogiovenale]

oggi alle 15:00, all'archivio di stato di roma: "occupazione e resistenza: roma 1943-44. storie e documenti"

OGGI, mercoledì 31 maggio 2023 alle ore 15:00 sarà inaugurata nella sala Alessandrina dell’Archivio di Stato di Roma, corso Rinascimento 40, la mostra OCCUPAZIONE E RESISTENZA: ROMA 1943-1944. STORIE E DOCUMENTI, frutto della collaborazione tra l’Archivio di Stato di Roma e il Museo storico della Liberazione. La mostra ripercorre i nove mesi dell’occupazione attraverso documenti poco noti…