My Years with Ludwig von Mises.pdf - The Ludwig von Mises Institute

I was twenty-seven years old when I became a widow for the
first time, with two small children and the inflation raging. Feri
had left a letter in which he begged me to stay with the children
and not return to the stage. This letter was surely meant for the best
interest of the children. But Feri could not foresee the outcome of
the economic situation. Inflation had consumed the value of all
savings. I remember how I found, some months after Feri's death,
a wallet of his containing large sums of Austrian kronen, the old
currency that had since been changed into schillinge. The time
allowance for exchanging kronen into schillinge had expired. The
value of the money was totally lost. Though we still had some real
estate, it was notthe right time to sell. I knew I would have to work
to earn our Iiving.
One day that winter the Deutsche Volkstheater called. Maria
Orsca was supposed to perform that night as a guest Rahel in
juedin von Toledo. She was in such a bad state, they said, that she
was incapable of going on stage. Would I take over? I could not. I
had to let them down. Feri's letter haunted me. I tried various
times. I got interesting offers, but I never had the courage to go on
stage again. I could not forget that letter.
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