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

him with great affection, even though this grandfather, while carrying
Lu in his arms at the age of two, had dropped him. As a
consequence, Lu broke his collarbone and had to wear a neckbrace
for a long time.
Lu spoke little about his youth. Once, however, he told me that
he had started reading newspapers at the age of seven and that at
the age of ten he wanted to write a history of the CrimeQ.n W 9.f. He
wrote one page and then discovered in the newspaper that an English
historian had published a ten-volume history. That was the
end of that book.
Lu greatly admired his father, who had been a prominent railroad
construction engineer in the Austrian government and who
died tragically, after a gall bladder operatio~, ~t_the age of fortysix.
Lu revered his father and never forgot his birthday. On August
13, 1941, Lu told me: "On this day my father would have been
eighty-six years old." He must have missed him greatly.
The early loss of a beloved father was not the only sad blow Lu
suffered. His youngest brother died of scarlet fever at a very tender
age, when Lu was only twelve years old.
Lu lived with his mother, whom I never met, but he rarely mentioned
her. However, he never had a word of criticism for her. I
soon realized that this silence was the result of a long and bitter
struggle with himself. He must have suffered in his youth, though
he never complained. Three of the many letters he wrote to me
around this time, which I have translated into English, show
clearly how lonely he was:
Vienna, July 29, '27
My dear, sweet Grete:
Many, many thanks for your dear letter.
Since Tuesday I pondered much about you and your love. You
have renewed in me, what I lost a long time ago, the belief in the
possibility of happiness. Do you know, how much I have to thank
you for, you, my beloved?
1 am sorry to say-I was so rushed the last days-from early morning
to late at night, that 1 could not carry out my wish to go to
Moedling to look after the children. I would have wanted to send you
their love and their greetings. I had some egoistic reasons, too: I
wanted to touch Gitta's hair and think of you.
That is all for today. I still have to do my packing and take care of
various matters. I leave tomorrow morning.
I love you, I can't say more, and I believe it is the most important
thing.
Thousand kisses.
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