When we did the “pair share” activity in class, I was surprised by how much overlap there was with ideas and themes of the letters. One of the recurring themes or ideas was the desire to keep the children safe, both physically as well as emotionally. The adults in their lives tended to gloss over the true horrors of what was going on through their letters. This is how the adults kept the children safe on an emotional level. There was nothing to be afraid of because the children had no, or a very limited idea of what was actually going on. If any, how much did the children know about the world around them?
In addition to the overall goal of protecting children, there was a sense of hopefulness as well. The vast majority of the letters were very hopeful for the people, saying something along the lines of, “I cannot wait to see you at a future time.” But that’s not to say that they were all positive. The tone of some were happy, but with an underlying feeling of worry and sorrow. While these feelings were not explicitly written out, I, as well as classmates, could tell that the writers kept some emotions to themselves. Why did they do this? Was it to not have their loved ones be worried?
