Lilian “Lily” Alice Hawkins (1911-)

    Lilian “Lily” Hawkins was a British woman who lived during this correspondence at two different London addresses: her childhood home of 97 White Hart Lane, in Barnes, and, later, about the summer of 1934, she moved to 10 East Sheen Avenue, in East Sheen; both areas are on the south side of the Thames River, between the Thames and Richmond Park in greater London.

    Lilian was born sometime in July or August 1911, and baptized on 3 September 1911, at All Saints, Battersea Park, Diocese of Southwark, County of London. At the time of her baptism the family was living at 97 White Hart Lane, in Barnes, which is the same return address on her earlier letters in this collection.

    In Lily’s letters she mentions her mother, plus a “Flossie” and “Hugh,” who are married. On the 1939 England and Wales Register, there is a Hugh F.W. Hawkins and his wife Florence A. Hawkins living at 15 Harrington Villas, Brighton, England, which is the address given for Hugh and Flossie in the correspondence offered here.

    Hugh Hawkins was born on 31 March 1910 at Mortlake, Surrey, and worked as an accountant secretary. He is Lily’s brother. Flossie, Hugh’s wife, was born on 26 July 1901 and was listed as “unpaid domestic duties” (housewife). A marriage invitation to Horst Jacobitz shows that Hugh and Flossie were married on 3 April 1938 at Barnes Parish Church. His wife’s name was Florence Alice Saker. Hugh died on 29 March 1989 at Brighton. He was 79 years old. He was still living at the same 15 Harrington Villas address in Brighton. There are five letters in this collection from Hugh to Horst Jacobitz.  Hugh is also mentioned many times throughout Lily’s letters.

    Lilian and Hugh were the children of motor omnibus driver, Alfred George Hawkins, (1881-) and his wife Lilian Elizabeth Stapells (1883-). Alfred was the son of Hugh Frederick Hawkins. He was born at Clerkenwell, London, his wife Lilian Elizabeth born Marylebone, London. She was the daughter of Charles Thomas Stapells and his wife Emma Annie. The Hawkins married at Lisson Grove, Westminster, on 27 March 1909. Lily’s parents (Mr. and Mrs. Hawkins) and her brother Hugh, are all found in the 1911 English Census enumerated at 59 Ashleigh Road, Mortlake, Surrey, in the Richmond district outside of London proper. There are five letters in this collection written by Mrs. Hawkins to Horst Jacobitz.

    Lily’s correspondent is Horst Jacobitz. Horst was born 13 March 1909. His name is on a tombstone with his birth date, but not death date. It appears it may have been his, or his family’s intention for him to be buried at Luisenfriedhof II Cemetery, but perhaps he was buried somewhere else, or his death date was never carved into the stone. This tombstone is located at Luisenfriedhof II, in Berlin, Germany, a cemetery that was located just a couple of blocks from his home (Berlin – Charlottenburg 5, Schloßstraße 23) where Lily Hawkins addressed the letters to him in Berlin during the 1930s. Horst was the son of Alfred Jacobitz (1878-1925) and his wife Gertrud (1881-1951). There was also a brother Herbert Jacobitz (1904-1945), who was buried in this lot, with an inscription on the tombstone of “Hier ruhen in Gott mein lieber Mann unser guter Vater Alfred Jacobitz und meine liebe gute Mutti Gertrud Jacobitz.” One letter in the collection is addressed to Horst in 1965 at “1 Berlin 19 LietzenseeUfer 8, West Berlin.” Online Berlin city directories at Ancestry.com show Horst still living at this address in 1980, so he presumably died sometime after 1980.

    Lily and Horst appear to have met through a mutual friend in 1930. The first letter (19 November 1930) in the collection would seem to be the very first time Lily wrote to Horst, Horst did not even know her surname yet, as in the next letter she has to tell him her last name. The two had a common interest in music and many of their letters discuss music, playing, listening to pieces, etc. Horst is two years older than Lily. Horst plays the violin. Lily plays piano, but Horst appears to be more advanced then she is. He also plays the viola. It is unclear if it is just a hobby, or if he has professional aspirations, which one letter mentions. Horst asked Lily for information from her brother Hugh about clerking, accounting, office work, which was Hugh’s profession. Horst worked at a bank, in a lower level position. Lily and Horst help each other to learn their respective languages. There is also much on Lily’s life, going to concerts, movies, and the theater with family and friends, talking about the royal family, health, the weather, etc. They also correspond about their relationship, Horst appears to have fallen in love with Lily, whereas Lily just wants a good friend and thinks she will never marry.

   The 1930s were a very difficult time in Germany, the economic depression and the rise of Hitler and Fascism. Lily’s letters discuss the troubles going on in Germany, with Lily asks Horst about things she heard in the news. She mentions the riots in 1932 between the Nazis and Communists, in 1933she mentions Hitler. Letters of 8 October 1933; 6 November 1933; 19 August 1934; 9 February 1936, all mention Hitler. Letters of 11 December 1932 and 19 March 1933 mentions riots and shootings in the streets of Berlin; damage to the Reichstag, etc. A letter of 26 January 1935 mentions the “Saar” question and another letter dated 20 February 1939 has mentions of IRA bombings. Lily mentions the 1936 Olympic Games in several of the letters. And a couple of letters in 1938 refer to “Kristallnacht.”

    Lily mentions several Nazi souvenir badges that Horst sent to her, or that she picked up when in Germany. Lily appears to have made several trips to Germany in the 1930s (perhaps 1930, 1936 and 1938). Horst wanted her to move to Germany, but once back in England, she did not want to give up what she had there (her family and homeland) and the couple appear to have maintained a platonic relationship thereafter.

     Besides letters from Lily, there are smaller collections of letters that were written to Horst. One group is from a friend, possibly a relative of Horst, Julius Philipps, of Brooklyn, NY, who writes to Horst. He is an older gentleman and appears to have immigrated to New York City. He was born about 1858 in Saxony, Germany and writes Horst eleven letters between 1931 and 1936. Julius would love to go back to visit Germany before he dies, but he cannot afford it.

     A couple of other women also write to Horst. Ena A.M. Bulman wrote three letters in English and Mary Hedges wrote eighteen letters, all in German. Both women live in England and appear to be English.  It is unclear who “Beb” is, but he/she writes in German from Germany. A couple of later miscellaneous letters from 1965-1966 are also written in German, and from Germany. They appear to be from Horst’s friends in the Berlin area.

       Sample Quotations:

“97 White Hart Lane, Barnes, S.W. 13, England

Dear Horst,

   I am very pleased to make your acquaintance, and hope you have not stopped expecting to hear from me.

   The reason for the delay is that I and a friend of mine have been teaching a fairy play to twenty-five little girls, and as you can imagine that has taken all my time. We had the play last Saturday and it was a great success. It is quite possible that we shall have it again at Christmas time, and that will mean still more rehearsing.

   I have just come home to find an empty house, with the exception of the cat, whom I brought in with me, but as he is washing himself, he is not much company.

    We have had a very exciting afternoon. The Prince of Wales went past the window at four o’clock to a hospital quite close to the office…

I hope you will be able to read this letter, for I admit I am a very bad writer…Yours sincerely, Lily”

“11-12-32

Dear Horst,

Your letter arrived by the last post Saturday @ 9 o’clock. You probably know that, as a nation, we English are called ‘undemonstrative.’ Well, I think it is generally correct, because sometimes, when I am feeling the exact opposite, I feel almost bound to keep my feelings to myself, and then, people in the family think I don’t care about showing sympathy and any of the so-called tender passions…

I read in the paper that Germany is quieting down slightly, and a coming conference is expected to produce better results than in previous sittings. I hope so, and I have not seen articles on the Berlin riots recently.

Have they stopped yet, or do you still her shooting in the streets near your home?

…Auf Wiedersehen, yours, Lily”

“19 March 1933

Dear Horst,

I forgot to answer your question in my last letter, about the posting of the record. I sent it unsealed by letter post. If it is sealed, then I think you would have had to pay duty…

How is the political problem in Germany now? Is the Reichstag being repaired, and are the Nazis & Communists behaving better?

…Many thanks for your prompt reply to my last letter. Hugh wants to know how you ‘Regulate the talkie’ apparatus at the Ufa. He is really interested, not merely curious.

Auf Wiedersehen, Lily”

“Barnes, S.W. 13, 21-5-33

Dear Horst,

I have not received a letter from you this week. Hope you are not ill…

Did you hear Herrn Hitler’s speech in the Reichstag on Wednesday? Hugh said that our Reservists had been warned to be in readiness, but fortunately the warning was unnecessary…

Hoping all is well, yours Lily”

“97, White Hart Lane, Barnes, S.W. 13, October 8^th [1933]

Dear Horst,

I have not yet received a letter from you this week. Is your brother back home? And have you heard the results of your examinations yet?...

In the Daily Herald of last Wednesday, there was a picture of Herrn Hitler, taken when he was a small child. The picture probably made him look much worse than he was, but he certainly did present a curious aspect. I cut it out meaning to send it to you, but when Terry saw it, he said ‘I shouldn’t send it to him, supposing he let somebody see it, who would report it to Hitler’s men; He would get into serious trouble.’ Do you know, that point had not struck me, but of course I tore it up, for I shouldn’t like you to be put into prison, even though you would have more time to write to me then…

Auf widersehen…Yours Lily”

“6-11-33

Dear Horst,

Your letter arrived this morning, and I am answering it tonight…

Do you always have your elections on Sundays? It seems to me that last year you wrote that an election was due on a Sunday. Ours always come during the week…

Herrn Hitler, is, I am afraid, very unpopular in England. Quite a number of our popular cartoonist of English papers have drawn pictures about him, &, being what they are, these men are not polite in their picturings. We think them extremely clever, & in some instances really witty, but your countrymen wouldn’t be expected to think this. To you, a foreigner’s jokes are pointless & hurtful. While agreeing that the cartoons are good, I disagree with the idea of inserting them in newspapers. It’s tactless, to say the least. But you will see that Herrn Hitler is not popular.

You have expressed my thoughts exactly. Sometimes I would give a lot to be permitted to talk to you, & get an answer the next minute. Letters are all very well in their way, & serve their purpose in the absence of something better. But how can we talk, when two weeks must elapse before we may hear the answer…

Yours ever, Lily”

“February 9^th, 1936

My dear Horst,

Thank you for the enlargements, the letter, and the M.O. all of which came during the past week…

Yesterday I went to a dance, with the usual party. My Aunt and her relations, and a few friends. I had a very enjoyable time, and whilst dancing with one of the friends, whom I have met at previous dances, he said ‘How is your friend?’ I told him about you, and our holiday, and our dancing, and said that I should go to Germany this year. He was interested, and wants to know my impressions of Germany, as a change from newspaper impressions. Then I reported upon your views (we were dancing all this time) and he was surprised to learn that you were all loyal to Herr Hitler…

Auf Wiedersehen, my dear, Lily”

“Sunday 30.8.1936

Dear Horst,

This is a very difficult letter to write. You know that I love you more than an ordinary friend, but I also love my country and home, and friends; at present this latter is the greater love; you will see that a country, home and friends earn a different love to one special friend, and you have made it easier for me to tell you this by your sympathetic letter.

Whilst with you in Germany I honestly believed that I could live there for always, and you do know that I did not feel happy when leaving you. Since being home, however, I have realized fully what I should be leaving, when leaving England.

I must say again, that my regard for you is different from the feeling I have had for any other person in my life. Never have I talked to a friend, or relation, as I talked to you on our last Sunday together; and when I confess this, you must know how I think of you, when, even Nan has not received my confidences, as Horst did. We were great friends before Terry came home, and talked, as sisters will, of things which ordinary friends do not speak of.

Do you know, I believe that you have taken Nan’s place in my heart, as I do not miss her at all, but I should miss you and your letters, terribly, if you ever decided to stop our correspondence.

Can we go on with our writing, as though there was no such thing as marriage in the world? I am sufficiently selfish to want you love, and your letters; when I am only giving you love and letters in return, and knowing that you want more than this.

You said, quite truly, I think now, that I was a harder nature than you, and compared me with the girl to whom your friend is engaged. We are in a difficult and most unusual position, and it is all because I am selfish and will not give up my home and my present life. If it gives you any consolation, I will tell you that I think I shall never marry, and in perhaps ten or twenty-years’ time, I shall deeply regret this letter, but that isn’t now, is it?

I most sincerely hope, that this will not stop your coming to England next year, if you are able to come…

I am sorry that you think Hilde is not a very nice girl. Perhaps girls do get selfish when they live alone, and have to fight the world for a living. I know I am selfish and not living alone; there is no excuse for me…

Believe me to be your loving Lily”

 “Monday, 21/3/38

Dear Horst,

I am so ashamed of myself. Just fancy, my forgetting my Horst’s birthday. I really deserve spanking hard. Of course, I never do remember dates, names, or addresses, but the 13^th March is sufficiently important for even my terrible memory to grasp. Am I forgiven?

There is a paragraph in my paper today which says: ‘Ex-Chancellor Schuschnigg may be tried for the execution of the Nazi who murdered Dr. Dolfuss.’ It seems to be a Reuter message, and so authentic.

I will send you a paper this week. I didn’t care to last week, as sometimes the Daily Telegraph is not allowed into Germany, and I rather think that the speeches would not be liked by your censors, also the articles. You know that ours is a free press, and the reporters say anything they like about any subject or person. It isn’t so bad this week…

Yours ever, Lily”

“Sunday 21/8/38

Dear Horst,

We can never be strangers to each other, so never think that we are heading that way. On the other hand, we shall never be more than good friends. You are not hoping that I shall change my mind? If you are, it would be unfair of me, to write in a warm manner, and lead you to believe that I have changed towards you and Germany. I know I have, for the past year, been writing as a friend telling you my news, being interested in your news. You say my letters are as in our earlier friendship. My dear, I intended that they should be so. It is better. I hoped you would meet another, whom you would love deeply. But it is not so, yet. After writing all this, I should be cold and distant in three weeks’ time, to prove that I mean it all. But I shant! I’ll be as nice as I can, and poor silly boy will start getting useless ideas into his head again…

Yours sincerely, Lily”

“10 East Sheen Avenue, Tuesday, [27 Sept 1938]

Dear Horst,

Matters are developing rapidly, aren’t they? I have not waited for the rest of your pictures, as there might be no opportunity for me to answer, and I want to say, if there is a war, we shall not be able to write to each other, of course; but when it’s all over, write to me at this address, and even if I have left, I shall apply to the post office. I will do the same! Write to you at your address, and hope that you will receive the letter. I sincerely hope these precautions are unnecessary; if there is war, Mother will most likely have to give up this house, as the 3 men will probably leave, Charles & Mr. Brader because they will have to, while Mr. Holme will certainly go as far from London as he can…

…love from Lily

P.S. I hope we shall be corresponding next week.”

“Monday [4 Oct 1938]

Dear Horst,

I am writing this week. Isn’t it wonderful! I really thought that last week’s letter was to be the last for ages. But all’s well…

Oh Horst, why do you bring up that old subject again! You are quite right in your surmise. When I started reading your letter I thought ‘Why didn’t he say this before I left him?’ I know we hadn’t much private talk together, and what little we did have was whispered in my room at night.

I am still of the same mind as always. I am not made for a wife (so I think) and am very content as I am. It would have been better for you, if we had never met, wouldn’t it? You would probably have settled down quite contentedly with a German girl, or even an English girl. Don’t say No! Of course, you would! Why not? It’s only because you have fixed your thoughts on one, that you don’t think of another. Therefore, if you hadn’t known the one, you would possibly have taken another. Or else been a contented bachelor all your life. Oh dear, that all sounds abrupt and hard. I don’t want to hurt you, but what can I say? I know we are happy together, but my dear, I couldn’t be content away from England. Though it is raining hard, and the wind is blowing furiously, and it’s very very cold, still, it’s home…

With lots of love, from Lily”

“[14 Nov 1938]

Dear Horst,

Thanks for your letter. I’m glad you enjoyed the papers. Have you bought the Daily Telegraph yet? If not, I will send one, as Mr. Holme has it. I suppose you must not tell me anything about the riots last week [Kristallnacht]? I hoped you would in your last letter, but didn’t expect it…

The German lessons are progressing. We learnt the time last week. I am surprised to find how much German I do know. Aren’t you surprised to know that?

This is a short letter…With love from Lily”

“Monday [28 Nov 1938]

Dear Horst,

…With reference to the trouble in Palestine. I (being English) suggest that your newspapers make a lot of bother about what is not worth mentioning in the British press You must understand that we have a free press, meaning that our papers are allowed to print what they please, within reason. Your newspapers have to print the news which is given them, possibly by the government. Therefore, they will get news, greatly magnified, which is not sufficiently interesting to print in our press. Our papers have special correspondents in Palestine! This means people who live there. They would not let news of atrocities go unreported, if only because they will be well paid, and possibly earn promotion, by their reporting of the news!

So, don’t you agree with me, that your papers attach more value to our Palestine troubles than is necessary? Occasionally, there is an article and a few photographs in different papers, which proves that news is not being suppressed. But we can’t disbelieve all our papers, all the time, with their reports of your troubles. In Berlin too! The last straw is making the Jews pay for the damage done to their property, by people who will use the fine for the further good of the country. Oh well, I know you will not agree with me, though the case as I see it, is definitely one of the bully, bullying through others.

Probably Hugh has given you his views on the subject, and I should do better to leave it to him, as he does read the papers, and I rarely do so…

With love to the family and yourself, yours, Lily”

“5/1/39

Dear Horst,

I will not mention a further invitation to Mother, until you have replied to her letter. Perhaps you are writing today…

Did you read of the bomb explosions on Friday in two of our underground stations? I confess, these bomb troubles are serious now; 7 people were injured on Friday, one seriously so, and is not expected to recover.

But you must not hold that against the British. It is the Irish who are attacking us, not vice versa, and the case is not at all similar to that case of the Reich and the Jews. It is entirely the other way round. The minority in your case are being persecuted by the government. In our case, it is the minority who are troubling the government, and incidentally, the whole of London, for we don’t know where the next explosion will occur…

I have a new song called ‘Vienna, City of my Dreams,’ (Wien, du Stadt meines Träume). It is in German and English, and I am trying to sing it in German. You must help me with the pronunciation.

Yours, Lily”

“10 East Sheen Ave.

S.W. 154

30 July 1939

Dear Horst,

Mother and I went to the Sheen Cinema yesterday (at the corner of Sheen Lane). We saw Sabu, who is a small Indian boy, has not been seen in Berlin, but he is very popular here, just now. In this film, which presents a story of India, and British rule in that country, the soldiers were from a Scottish Regiment. They were dressed in the kilts, and four did a sword dance, and it was beautiful. I still wonder why we did not send a group of Scottish Sword dancers to Berlin for the Olympic Games. We had the next best thing; namely a group of men dancers, but, good gracious, when we have such polished entertainers in Scotland, why send Englishmen.

…I agree, the I.R.A. are going too far. They are however, being deported rapidly back to Ireland. De Valera has said that any Irishman deported to Ireland for I.R.A. activities will be shot; so, he apparently has nothing to do with these bombings…

With love & 12 kisses from Lily”