We have thanked every one that has helped us. We will thank them again.
Who has the pictures now? Does the lawyer have them yet? I wondered if you would get to see them.
We didn’t have any trouble on our way back. Every one was so nice to us. I think air travel is the best way to go. It’s so pretty up among the clouds.
If you need any thing, please let us know of if we can do anything. You know we would do any thing for you we could any time. So do let us know if we can see about anything or do anything any time. Try not to worry about us and remember every one is thinking and praying for you. May God bless all.
Write when you can. Everyone loves you. Let us know if you move and where to write.
Soon it became clear that Frank’s budding friendship with Zigurd—whom he called “one of the finest people I have ever known”38—helped keep his mind occupied and his spirits up, as he explained in a letter to his wife:
21 September 1960
Dearest Barbara,
I am now at my permanent place of residence. I have been moved to a prison about two and one-half hours from Moscow by car at a city called Vladimir. I will remain here I suppose until my three years of prison are finished and then be transferred to a work camp.
The conditions here are very similar to the conditions in Moscow except I have a cell mate. He is a very nice person. He is thirty three years old and speaks English fairly well. He also speaks German and Russian. I don’t think I could have done better if I had chosen him myself. He also is not a Russian.
He is a very interesting person to talk to and helps me a lot when I need any translating done. He is also helping me to learn Russian which I am sure is going to be a big job for him because it is very difficult for me.
I have been here a little over a week now and am getting into the routine. I don’t think it is going to be too bad. Of course it could be a lot better but one cannot expect too much from a prison.
It sure is nice having someone to talk to. My cell mate says he hasn’t spoken much English for the past eight years and says that as soon as he has had some practice it will come back to him. He has improved since I have been here and I think speaks good English. I wish I could speak Russian as good as he speaks English.
There is also a radio in the cell which helps a lot. Of course I cannot understand what is said but the music is very good. It is especially good after the long hours that I spent in solitary confinement in Moscow.
I will be allowed to write four letters a month, maybe two to you, one to my parents and one to a different sister each month. Things will be more or less routine and there will be very little for me to write about. I am sure my letters will soon become boring.
I suppose I should be getting a letter from you soon. I am anxiously awaiting one. It has been a long time since I heard from you. I would also like to know what arrangements you made about cigarettes, etc.
Darling they offered to let me wear my ring and watch but it is against the rules so I decided not to take them. I might lose them so I will give them to you to keep for me when I see you again. Time doesn’t mean very much in prison and a watch would probably keep reminding me not only of the time but of the time remaining. I try to forget about that.
I am allowed to receive one package from you a month. I won’t need too much but there are a few things which would come in handy. I would like to have an English dictionary, a couple of pipes and some pipe tobacco, cigarette paper for rolling cigarettes in case I run out at any time, chap stick of lips, a double edge razor with blades, shaving cream (tube), and after shave cream (not liquid), also a shaving brush. In the food line I could use some dried fruit (apples, peaches, etc.), some [Borden’s] Eagle Brand milk (cans).
If I need anything else as time goes on I will let you know. Don’t send too much at one time for there is very little space to keep it. I will let you know about other foods later.
Darling, I know you worry about me a lot but it is needless. The treatment is good and the food, although not as good as I was getting before, is plentiful and I won’t be losing weight.
When you have time take some snapshots of yourself, your mother, Nell’s family, and Eck and send them to me. I don’t want to forget what all of you look like. No danger of that though for I think of all of you too often.
Darling—take care of yourself and don’t worry about me. I will be all right. Where I am there is very little that can happen to me. I am safer here than in an airplane. Think of it that way.
Remember that I love you with all of my heart and I miss you very much. It seems like a long time but it will pass and then we can be together again and maybe find that there is happiness left in the world for us.
Bye for now.
After a bleak Christmas—made slightly cheerier by the ninety-two Christmas cards he received from the San Francisco area, thanks to the kind suggestion of the influential columnist Herb Caen—my father allowed himself to believe that the new Kennedy administration might push for his release. He wrote in his journaclass="underline"
On New Year’s Day my cell mate translated the toast of Khrushchev to me. In it he stated that with the going of the old year and the government of the US and the coming of the new he thought it best to forget the U-2 Incident so that there might be better relations between the two countries. This toast of Khrushchev’s set my hopes going. I kept thinking that it would be very hard for both countries to forget the incident with me still in prison. My cell mate was also very optimistic. He has always said I wouldn’t be here too long.40
In a letter to Barbara dated January 16, 1961, he said, “I have great hopes of something very important happening soon. I don’t want to build up your hopes but it is entirely possible that I could be released in the near future.”41
Toward the end of the month, in a letter to his parents, he said, “I heard some excellent news on the radio this morning. The two Americans from the [R]B-47 have been released. It could have only been better if I had been with them but our cases were a little different. I am very happy for them and their families and I wish them the best. I personally think my chances of being released early are very good in view of the policy the new government has adopted.”42
At about the same time, Oliver was writing to his son about the same news. Their letters crossed in transit. “If you could have been with them,” he said, “my heart would have been so glad.”43
When Frank learned that the Kennedy White House was doing nothing publicly to push for his release, his spirits sank. But this was not his only reason for despair. He was desperately worried about his wife and beginning to wonder about the future of his marriage, which could be seen in his twelfth letter to Barbara:
March 1, 1961
Dearest Barbara,
Today they returned a letter to me that I had mailed to you on the 23rd of February. It seems I am not supposed to tell you about my cellmate. This means that you won’t get a letter from me mailed in the month of February. I only wrote the one and it was returned and this one is to replace it.
I guess you know that I haven’t received any mail from you since the twenty sixth of January. The one I received then was written by you on the ninth of January. I would like to know what is wrong that you aren’t writing. If you don’t want to write just say so and then I will not expect letters from you. As it is, each day I am waiting for a letter and when it doesn’t come then I am very disappointed. Don’t you think my situation is bad enough without you making it worse?