|
How much education did you receive before
the Holocaust?
Before
the Holocaust, nine years. I started at the age of five and they advanced
me. From the seventh grade on I could move into high school—we did not have junior high so those last two years were the equivalent of middle school here, or junior high here, but we called
it high school. To go to high school I had to go to the nearest
city Beregszász which was the provincial capital. Only a few people
could go to Beregszász to high school because beyond elementary school
it was expensive to go to high school. But my father felt very strongly
that all of us should be educated. Later on this was no longer possible
because when I was in high school we had to sit in the back seat and
wear the yellow star.
My
family had been excused from wearing the yellow star because my father
was a hero in WWII [WWI]. He was highly decorated. He had six medals.
Remember WWII [WWI] our area was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
I am sorry, correction, World War One and my father fought in the Austro-Hungarian
army in WWI where he was decorated. At that time they fought on the
side of the Germans. They lost the war! The Austro-Hungarian Empire
crumbled and it affected us tremendously because we became a part
of Hungary at that time. I stand corrected again, I'm sorry. We became
a part of Hungary in 1938 when I was 8 years old. That is when we
had to make decisions about which school to attend. As I mentioned
the
pressure was very great on my parents. None of us wanted to change
to Hungarian schools but that's what my parents felt they should do
in order to make our lives easier, this was the step we had to take.
In what other ways did that government change
effect your life?
Greatly.
The government, until I was 8 years old, was Czechoslovakia. Life in
a
free country for the Jews - for us as well as other Jews - was
really good because we could strive and we could get ahead. We could
do things with our lives. Education was encouraged and the government
helped
with the education of its citizens. But once we became Hungary not
only was education very expensive, we had to qualify – we
had to be among the top students to enter high school. We were sought
out. We were no longer equal to the non-Jewish residents. We began
to feel that in the schools and in our encounter with the non-Jewish
population in our town.
We
would play games in the schoolyard and we would not be included anymore.
By separating us from the other students the others had the feeling
that something was wrong with us. We were isolated and that we were
not to be tolerated. The Jewish kids were bewildered by this. We didn't
do anything wrong. As time went on this became worse and worse.
I
learned in retrospect why, that is that the Nuremberg laws filtered
down into Hungary and were used against us. There were all these
new
rules
and new
changes that took place that affected us. We thought at the time that
the Hungarians had dreamt up all of these new rules. That's because
we had blackouts. Radios were confiscated. We no longer had the news
available to us that we had under Czechoslovakia.
One
of the major ways my parents were affected by it was that we had
to close our little store which is what created liquid cash for us.
Once the store was closed we no longer had any income from the store.
We children were still growing
and we
needed
shoes,
clothes
and everything.
In terms of foods we had no problems because we had animals on our
farm. We had horses. We had cows. We had plenty of milk, cottage cheese
and
butter, any of this. Even little calves provided us with
veal in the springtime. In fact we left one behind, a new little calf,
and the horse had a little colt. It was so adorable! Somehow they
enriched our lives, seeing them suck their mother's udders. It is just
as touching as a human child.
We
lived off of the land. We had two vineyards. We had nuts growing. We
had a fruit orchard so various kinds of fruits were growing in our
yard and in front of the grape fields, the vineyards. In fact we had
so much milk that we shared it with those who did not have land and
who were not able to provide their families with milk. Particularly
after the little calf was born. One cow would give us as much as 13-14
liters of milk. There was plenty to go around for relatives
and close friends who didn't have a farm.
We
also had a threshing machine, the only one in the town. In the summer
and the fall it would go from farm to farm. It also created cash
for the family. Three people owned this, my father and two other partners.
These two partners were non-Jews, they were very good friends of my
dad. One of these gentlemen pulled out when the Jews were beginning
to be threatened. He did not want to risk his own status quo. The other
one, however, remained being a partner. They paid off the other
gentleman. So it was 50:50 between dad and Károly Bácsi.
He became a judge of the town later. In fact I learned later, that
not only did he stay with dad at a time when it was dangerous for him,
but he even saved my father's share. When he came back – he made it
– this gave my father some cash to get started.
|
