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Displaying 45031 - 45060 of 50826 results
Mihaly Eisikovits
According to the Jewish traditions, if the wife dies, the husband has to marry the wife’s sister. And it happened so. My grandfather married his sister-in-law, Malka. The children who were younger than my father remained in Nagyiklod.
My grandfather learned the Talmud, but I don't know exactly where. He worked in the distillery from Nagyiklod, and he knew distillation – distillation was a profession, after all. He was an average height man with mustache. His mustache was just like any other Hungarian middle-class man's, and had no twirl.
Because they cried enough when they were forced to! Because the Jewish nation in many, many cases was force to live at the periphery, they were ostracized. While they were at home, in Judea, some were shepherds, others were farmers, cobblers or fishers. But when they were dislodged and lost their homes, they went to new places, where they couldn't find trust.
They only were allowed to stay at the margin of the villages and only for a while. They weren't able to raise cattle, sheep, goats or lambs, they had no land for agriculture. What else could they do? They had to huckster. Because they had to live, their children needed milk, you know. I can tell you many things, especially about the misery of the Jews!
They only were allowed to stay at the margin of the villages and only for a while. They weren't able to raise cattle, sheep, goats or lambs, they had no land for agriculture. What else could they do? They had to huckster. Because they had to live, their children needed milk, you know. I can tell you many things, especially about the misery of the Jews!
It is a known fact that the great rabbis [especially the Hasid rabbis] had their own court and school. Thus every rabbi has his own team and his own march, as well.
March is not the most adequate expression, I'd rather say they have their own music. And in many cases they don't have lyrics. But the music is able to express moods, feelings. And the Jews from the rabbi's court, the older ones, younger ones and the children, know these things. And they sing them when they meet.
For example they sit down to the Friday evening supper and they sing after the supper. They also sing on Purim, Pesach and other holidays. They sing on other people's holidays, as well, if they are allowed to. And Jews also used to dance! With their unwieldy top boots and clumsy caftans, if they felt like taking the floor, they danced.
March is not the most adequate expression, I'd rather say they have their own music. And in many cases they don't have lyrics. But the music is able to express moods, feelings. And the Jews from the rabbi's court, the older ones, younger ones and the children, know these things. And they sing them when they meet.
For example they sit down to the Friday evening supper and they sing after the supper. They also sing on Purim, Pesach and other holidays. They sing on other people's holidays, as well, if they are allowed to. And Jews also used to dance! With their unwieldy top boots and clumsy caftans, if they felt like taking the floor, they danced.
Romania
And I also wanted to tell you that Max Eisikovits visited the Jewish populated regions when he collected Jewish folklore.
He came to Borsa, Tecso, I don't know, to these places where there always was a rabbi. There was no way he could just drop into a Jewish house and ask the family to sing for him. He had to go to the rabbi first and had to tell him why he came, and ask the rabbi to help him, and ask him to assign one of his disciples to help him.
Once, I think it happened in Viso or Borsa, that the rabbi told him: 'Alright, but please tell me, do you have a tzitzit?' He answered: 'Unfortunately I don't.' 'If you don't have, there is nothing I can do for you.' And the rabbi sent him away.
He went to the village then, and walked until he bought a tzitzit. He returned to the rabbi and the rabbi asked again: 'I asked you if you have a tzitzit?' 'I do!' 'Alright then!', and he assigned a disciple to help him, and they went to the families, who already knew him, because Viso is not Paris.
He came to Borsa, Tecso, I don't know, to these places where there always was a rabbi. There was no way he could just drop into a Jewish house and ask the family to sing for him. He had to go to the rabbi first and had to tell him why he came, and ask the rabbi to help him, and ask him to assign one of his disciples to help him.
Once, I think it happened in Viso or Borsa, that the rabbi told him: 'Alright, but please tell me, do you have a tzitzit?' He answered: 'Unfortunately I don't.' 'If you don't have, there is nothing I can do for you.' And the rabbi sent him away.
He went to the village then, and walked until he bought a tzitzit. He returned to the rabbi and the rabbi asked again: 'I asked you if you have a tzitzit?' 'I do!' 'Alright then!', and he assigned a disciple to help him, and they went to the families, who already knew him, because Viso is not Paris.
When waking up, one says the only prayer allowed for a Jew before wash: 'Majdi ani lofunechu, melehajd dukajo' [Modeh ani l’fanecha, Melech chai v‘kayam…] – I give thanks to You for You have returned my soul to me, awaken me and letting me do my everyday routine and show my love for You ['I'm thankful to You, ever living King, for compassionately returning my soul to me, how great is Your faithfulness.'] After one says this prayer, washes up, puts on one's shirt and this tzitzit on the shirt
[Editor's note: Mihaly Eisikovits referred to the tallit katan here, which is usually worn under the shirt] and gets dressed. The tzitzit are actually the four fringes in the corners.
The fringe is made of eight threads, but it also includes a ninth one, which is longer, and with this one must tie up them seven times first, then a kink [knot] must be made, then one should tie up nine times, eleven times, thirteen times with a kink between them.
My father wore it for a while, but my grandfathers wore it all the time. I also used to wear it in my childhood, until I went to middle school at age eleven.
[Editor's note: Mihaly Eisikovits referred to the tallit katan here, which is usually worn under the shirt] and gets dressed. The tzitzit are actually the four fringes in the corners.
The fringe is made of eight threads, but it also includes a ninth one, which is longer, and with this one must tie up them seven times first, then a kink [knot] must be made, then one should tie up nine times, eleven times, thirteen times with a kink between them.
My father wore it for a while, but my grandfathers wore it all the time. I also used to wear it in my childhood, until I went to middle school at age eleven.
Max Eisikovits told me the following story. In addition to the tallit which one wears sometimes, there is another Jewish skin cover [the small tallit, that is the tallit katan, a square piece of cloth which covers the breast and the back] every Jew is compelled to wear.
It is a piece of canvas with fringes in front and at the back. The Hasid Jews wear these [the fringes] on the outside, while modern Jews put them in the trousers. According to the Jewish rules you have to wear it all the time. You may only take it down for the night, when you go to sleep.
It is a piece of canvas with fringes in front and at the back. The Hasid Jews wear these [the fringes] on the outside, while modern Jews put them in the trousers. According to the Jewish rules you have to wear it all the time. You may only take it down for the night, when you go to sleep.
Romania
His old, his father, asked him: 'So you graduated, what will you do for a living?' 'Well ... music. What else?' 'You can't make a living with music. Go to the law school!' Thus he, dr. Eisikovits, also graduated the faculty of law, but never worked in the field, he was only interested in music. Let me say that I found even today – both in Nagyvarad and Kolozsvar – students who are studying based on his theory.
But the most beautiful thing in his activity was that when he was a student in Kolozsvar he went to Sziget and the environs, where there were much more Jews living and he collected Jewish folklore, Jewish music.
But the most beautiful thing in his activity was that when he was a student in Kolozsvar he went to Sziget and the environs, where there were much more Jews living and he collected Jewish folklore, Jewish music.
There were landowners, carriers, cobblers, tailors – many girls took up tailoring. My great-grandfather was a greffier. My uncle from Israel told me that even today there are documents in Nagyiklod written by my great-grandfather – they began each paragraph with ornamented letters then. There was no typewriter then, and everyone who knew how to write could be a greffier.
My paternal grandfather, Jakab Eisikovits, was born in Nagyiklod in the 1860s. There was a large Jewish Community in Nagyiklod, and the synagogue was as big as the one in Szamosujvar. I'm sure there were 40-50 Jewish families living there.
His children were already famous intellectuals. One of them was Max Eisikovits, a musicologist and composer, for example he was the founder of the Hungarian Opera from Kolozsvar and the headmaster of the music academy.
The Eisikovits family – I found out from my uncle, Moshe Eisikovits, who lived in Israel, but died already – got to Romania approximately 240 years ago [from Russia somewhere] through Odessa, when they were running away from the pogroms.
Some relatives from the third generation were corn traders, and the others were intellectuals. As far as I know, one of my great-grandfathers was greffier in Nagyiklod, the other had the same job in Balazsfalva.
The family was quite large and they were all millers. And because they were millers, one part of the family settled down by the Maros, the other by the Kukullo, and the others by the Szamos [rivers]. They were millers, but they also built some water-mills, as well, because that was the fashion then.
Jozsef Farkas
My brother died on 19thMay 2002. I went there also, my brother was already buried, but I recited the Kaddish for him and sat shivah, as they called it, those seven days, with my sister-in-law and her son. They put a mattress on a board on which we sat. On these occasions people sit on the ground, not in a comfortable position, and if they had corn-husk [corn-blade] they put it on the floor, laid and covered it, and then sat on it. They don’t sit in armchairs or chairs. Relatives and visitors come and go on these occasions. Another strict ritual thing is that if someone dies in the morning, he or she must be buried in the afternoon. And there isn’t enough time to notify people.That’s why there is the gravestone unveiling 30 days later. During these 30 days they are able to notify everyone, and more people go to the gravestone unveiling rather than to the funeral. I was present at my brother’s gravestone unveiling. On this occasion there comes a chazzan who says the prayer and unveils the gravestone.The family lights a candle, and nowadays people bring flowers. This was forbidden before.My mother, brother and sister are all buried in Israel.
My brother, Imre Farkas,was born on 14thNovember 1931. My brother was a little bit unruly, like our mother. And he was also incredibly witty.He didn’t have too much education, but he wrote more beautifully than me: he had beautiful handwriting.He finished four elementary grades in the confessional school, and four grades in the Romanian middle school. That was after 23rdAugust [1944].But he never wanted to study, and became a tractorist, and later he studied the art of a locksmith, and welding.He had just turned 18 when he got married. His wife Ibi [Ibolya] Fisher was two years older than him, she was my age. She was born in 1929.She was 16 when she was freed from Auschwitz, and she came back to Torda.
I know that when my brother went home and told my mother he had gotten married–my mother threw him out of the house.Then they went away and I think they lived for a while in Kolozsvar near the Tranzit house [on the banks of the Szamos River] in a room of a poorly built house.Then, after a while, my mother accepted them in the family house and they moved back to Torda.My brother worked in the fire-brick factory called Proletarul. It was near the cement factory.He worked in the maintenance department. He was a locksmith-welder until 1966, when he immigrated to Israel.They had three children, but unfortunately two of them died.The first child was a girl called Vera. She died when she was four years old. I don’t know the cause of her death, she died in the hospital.Then came a boy, who died when he was three weeks old, I know that he got dehydrated, although a famous pediatrician from Kolozsvar treated him.Only the third child, Palika, managed to live.He was born in 1952, he is exactly ten years older than my daughter, and they are the only cousins in the family who keep in touch. Pali has two children: a son and daughter.
I know that when my brother went home and told my mother he had gotten married–my mother threw him out of the house.Then they went away and I think they lived for a while in Kolozsvar near the Tranzit house [on the banks of the Szamos River] in a room of a poorly built house.Then, after a while, my mother accepted them in the family house and they moved back to Torda.My brother worked in the fire-brick factory called Proletarul. It was near the cement factory.He worked in the maintenance department. He was a locksmith-welder until 1966, when he immigrated to Israel.They had three children, but unfortunately two of them died.The first child was a girl called Vera. She died when she was four years old. I don’t know the cause of her death, she died in the hospital.Then came a boy, who died when he was three weeks old, I know that he got dehydrated, although a famous pediatrician from Kolozsvar treated him.Only the third child, Palika, managed to live.He was born in 1952, he is exactly ten years older than my daughter, and they are the only cousins in the family who keep in touch. Pali has two children: a son and daughter.
Romania
My sister died on 22ndAugust 1994. She went by car to the market to do some shopping, and when she got out of the car, no one knows why, she fell and hit her head. They took her to the hospital, but she was in a deep coma. My brother then called to tell me what had happened. With the help of my daughter we immediately managed to get me train and air tickets, and I flew on a Thursday and while I was on the plane, my sister died. I was at her funeral, which was on Friday morning, as there were no burials on Friday afternoons because of the Sabbath. But nobody knew the cause of her death: heart attack, the heat, stroke, fell out of the car, stumbled on something –nobody knew what had happened.
My sister, Eva Farkas,was born in 1920. She became Eva Marton after her marriage. She finished elementary school in Torda, and then graduated from the commercial high school from Nagyvarad, because the confessional commercial high school was there. She was like my father and me: quiet and calm. She got married right after my father’s death. Her husband’s name was Erno Marton, and as far as I know he was originally from Marosujvar. His parents were timber merchants and he took up the same profession. Since I’ve known him he’s worked in the timber industry. In Kolozsvar there was an office called ‘Com Lemn’ [lemn means wood, timber in Romanian], which was later attached to the ICRM, and he worked there. My sister was an accountant. They immigrated to Israel in 1958. My brother-in-law’s mother died in Torda, and his father and elder sister immigrated to Israel after the war.
Romania
My mother, Fanus Deutsch,was probably the eldest among her siblings. She was born in 1893 in Torda. My mother had a good sense of humor. She was a very jolly person. My mother told me that after she got married, and I don’t know in what conditions, her husband couldn’t take it anymore and they got divorced.This happened during World War I.My parents met after my father demobilized from the army after World War I and came home, and they got married around 1918, because my elder sister was born in 1920.My mother took care of and raised all their three children, my elder sister, me and my younger brother. She gave us everything she had. She had beautiful handwriting, not like mine, much more beautiful. She finished only four grades of middle school [i.e. she finished four grades of elementary school and four grades of middle school].
My pharmacist uncle, Jeno Hertzlinger, was an illegal communist. He went mad when he saw the deceit of communism. They tried to organize the communist party then [between the wars]. There were a few illegal communists in the alkali works from Torda, but in the glass factory as well. After 23rdAugust [2], they promoted my uncle and he became an activist. They transferred him to Kolozsvar, and then from there to Felsotomos [Timisu de Sus in Romanian, 20km south of Brasso], where he became the manager of a ‘casa de odihna’ [holiday home] of the ‘Comitet Central’ [Central Committee]. From there he was transferred to Bucharest and appointed executive manager of the Elias hospital. A man called Elias owned this hospital and he donated it to the Romanian state.It was a large hospital, and before 1989 it was the exclusive hospital of the communist leaders.Once the mother or father of some big shot died, and since there was nobody there, they called my uncle to go with the man. They entered the dissecting-room and could hardly recognize the corpses.
Accidentally, my uncle showed him a different corpse. So they started searching and finally found the right one. The Central Committee found out and fired him. That was why he literally went mad, and became schizophrenic. In a few words, communism was cruel. As noble as it was in theory, just as cruel was its implementation. My cousin, his son, Joska, came home from Israel and visited him in the hospital, but he didn’t recognize his son. He spent some time in the madhouse, as well, but he was mainly taken care of at home. He died in Bucharest around 1985-86, and after that his wife and daughter immigrated to Israel, in 1987. My aunt, Edit Hertzlinger, died approximately five years ago [around 2000].
Accidentally, my uncle showed him a different corpse. So they started searching and finally found the right one. The Central Committee found out and fired him. That was why he literally went mad, and became schizophrenic. In a few words, communism was cruel. As noble as it was in theory, just as cruel was its implementation. My cousin, his son, Joska, came home from Israel and visited him in the hospital, but he didn’t recognize his son. He spent some time in the madhouse, as well, but he was mainly taken care of at home. He died in Bucharest around 1985-86, and after that his wife and daughter immigrated to Israel, in 1987. My aunt, Edit Hertzlinger, died approximately five years ago [around 2000].
Here too, in the Jewish cemetery, the first name of the deceased is written in Hebrew on the gravestone, together with the first name of his father. For example, my first name is Joska and my father’s is Mendel. Then my name would be something like Josef ben Mendel, and not Josef Farkas. This rule also applies to the girls. Sarah, the daughter of Menachen is Sarah bat Menachen. And based on this rule, in Israel it was possible to register whatever name one liked. For example, I had a girlfriend called Kirschenbaum who immigrated from Torda. It was pretty hard to register the name Kirschenbaum in Israel. And she registered herself as Duvdevani. This means Kirschenbaum, cherry tree, in Hebrew. Lili Deutsch lives in Israel too, in Rehovot. She’s Lili Huszar, after her husband, and they have a daughter.
Romania
My maternal grandparents lived in Torda. My grandfather, Jozsef Deutsch,died around 1928-29, before I was born. As a tribute, all the boys in the family were named Joska [Joszef]. He’s buried in the Jewish Cemetery in Torda, right beside my father.I knew my maternal grandmother, Regina Deutsch. She was quite religious: she observed the kosher rules and always made sure we didn’t bring any treyf things into the house, such as bacon or other forbidden things.She didn’t cut her hair, and tied it up with a muslin shawl only when she went to the synagogue.She lived with her daughter Edit’s family. She did the housekeeping until she was physically unable. After the war my grandmother went to Marosujvar [Ocna Mures in Romanian, 24km south of Torda] to Lajos Deutsch [one of my mother’s brothers], and she died there. My father died on 6thMarch 1945, while my grandmother died two days later in Marosujvar.
Romania
My father, Mendel Farkas, was born in 1889 in Jaravize, and age-wise he was somewhere in the middle among his siblings. I think Gero and two of his sisters were older than my father.But I don’t know exactly, because I didn’t know them.My father fought as a soldier in World War I [1], and after that he came home and got acquainted with my mother, but I don’t know anything more about their situation.
I remember after the war, when the whole country was in rags and tatters, and my American uncle found out that his brother, i.e. my father, had died, he sent some winter clothes for us. Back then, immediately after the war, it was possible to send packages from America, as there wasn’t any communism yet.There was a winter coat in the package. I remember that because I wore that coat for at least 30-40 years, it was in such a good condition. It was dark blue, very smooth, made from fine material, and a genuine English product.
I couldn’t go to university because after I started working, I dedicated myself to work. Probably, if I was a bit smarter, I would have done it somehow, because many people did it then. But I wasn’t willing to lie down on the job. In 1952 I was transferred to the same position in Bicaz, to the newly built cement factory. I was there for a year, and in 1953 I was appointed to the Ministry of Construction Materials in Bucharest. This Ministry was separated from the Ministry of Constructions, but the two ministries, the Ministry of Constructions and the Ministry of Construction Materials were in the same building. I had the same position and tasks as the chief of the planning department at the Directorate of Cement Industry. We had to organize the whole cement industry of the country there. We decided on the volume of production, conditions, staff and salaries. We did everything; I worked from morning until night.
I worked in Bucharest when I was young and made it, but housing was a huge problem then. We lived in a residence where three families lived in two and a half rooms. My two colleagues, who had wives, lived in the two rooms, and there was a servant’s hall with a washstand, and that was my room. It was very good for me while I was single; the seven square meters were enough for my sofa and closet.
I worked in Bucharest when I was young and made it, but housing was a huge problem then. We lived in a residence where three families lived in two and a half rooms. My two colleagues, who had wives, lived in the two rooms, and there was a servant’s hall with a washstand, and that was my room. It was very good for me while I was single; the seven square meters were enough for my sofa and closet.
On 4thOctober 1947, with the help of my pharmacist uncle, I was hired at the cement factory in Torda. I began my career there as a total beginner.
There was a national level measure in 1949, where they picked out a hundred people from the industry and took them to Bucharest, and taught them ‘planificare’ [planning], and I was one of them. They had this course at the Ministry of Economy and Industry, where they taught us how to organize the companies after they nationalized them on 11thJune 1948. And we got a document certifying that we were instructors de planificare [planning instructors].
When I started to work in 1947, the whole cement factory in Torda was private property, and later it was nationalized, and after I finished this course they took me to the planning department, and after a short period of time they appointed me head of the planning department.
There was a national level measure in 1949, where they picked out a hundred people from the industry and took them to Bucharest, and taught them ‘planificare’ [planning], and I was one of them. They had this course at the Ministry of Economy and Industry, where they taught us how to organize the companies after they nationalized them on 11thJune 1948. And we got a document certifying that we were instructors de planificare [planning instructors].
When I started to work in 1947, the whole cement factory in Torda was private property, and later it was nationalized, and after I finished this course they took me to the planning department, and after a short period of time they appointed me head of the planning department.
After my father’s death, they moved another Jewish family into our house. But we were on very good terms with them, there weren’t any problems. There’s a poet in Temesvar, Adam Anavi, he’s around 96-97. His original name was Feri Frucht. And this Frucht family moved in with us. The son moved to Temesvar, one of the daughters moved to Kolozsvar, and the other daughter and her mother, lived in our house until they died. The mother died first, then her daughter, the elder sister of Adam Anavi, and then the house became empty.
After their death my mother continued to live there.Before they immigrated to Israel, they sold the house to a mathematics teacher called Kolozsi, who was originally from Sinfalva. My mother and brother moved into the teacher’s apartment. This was in Torda, close to the salt mine, in fact the house was called the salt mine apartment building. They lived there for seven to eight months, until they immigrated to Israel.
After their death my mother continued to live there.Before they immigrated to Israel, they sold the house to a mathematics teacher called Kolozsi, who was originally from Sinfalva. My mother and brother moved into the teacher’s apartment. This was in Torda, close to the salt mine, in fact the house was called the salt mine apartment building. They lived there for seven to eight months, until they immigrated to Israel.
In 1944, after the liberation, we moved back to our house, because the former measures had been annulled. The furniture was still in the house, but part of it was damaged, but we repaired it.We had to change the tiles, because the roof fell in.And then, I went with my cousin, who was born on the same day as me, Joska Hertzlinger, to the tile factory in Gyeres and brought a carriage full of tiles. They gave us some because my father used to work there.And we repaired the roof.
At that time we were 15 and thought that we had been liberated. Until 1947 I was a member of a Zionist youth organization called Gordonia [11], with its headquarters close to our house, and we enjoyed our freedom. What did we do there? We sang, danced and went on excursions. I remember there were other youth organizations in Torda: the Dror Habonim [Editor’s note: Jewish Zionist organization, mostly active in Iasi, Moldova, and the eastern part of Romania in the 1930s], the Hashomer Hatzair [12], and there was another one called Betar [13], but I only saw them a few times.
The Hashomer Hatzair, the Dror Habonim and the Gordonia belonged to the left-wing, and the Betar to the right-wing, according to the current views. They organized excursions and entertainments also. And, of course, each of them recruited young people to go to Israel. For example, there were these sheliachs,messengers from Israel, who explained how the youth could educate themselves in Israel. Some of the people accepted these conditions, and others didn’t.
The Hashomer Hatzair, the Dror Habonim and the Gordonia belonged to the left-wing, and the Betar to the right-wing, according to the current views. They organized excursions and entertainments also. And, of course, each of them recruited young people to go to Israel. For example, there were these sheliachs,messengers from Israel, who explained how the youth could educate themselves in Israel. Some of the people accepted these conditions, and others didn’t.