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My grandparents, the Wohlsteins, took great care that their children would get an appropriate education. All the boys finished agricultural school in the Hungarian town of Miskolc, because in those days there wasn't any such school in Slovakia. Later all three of them made a living as agricultural superintendents on large farms. Aunt Matilda finished council school and later had a small general store in Sladkovicovo. I know that in my grandparents' family they bought books and had a relatively rich library.
I'd say that financially as well as socially, they belonged to the middle class. This is also why they for example didn't like it when Aunt Matilda fell in love with a Jewish butcher. They didn't allow her to marry him, because to them he seemed inferior and not good enough for their only daughter. So they put her together with a certain Goldstein. The end result was one unhappy marriage. Goldstein turned out to be a relatively frivolous person, who wasn't exactly overly keen on working. No children were born of that marriage. With Uncle Armin it was similar. He was my father's younger brother, who was born in 1895 and in 1930 married a certain Zlatica Fischerova. They lived in Sladkovicovo, and they didn't have any children either.
But I'll return to my grandparents, the Wohlsteins. As far as I know, they weren't overly religious, even though I know that while she lived in Sladkovicovo, my grandmother and her daughter observed certain holidays and regulations. I know that on Saturday evening they'd light candles. They used to say that it was for their parents. And then they, of course, observed and celebrated the High Holidays, like Jewish Easter - Passover and the Day of Atonement - Yom Kippur. I also know that they had a kosher household [1]. But I also know that they weren't Orthodox [2].
I'd say that financially as well as socially, they belonged to the middle class. This is also why they for example didn't like it when Aunt Matilda fell in love with a Jewish butcher. They didn't allow her to marry him, because to them he seemed inferior and not good enough for their only daughter. So they put her together with a certain Goldstein. The end result was one unhappy marriage. Goldstein turned out to be a relatively frivolous person, who wasn't exactly overly keen on working. No children were born of that marriage. With Uncle Armin it was similar. He was my father's younger brother, who was born in 1895 and in 1930 married a certain Zlatica Fischerova. They lived in Sladkovicovo, and they didn't have any children either.
But I'll return to my grandparents, the Wohlsteins. As far as I know, they weren't overly religious, even though I know that while she lived in Sladkovicovo, my grandmother and her daughter observed certain holidays and regulations. I know that on Saturday evening they'd light candles. They used to say that it was for their parents. And then they, of course, observed and celebrated the High Holidays, like Jewish Easter - Passover and the Day of Atonement - Yom Kippur. I also know that they had a kosher household [1]. But I also know that they weren't Orthodox [2].
Location
Slovakia
Interview
Magda Frkalova