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In short, we were a model family, and we were respected not only by our relatives, but also by our neighbors, and – I dare say – by the entire village. We set an example by the way in which we had been raised.
My mother made sure we didn’t go soft. She used to say: ‘If you’re lucky to end up living a life of plenty – and luck is something a mother cannot give her children – you will have servants, so you should know how to run them. If you should spend your life in poverty – and this is something I cannot guarantee against – then you must be prepared, so that you won't find things too difficult and will be able to cope with hardships.’ This is why she had us do any kind of work.
Having a maid didn’t make any difference, as we had to do everything that she did: ‘The maid is no excuse for you to do nothing. The maid is just an aid to help me handle such a large family. And I consider her a member of this family.’ This is how my mother always treated maids, like they were part of the family. I can say that most of them stayed with us until the time they got married.
We had one named Nastasia, who came from a neighboring village, my mother’s native village, Nadasu. She spoke Hungarian too, because she had worked in a nearby village that was entirely inhabited by Hungarians. When she got married, I was about six years old.
I cried for one or two days, begging her not to get married. I was so naive, like any child. Until the day she died, she kept calling me ‘my girl.’ She would come to me after I was left alone in the world, bringing me all sorts of things, and we would cry together. This is how close she felt to me.
My mother made sure we didn’t go soft. She used to say: ‘If you’re lucky to end up living a life of plenty – and luck is something a mother cannot give her children – you will have servants, so you should know how to run them. If you should spend your life in poverty – and this is something I cannot guarantee against – then you must be prepared, so that you won't find things too difficult and will be able to cope with hardships.’ This is why she had us do any kind of work.
Having a maid didn’t make any difference, as we had to do everything that she did: ‘The maid is no excuse for you to do nothing. The maid is just an aid to help me handle such a large family. And I consider her a member of this family.’ This is how my mother always treated maids, like they were part of the family. I can say that most of them stayed with us until the time they got married.
We had one named Nastasia, who came from a neighboring village, my mother’s native village, Nadasu. She spoke Hungarian too, because she had worked in a nearby village that was entirely inhabited by Hungarians. When she got married, I was about six years old.
I cried for one or two days, begging her not to get married. I was so naive, like any child. Until the day she died, she kept calling me ‘my girl.’ She would come to me after I was left alone in the world, bringing me all sorts of things, and we would cry together. This is how close she felt to me.
Period
Location
Aghiresu
Romania
Interview
Elza Fulop