Selected text
My ancestors on the Engel side were leftists. One of my father’s brothers [Jozef Engel] even fought for a certain time, though out of spite, for Kun’s army [6]. When the Czechs arrived in 1918 [7], they beat him up. But because he was still very young – 16 – they didn’t shoot him, but just gave him a beating. The Engel family was quite liberal. Another uncle [Vojtech Engel], who alas also died in a concentration camp, was a socialist, you could say. They were like this because they were relatively poor. So this elicited a social conscience and way of thinking in them.
As I’ve already mentioned, my grandparents had normal to good relations with their neighbors. There weren’t any conflicts with their neighbors. All their neighbors were non-Jews. They didn’t have any special friendships with their neighbors. I’d call them proper and good relations. Simply put, they had no quarrel with each other. My grandmother from Kokava also had a strong social conscience and also helped many people. Materially as well as financially. They were merchants, and sometimes gave people things without being paid. They’d pay when they could. My grandfather from Muranska Lehota was the same.
I know of one of Grandpa Polak’s brothers who worked his way up to a relatively high position in the Hungarian civil service working for the railway. He lived in Budapest. As far as the Engel side goes, I know my grandfather had a brother. His name was Jozef and also lived in Muranska Lehota, and there was also a sister.
This is a good place for the following story. The Engels had this quality, you could call it an impatient soul. My father mentioned it once, when my grandfather was supposed to travel somewhere. There was no railway in Muranska Lehota, so he used to go catch the train in Muran, which was three kilometers away. Half an hour was plenty of time to walk from Lehota to Muran. When he was supposed to go catch the train at 5am, at 2am he was already banging on his brother Jozef’s door in Muran, for him to come to the station. As far as Grandpa Polak goes, there were stories about his poor Slovak causing many comical situations.
As I’ve already mentioned, my grandparents had normal to good relations with their neighbors. There weren’t any conflicts with their neighbors. All their neighbors were non-Jews. They didn’t have any special friendships with their neighbors. I’d call them proper and good relations. Simply put, they had no quarrel with each other. My grandmother from Kokava also had a strong social conscience and also helped many people. Materially as well as financially. They were merchants, and sometimes gave people things without being paid. They’d pay when they could. My grandfather from Muranska Lehota was the same.
I know of one of Grandpa Polak’s brothers who worked his way up to a relatively high position in the Hungarian civil service working for the railway. He lived in Budapest. As far as the Engel side goes, I know my grandfather had a brother. His name was Jozef and also lived in Muranska Lehota, and there was also a sister.
This is a good place for the following story. The Engels had this quality, you could call it an impatient soul. My father mentioned it once, when my grandfather was supposed to travel somewhere. There was no railway in Muranska Lehota, so he used to go catch the train in Muran, which was three kilometers away. Half an hour was plenty of time to walk from Lehota to Muran. When he was supposed to go catch the train at 5am, at 2am he was already banging on his brother Jozef’s door in Muran, for him to come to the station. As far as Grandpa Polak goes, there were stories about his poor Slovak causing many comical situations.
Location
Slovakia
Interview
Tibor Engel