Selected text
Because of course not everything is positive, just like in every person, so in Israel, too, you can find something negative. The thing that made the most negative impression on me were Orthodox Jews. We were in one neighborhood, and right away you recognize that something’s not right. These are the jarring elements, but otherwise Israel is a very nice country.
After the year 1989 [see Velvet Revolution] [14] big changes took place in Czechoslovakia. These also affected the Jewish religious community in Presov. Before, it was a community only on paper. There was one chairman, who did what he was told. After the war the community didn’t get any property back, so we had nothing. People were afraid to go to the synagogue. Such were the times, but despite this some people attended secretly. I myself went on only the major holidays. I wasn’t religiously inclined and also I didn’t want to risk anything. After all, it was a small state, and it wasn’t good when they designated you as unreliable. Today people don’t go to the synagogue very much, just during the major holidays, but now it’s a completely different situation. Now there just aren’t enough people. In the last few years those of us that were persecuted during World War II have begun to get money from the Claims Conference.
After the year 1989 [see Velvet Revolution] [14] big changes took place in Czechoslovakia. These also affected the Jewish religious community in Presov. Before, it was a community only on paper. There was one chairman, who did what he was told. After the war the community didn’t get any property back, so we had nothing. People were afraid to go to the synagogue. Such were the times, but despite this some people attended secretly. I myself went on only the major holidays. I wasn’t religiously inclined and also I didn’t want to risk anything. After all, it was a small state, and it wasn’t good when they designated you as unreliable. Today people don’t go to the synagogue very much, just during the major holidays, but now it’s a completely different situation. Now there just aren’t enough people. In the last few years those of us that were persecuted during World War II have begun to get money from the Claims Conference.
Location
Slovakia
Interview
Otto Schvalb