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What was worse was that I apparently wasn’t inclined towards being religious. Simply put, I was obstinate. Well, and once it happened that we had a fight one Saturday morning at the dormitory. The rabbi heard yelling and came over "What are you doing here? Why, it’s Saturday! You can’t fight! You’re breaking the holy Sabbath!” And we made faces at the rabbi. And I remember that he grabbed me by my shirt collar and shook me. And I said: “Rabbi, sir, the collar will tear off and it’ll be your sin. That’s also work, when you’re shaking me.” He gave me a slap. I said: “That’s even more work. That’s a sin.” [during the Sabbath, 39 main work activities are forbidden, to which the injunction against others is related. During the subsequent scuffle the Rabbi broke several rules, in that he was basically doing physical work – Editor’s note]. Well, that was bad. He complained to my mother. I don’t know if he wrote her, or what. And when I came home for the holidays, my mother already knew about the conflict. My stepfather wasn’t home right then, and she was rolling some dough. And I said: “Mom, I don’t think that God exists.” She started crying, and I remember that she showered the dough with tears. I felt terribly guilty. After that I apologized to her. It was terrible. But the truth is that I refused to return there. So that’s how my studies at the yeshivah ended. I didn’t become a rabbi. At least I finished council school.
My mother was then worried about what we were going to do, but my stepfather said: “After all, he’s already quite smart, let him work.” My mother wouldn’t let it alone. Because I was quite good at drawing and I was interested in art and photography, I decided to go to Presov. In Presov there was a photographer and at the same time painter who was well known at the time. I think that he was named Szekes. He also did religious paintings. I made up my mind and told my mother that I was going to go and study with that painter. “Now you’ve gone crazy! You won’t make a living with that!” That was her reaction.
My mother was then worried about what we were going to do, but my stepfather said: “After all, he’s already quite smart, let him work.” My mother wouldn’t let it alone. Because I was quite good at drawing and I was interested in art and photography, I decided to go to Presov. In Presov there was a photographer and at the same time painter who was well known at the time. I think that he was named Szekes. He also did religious paintings. I made up my mind and told my mother that I was going to go and study with that painter. “Now you’ve gone crazy! You won’t make a living with that!” That was her reaction.
Location
Slovakia
Interview
Jozef W.