Tag #136318 - Interview #78490 (Katalin Kallos Havas)

In 1952, when the Party cleaned its ranks, I was expelled from the Party as a class-alien. In 1953 I began to work in the trade union and I organized the mutual-aid society without any help from the government. This was just coming into fashion then. Every person who joined paid a minimal amount of money each month. Any member could get a loan if they had been a member for more than three months, but initially they could only request the sum they deposited thus far. The interest on those loans was minimal. This society had grown to such an extent that it was possible to borrow serious amounts of money. Some people borrowed for one year, others for two, but they had to pay the same minimal interest, and that was of great help to everybody. There was another mutual-aid society at the university, and my husband participated in it. We bought our car using it and paid it back in monthly installments.