Tag #137987 - Interview #78465 (Egon Lovith)

At the end of the 1950s, it happened that Jeno, I don’t exactly remember where or how, got into some financial difficulties. Then somebody said he knew an older Jewish woman and people convinced Jeno to marry her because she had money. She wasn’t doing any work because she was living off her money and jewelry. Jeno didn’t have a choice so he married Szeren. Jeno was over sixty years old when he got married and he was already on pension. Szeren was a wasted, gloomy old spinster who was also reserved and not at all friendly. Jeno, on the other hand, was a good-humored and funny guy, who also loved huge meals and was getting pretty fat. He was very generous and one of his bad habits was that whenever he had some money he would buy something expensive. This led to constant conflict because Szeren was very tight with money while Jeno liked living freely. They didn’t get divorced because it wasn’t a custom among Jews. I remember, Margo and I visited them in their apartment, in Hajnal [in Romanian Zorilor] district, where they lived. Whenever we went there, we were always upset because we couldn’t even chat. Szeren didn’t even sit down and then Jeno started to get pissed off as he saw red and told Szeren angrily, ‘Put something on the table.’ She envied us every bite we ate. Jeno wasn’t tight with money at all even though he didn’t always make money. When he was out he was always greatly jovial, but he had pretty lay-about craftsmen friends.