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In the beginning we lived in this one relatively modern apartment building. On the ground floor there was a large bookstore, owned by the Travnicka family. Above the bookstore there were apartments. The building also had a winter-garden. I remember my parents having a nice bedroom. My father had a den with a sofa and chair. Of course, there was also a dining room. We had these three rooms. The apartment had high ceilings and tall double doors. When I grew up a bit, my parents allocated me one of the couches in the dining room to sleep on. I had my own wardrobe. The apartment also had a large front hall, a kitchen and balcony. I was maybe five when we moved in with my grandparents, the Picks.
Before the war we had a large library at home. Long after the war, my mother still subscribed to books published by SPKK [The Friends of Beautiful Books Society]. Our greatest pride and joy was a large set of Brockhaus dictionaries. To this day I can see before me those beautifully bound books. After the war, when my parents had financial problems, it was after the currency reform, they took the dictionaries to a used book shop. To this day I regret that this happened.
My grandparents used to go to spas and my mother accompanied them, mainly my grandmother. But otherwise I don’t remember vacations before the war. After the war I remember more: they used to go to Trencianske Teplice, to Sliac, Karlovy Vary [7] and Teplice nad Becvou. The only foreign places they visited before the war were Budapest and for their honeymoon, Salzburg.
Before the war we had a large library at home. Long after the war, my mother still subscribed to books published by SPKK [The Friends of Beautiful Books Society]. Our greatest pride and joy was a large set of Brockhaus dictionaries. To this day I can see before me those beautifully bound books. After the war, when my parents had financial problems, it was after the currency reform, they took the dictionaries to a used book shop. To this day I regret that this happened.
My grandparents used to go to spas and my mother accompanied them, mainly my grandmother. But otherwise I don’t remember vacations before the war. After the war I remember more: they used to go to Trencianske Teplice, to Sliac, Karlovy Vary [7] and Teplice nad Becvou. The only foreign places they visited before the war were Budapest and for their honeymoon, Salzburg.
Location
Slovakia
Interview
Judita Schvalbova