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There were about thirty tea-party associations in Bratislava, which were concerned with organizing get-togethers. They arranged a lot of cultural events. I want to mention here something about the ball season. The dress ball season, when carnival time started, that was a really, really big thing.
They organized a Jewish Ball, called the Menza Ball. I only went to the Menza Ball two times in my life, but I can’t say why only two times. I was there two times in two years. It was very beautiful, a very elegant ball. It was a perfectly natural thing that the mayor was there, too.
Dr. Vavro Srobar [15], from one of the ministries in Prague, was in charge of Slovakia. He didn’t come himself to the ball, but always sent a cultural personality. There were lawyers who brought their Christian lawyer friends. So there were Christians at these very elegant and very successful Menza Balls.
I don’t know how many, but they were there. When there was a Lawyer’s Ball, for sure at least a quarter of them were Jewish. Then they held a Doctor’s Ball, naturally there were Jews there as well. Which was what carnival was about: we celebrated carnival together.
My parents also socialized. My father was a member of the Economics Club. He went there to play cards; they took me there on dance nights. My mother’s circle of friends were all Jewish ladies. We had the best possible relations with the non-Jewish neighbors, there was never a misunderstanding or anything, absolute civility reigned on the whole street. But the kind of friendship where they might visit each other…there wasn’t. Their friends were all Jewish, and something else – not Orthodox.
Since my father’s cousins also lived in Bratislava, we were often at their house. My father’s oldest cousin was a city representative. While I lived at home, as I think back on it, they never had an argument, they completely agreed with each other regarding politics.
They organized a Jewish Ball, called the Menza Ball. I only went to the Menza Ball two times in my life, but I can’t say why only two times. I was there two times in two years. It was very beautiful, a very elegant ball. It was a perfectly natural thing that the mayor was there, too.
Dr. Vavro Srobar [15], from one of the ministries in Prague, was in charge of Slovakia. He didn’t come himself to the ball, but always sent a cultural personality. There were lawyers who brought their Christian lawyer friends. So there were Christians at these very elegant and very successful Menza Balls.
I don’t know how many, but they were there. When there was a Lawyer’s Ball, for sure at least a quarter of them were Jewish. Then they held a Doctor’s Ball, naturally there were Jews there as well. Which was what carnival was about: we celebrated carnival together.
My parents also socialized. My father was a member of the Economics Club. He went there to play cards; they took me there on dance nights. My mother’s circle of friends were all Jewish ladies. We had the best possible relations with the non-Jewish neighbors, there was never a misunderstanding or anything, absolute civility reigned on the whole street. But the kind of friendship where they might visit each other…there wasn’t. Their friends were all Jewish, and something else – not Orthodox.
Since my father’s cousins also lived in Bratislava, we were often at their house. My father’s oldest cousin was a city representative. While I lived at home, as I think back on it, they never had an argument, they completely agreed with each other regarding politics.
Location
Slovakia
Interview
Katarina Löfflerova