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In 1991, I took my first western trip abroad, to Israel. I don’t have anyone there, so I took part in a trip arranged by the local travel agency Tatratour. We went together with seven Catholics and one Lutheran minister. One of my girlfriends, who is Jewish, went with me. It was miraculous, and we got a first-rate guide.
For my own self, I have to admit that I’ve never encountered something so perfect. I think we went everywhere, for eight days everywhere, we swam a lot in the sea, the Dead Sea, and the Red Sea, too. I was enchanted, incomprehensibly happy. Four years ago, I went for the second time. I constantly root for Israel, but I wouldn’t like to live there.
Maybe I’m too Central European for it, to live there. I’m terribly sorry for myself that I’m aging, since there’s so much to see in the world. Now, when I could allow myself a nice trip, I’m no longer physically able to.
I try to organize my days to keep my physical and mental strength in balance. I get the daily paper with my breakfast; it takes a while for me to get through the whole thing. Then I go down for a half hour walk, weather permitting.
At the age of ninety-four, I feel it when the wind is uncomfortable or the rain dampens a person’s back. In the worst case, I sit out on the balcony, because there’s never enough fresh air inside. My afternoon time is taken up by writing letters; I have a lot of pen-pals all over the world. In the evenings, I like to read, mainly historical books, those with references to Bratislava are especially my favorite.
There are six of us lady friends, six widowed ladies. Only one of us is Jewish, I’m the only one, but our relationship is so close, that if the religious community hosts an event, some kind of garden party, one or two of them come with me to have some fun.
We got reparations; we got them here, too. Those of us who were in the camp and I think, those who were refugees, they also got a little amount from Germany. Really, if you convert Euros to crowns, well, you really have something to start with. Not bad, not bad. For my part, well, I don’t count, because I haven’t got special desires and the more humble a person’s desires, then there’s no problems.
For my own self, I have to admit that I’ve never encountered something so perfect. I think we went everywhere, for eight days everywhere, we swam a lot in the sea, the Dead Sea, and the Red Sea, too. I was enchanted, incomprehensibly happy. Four years ago, I went for the second time. I constantly root for Israel, but I wouldn’t like to live there.
Maybe I’m too Central European for it, to live there. I’m terribly sorry for myself that I’m aging, since there’s so much to see in the world. Now, when I could allow myself a nice trip, I’m no longer physically able to.
I try to organize my days to keep my physical and mental strength in balance. I get the daily paper with my breakfast; it takes a while for me to get through the whole thing. Then I go down for a half hour walk, weather permitting.
At the age of ninety-four, I feel it when the wind is uncomfortable or the rain dampens a person’s back. In the worst case, I sit out on the balcony, because there’s never enough fresh air inside. My afternoon time is taken up by writing letters; I have a lot of pen-pals all over the world. In the evenings, I like to read, mainly historical books, those with references to Bratislava are especially my favorite.
There are six of us lady friends, six widowed ladies. Only one of us is Jewish, I’m the only one, but our relationship is so close, that if the religious community hosts an event, some kind of garden party, one or two of them come with me to have some fun.
We got reparations; we got them here, too. Those of us who were in the camp and I think, those who were refugees, they also got a little amount from Germany. Really, if you convert Euros to crowns, well, you really have something to start with. Not bad, not bad. For my part, well, I don’t count, because I haven’t got special desires and the more humble a person’s desires, then there’s no problems.
Location
Slovakia
Interview
Katarina Löfflerova