Selected text
My mother's parents, Marko Grunwald and Eleonora Grunwald (nee Spiezer)
regularly went to synagogue and observed all the holidays, but Grandmother
Eleonora did not keep a kosher kitchen. Grandmother and Grandfather had
three children, Elza, Berta and Felix. Grandfather Marko was born in 1861
in Marijanci, near Osijek. In Bistrinci he had a mixed-good store. He died
in 1917. Grandmother Eleonora was born in 1871 in Barcs, Hungary. When she
married my grandfather, she helped him run the store. After his death, she
moved, with her daughter Berta, to our apartment.
Her youngest child, my uncle Felix, enlisted in the army in Bistrinci in
1915 while still a minor. When he understood that this had been a mistake,
he deserted, and went by boat to America. There he trained to be a butcher
and opened a butcher shop. In 1935, for the first time after deserting, he
came to visit his family again. I remember how harshly he criticized the
way our butcher shops processed poultry. After America, the work here
looked crude. He died in Cleveland in 1954.
regularly went to synagogue and observed all the holidays, but Grandmother
Eleonora did not keep a kosher kitchen. Grandmother and Grandfather had
three children, Elza, Berta and Felix. Grandfather Marko was born in 1861
in Marijanci, near Osijek. In Bistrinci he had a mixed-good store. He died
in 1917. Grandmother Eleonora was born in 1871 in Barcs, Hungary. When she
married my grandfather, she helped him run the store. After his death, she
moved, with her daughter Berta, to our apartment.
Her youngest child, my uncle Felix, enlisted in the army in Bistrinci in
1915 while still a minor. When he understood that this had been a mistake,
he deserted, and went by boat to America. There he trained to be a butcher
and opened a butcher shop. In 1935, for the first time after deserting, he
came to visit his family again. I remember how harshly he criticized the
way our butcher shops processed poultry. After America, the work here
looked crude. He died in Cleveland in 1954.
Location
Serbia
Interview
vera tomanic