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After I'd returned from Hechalutz 19 winter camp, it was decided after much deliberation, that I'd leave school and go for hakhsharah 20. The hakhsharah was in Bratislava – there weren't enough young Jewish people in Bohemia and Moravia for them to put a hakhsharah together. Several other former Terezin prisoners made the same decision. Max Lieben from Prague was already there, and I met young people, some of which I keep in touch with to this day – but there was no longer any real friendship, I was still sad and broken.
I was then transferred from Bratislava to Zilina. Then they sent me to Prague for about a year and then to Brno to organize Jewish children for departure [aliyah] and life in Palestine. When I was in Prague, the United Nations was voting on whether there would or wouldn't be a Jewish state in Palestine. We followed it; it was suspenseful and amazing. After the Communist coup in 1948 21 a notice was issued that whoever wanted to move to Israel had to leave the Czechoslovak Republic by a certain date in 1949 22, and who didn't leave by that date, would stay.
I was then transferred from Bratislava to Zilina. Then they sent me to Prague for about a year and then to Brno to organize Jewish children for departure [aliyah] and life in Palestine. When I was in Prague, the United Nations was voting on whether there would or wouldn't be a Jewish state in Palestine. We followed it; it was suspenseful and amazing. After the Communist coup in 1948 21 a notice was issued that whoever wanted to move to Israel had to leave the Czechoslovak Republic by a certain date in 1949 22, and who didn't leave by that date, would stay.
Period
Location
Slovakia
Interview
Maud Michal Beer