Selected text
You could find everything you needed in Tel Aviv in 1937: streets, movie theaters, cafés. We sat together with friends, talked and drank coffee. My sister-in-law lived on Ben Yehuda Street, and we lived on the corner of Keren Kayemet/Emile Zola. Keren Kayemet is Ben Gurion Street today.
We had a beautiful apartment. In the morning, we went down Ben Yehuda Street, and we had to stop every five minutes: “Oh, hello, when did you get here, how long have you been here?” I was feeling great. I could go to the beach in shorts and meet friends. The whole Ben Yehuda Street spoke German!
But when I think about it today: everything was so primitive! When I got married, we didn’t have an electric fridge. We had this kind of refrigerator, where you had to put in ice. And we didn’t have any gas for cooking; we had to cook on a Primus stove. But it seemed natural to me. I adapted, and I knew that this is how it was and that there wouldn’t be anything else.
We had a beautiful apartment. In the morning, we went down Ben Yehuda Street, and we had to stop every five minutes: “Oh, hello, when did you get here, how long have you been here?” I was feeling great. I could go to the beach in shorts and meet friends. The whole Ben Yehuda Street spoke German!
But when I think about it today: everything was so primitive! When I got married, we didn’t have an electric fridge. We had this kind of refrigerator, where you had to put in ice. And we didn’t have any gas for cooking; we had to cook on a Primus stove. But it seemed natural to me. I adapted, and I knew that this is how it was and that there wouldn’t be anything else.
Period
Year
1937
Location
Tel Aviv
Israel
Interview
Erna Goldmann