My paternal grandparents built a large house, with a shop in front, and a big bakery next to the house. And my father was giving money there, so that his parents built whatever they wanted to.
- Traditions 11756
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Major events (political and historical)
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- Armenian genocide 2
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Holocaust
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Displaying 48931 - 48960 of 50826 results
Alice Kosa
In Sepsiszentgyorgy, where the theatre is today, that building used to be a cinema. Only for six weeks every year [were performances kept there], when actors came to Sepsiszentgyorgy. In Kolozsvar, in Pest, in big cities there were permanent theatres, but they didn’t come to Sepsiszentgyorgy, to such places, they didn’t go even to Kezdivasarhely.
But there were many strolling players, they wondered all around the country. And they organized six weeks long courses in Sepsiszentgyorgy as well in each year.
It went well, one could buy a subscription ticket, or if the public liked what they were going to perform, they concluded a contract for eight weeks. They performed good operettas – operettas by Imre Kalman, the ‘Csardaskiralyno’
[The Riviera Girl, also known as The Gypsy Princess], ‘Vig ozvegy’ [The Merry Widow], they performed these, I liked them a lot when I was a young girl – and comedies, because people liked those, but they always performed a drama as well.
But there were many strolling players, they wondered all around the country. And they organized six weeks long courses in Sepsiszentgyorgy as well in each year.
It went well, one could buy a subscription ticket, or if the public liked what they were going to perform, they concluded a contract for eight weeks. They performed good operettas – operettas by Imre Kalman, the ‘Csardaskiralyno’
[The Riviera Girl, also known as The Gypsy Princess], ‘Vig ozvegy’ [The Merry Widow], they performed these, I liked them a lot when I was a young girl – and comedies, because people liked those, but they always performed a drama as well.
Romania
My father was a timber-merchant. He was that kind of timber-merchant, who bought the timber in the wood, but someone else managed it [further], because he liked playing cards.
He signed the contracts over the timber – since he didn’t buy the wood, just its product, the timber –, and he went to play cards. That’s what my father did. He had an employee, a gardener, he was called Hajdar, and he managed everything.
They sawed up the wood, as it was required – they counted in cords then –, they transported it to the railway station and loaded it into freighters. Well, this Hajdar administered everything, he was measuring with others, everything. And my father ran away, he had a game of cards.
I don’t know whether they played in money, I don’t know either what kind of game they were playing, but I think they played with Hungarian cards. I wouldn’t have dared to ask my father: ‘Do you play in money?’ It was impossible.
He signed the contracts over the timber – since he didn’t buy the wood, just its product, the timber –, and he went to play cards. That’s what my father did. He had an employee, a gardener, he was called Hajdar, and he managed everything.
They sawed up the wood, as it was required – they counted in cords then –, they transported it to the railway station and loaded it into freighters. Well, this Hajdar administered everything, he was measuring with others, everything. And my father ran away, he had a game of cards.
I don’t know whether they played in money, I don’t know either what kind of game they were playing, but I think they played with Hungarian cards. I wouldn’t have dared to ask my father: ‘Do you play in money?’ It was impossible.
My mother was called Regina Klein, she was born from my grandmother’s second marriage [in 1989]. My mother too attended the school of the French misses in Bucharest, from the age of 10 until she got 14. After that she went to Paris as well to her brother, her sister was already there.
She stayed there for quite a long time, she spoke French perfectly. That’s why I’m Alice. My mother was famous in the village for her beauty, it was always her who played the leading lady.
She left two violins [after her death], because she learnt to play the violin. I don’t remember my mother, but the villagers told me how beautiful she was, and she was playing the violin splendidly. And she could sing too, but I don’t have a fine voice, I didn’t inherit that. And my mother wrote poems too, she sent them to the women’s magazine.
She stayed there for quite a long time, she spoke French perfectly. That’s why I’m Alice. My mother was famous in the village for her beauty, it was always her who played the leading lady.
She left two violins [after her death], because she learnt to play the violin. I don’t remember my mother, but the villagers told me how beautiful she was, and she was playing the violin splendidly. And she could sing too, but I don’t have a fine voice, I didn’t inherit that. And my mother wrote poems too, she sent them to the women’s magazine.
,
Before WW2
See text in interview
Berta was the first to go to Paris [she was the elder sister], and she got married there indeed, at a young age, she was 16 years old; she got married to a German boy, to Fritz Ernst Rohm.
He was head waiter in Paris, in a smart restaurant, but he was a learned man. And they met, Berta was beautiful, they got married. But from Paris they moved to Frankfurt am Main, so they lived in Germany. I never saw this uncle of mine.
He was head waiter in Paris, in a smart restaurant, but he was a learned man. And they met, Berta was beautiful, they got married. But from Paris they moved to Frankfurt am Main, so they lived in Germany. I never saw this uncle of mine.
,
Before WW2
See text in interview
My mother had an elder half-brother, Vilmos Sternbach, from the first marriage of grandma, who left for Paris, and opened there a menswear shop. She had an elder sister too, Berta Klein. The French nuns had a convent and a school in Bucharest, and grandma sent both Berta and my mother to the French school, so that they would learn French.
She wanted the girls as well to go to Paris, so that their brother would do something of them, either they would earn [work], either… [get married].
So French language was indispensable, and that is why grandma sent them to the French misses, as she called them.
She wanted the girls as well to go to Paris, so that their brother would do something of them, either they would earn [work], either… [get married].
So French language was indispensable, and that is why grandma sent them to the French misses, as she called them.
Well, my grandmother sewed her funeral clothe. The dead are not buried in casual clothes [but in kittel]. Even the less religious were buried according to the ancient Jewish belief. My grandmother told me that a Jewish woman had to sew everything with her hands, everything she was wearing from white linen, to the handkerchief, or – well, a woman wore apron in the kitchen – to the apron. And she had these indeed, she sewed them.
Romania
Throughout, until Kadar came, until then [this was Hungary’s name], the truth is that people gave a sigh of relief just then. And now, as I follow the events, I think it might regain its former name. Grandma too always had a servant, a 14-15 years old girl, since she always had such young little servants.
Formerly Jews had servants, I don’t even know a family who hadn’t. Each family had one, because they used to say that food didn’t matter. This was the slogan. That it could be acquired somehow. People didn’t cook like they do today, in portions.
There was always left [food], so one more always could [eat]of it. And poverty was so deep in villages, that they sent them [girls]at the age of 12-13-14 already to exist somehow. They were beggars, one couldn’t imagine that, the villager woman was barefoot until she could, because if she bought a pair of shoes, she was happy to have something to put on Sundays and on holidays. Hungary was even called ‘the country of three million beggars’.
There was always left [food], so one more always could [eat]of it. And poverty was so deep in villages, that they sent them [girls]at the age of 12-13-14 already to exist somehow. They were beggars, one couldn’t imagine that, the villager woman was barefoot until she could, because if she bought a pair of shoes, she was happy to have something to put on Sundays and on holidays. Hungary was even called ‘the country of three million beggars’.
Jews, even if they weren’t religious, I think those too had a Star of David hung out on the entrance door. And I saw it at my grandmother’s too, on the door, the packed Star of David was fixed with two small nails, it was packed in a small piece of leather I think [one inch large, 10-15 cm long].
[Editor’s note: The packed Star of David is supposed to have served as a mezuzah, perhaps it replaced the usual parchment. Presumably it would have been very difficult to purchase a real parchment made by a scribe.]
My grandmother told me that every Jew had one on his door, he entered [the house] after kissing the Star of David. Nothing could be seen [from the outside], just a small package, with something in it. But I asked my grandmother, and she told me that the Star of David was painted on something. And if a Jewish person came, they kissed it.
[Editor’s note: The packed Star of David is supposed to have served as a mezuzah, perhaps it replaced the usual parchment. Presumably it would have been very difficult to purchase a real parchment made by a scribe.]
My grandmother told me that every Jew had one on his door, he entered [the house] after kissing the Star of David. Nothing could be seen [from the outside], just a small package, with something in it. But I asked my grandmother, and she told me that the Star of David was painted on something. And if a Jewish person came, they kissed it.
Rosa Kaiserman
I usually go to the Club on Tuesday and on Thursday before lunch. We, some elderly women, gather in a room of the Jewish Community of Iassy, we play rummy, drink tea or coffee, and eat cookies or biscuits, we talk to each other, we get to know each otherbetter, becomefriends. When I go to the Club I eat for lunch at the canteen – which is in the same building.
I attend every conference they organize at the Community, they are very interesting. The last conference was last Sunday. It was about Jewish personalities from Iassy. And a lot of Christians attended this conference, not only Jews.
I invite, for instance, every time one of my physicists– I have more female physicist and all of them are beautiful and good-hearted, I love them all – because this lady is very affectionate and she thanks me every time. “Please tell me every time.
I won’t come only ifI can’t.” Last week there were more speakers. But my physicist came with a bouquetof flowersonly for me. All talked, but I was the only one to leave with a bouquet. It was a very expensive bouquet, I think, the flowers were Imperial Lilies, their fragrance lasted for a week.
I attend every conference they organize at the Community, they are very interesting. The last conference was last Sunday. It was about Jewish personalities from Iassy. And a lot of Christians attended this conference, not only Jews.
I invite, for instance, every time one of my physicists– I have more female physicist and all of them are beautiful and good-hearted, I love them all – because this lady is very affectionate and she thanks me every time. “Please tell me every time.
I won’t come only ifI can’t.” Last week there were more speakers. But my physicist came with a bouquetof flowersonly for me. All talked, but I was the only one to leave with a bouquet. It was a very expensive bouquet, I think, the flowers were Imperial Lilies, their fragrance lasted for a week.
I personally don’t go to the synagogue. Unmarried women don’t belongthere. I observe the tradition, but not in the way my parents did it. When my father lived we lit candles on Hanukkah, but now, being alone, I don’t light any. What traditionsdo I observe? Yesterday was for instance the Day of Atonement [Yom Kippur].
On this feast you have to repent for your sins and pray for the prolongation of your life. It is a fasting day, which lasts from seven in the morning until seven o’clockthe following day. You are not even allowed to drink water, so it is a fasting day.
We observe this tradition out of habit. We don’t believe in it. I too fasted yesterday, but I am very sick, I gathered a bag of diseases and I took one of my medicines with some water – otherwise my heart stops and there can be complications.
On this feast you have to repent for your sins and pray for the prolongation of your life. It is a fasting day, which lasts from seven in the morning until seven o’clockthe following day. You are not even allowed to drink water, so it is a fasting day.
We observe this tradition out of habit. We don’t believe in it. I too fasted yesterday, but I am very sick, I gathered a bag of diseases and I took one of my medicines with some water – otherwise my heart stops and there can be complications.
In Warsaw they brought us to a Zoo, where animals lived free. For example, I saw bears and elephants with untied feet walking on a land, which belonged to them. But every piece of land was surrounded by a deep ditch, nails were therein, to hurt animals if they wanted to escape. I was impressed by this place, where animals weren’t captive in a cage – I pity them when I see them caged.
I have seen many beautiful things. It’s good that I didn’t forget these experiences. When I want to think of something nice, I think of Leningrad, of Prague and of Israel.
I have seen many beautiful things. It’s good that I didn’t forget these experiences. When I want to think of something nice, I think of Leningrad, of Prague and of Israel.
In Moscow we had the opportunity to go either at the Theatre or ata Russian balletperformance, which is very famous, or at the circus. Some preferred the circus, some the theatre. Our group went to the circus. And before getting in, we walked through a big park, with a large lake with smooth water.
We liked the circus show, but it got very late, so the driver called us out to go to the hotel. And we walked again through the park. We could hear opera music and operettas, and on that lake we saw a music show and lights, and couldn’t leave that spot.
There were fountains, the light coming from the ground. You got the impression that the water was dancing. And all this went simultaneous with the music they sang, which kept changing. It was enchanting.
I think it is something unique in the world. But I’m not sure, I didn’t travel that much.
We liked the circus show, but it got very late, so the driver called us out to go to the hotel. And we walked again through the park. We could hear opera music and operettas, and on that lake we saw a music show and lights, and couldn’t leave that spot.
There were fountains, the light coming from the ground. You got the impression that the water was dancing. And all this went simultaneous with the music they sang, which kept changing. It was enchanting.
I think it is something unique in the world. But I’m not sure, I didn’t travel that much.
Leningrad is an elegant city. First of all you must walk on Neva’s bank and see the bridges lifting at nighttime and letting ships pass. I visited also Petrodvorets, a place at the Baltic Sea where the Tsar Peter the Great used to live.
There is a garden with statues, all of them plated with gold. In autumn, when it gets colder, all statues are covered, enwrapped and kept safe. And there were many fountains. We were told, that the water falls from a high place and it falls with such power, that no energy is used for the functioning of these fountains.
Our guide wanted to tell us something secretly and called us to go with her under a tree with artificial foliage and gravel on the ground. I don’t know who walked on a stone and water started to spring from the ground. She wanted to make fun of us. I was so mad at her… but that tree was impressive.
There is a garden with statues, all of them plated with gold. In autumn, when it gets colder, all statues are covered, enwrapped and kept safe. And there were many fountains. We were told, that the water falls from a high place and it falls with such power, that no energy is used for the functioning of these fountains.
Our guide wanted to tell us something secretly and called us to go with her under a tree with artificial foliage and gravel on the ground. I don’t know who walked on a stone and water started to spring from the ground. She wanted to make fun of us. I was so mad at her… but that tree was impressive.
I very much liked Prague, the golden city.
We walked through Prague until 12 o’clock in the night – we were a whole group –, I went on the street and had the impression that I knew those places. That was my feeling – except that the city is wonderful.
We left the darkness in Romania and saw there illuminated and clean streets…You couldn’t see anything on the ground, not even a leaf or a cigarette butt – it was impossible to find such things in Prague. I learned there how to use a bus ticket two times. You bought a ticket made of thin paper, which the ticket collector perforated. When you came home,you moistured it, pressed it and reused it.
We walked through Prague until 12 o’clock in the night – we were a whole group –, I went on the street and had the impression that I knew those places. That was my feeling – except that the city is wonderful.
We left the darkness in Romania and saw there illuminated and clean streets…You couldn’t see anything on the ground, not even a leaf or a cigarette butt – it was impossible to find such things in Prague. I learned there how to use a bus ticket two times. You bought a ticket made of thin paper, which the ticket collector perforated. When you came home,you moistured it, pressed it and reused it.
Before going to Israel, I was in anorganized excursion: Prague, Warsaw, Leningrad [Leningrad was the name applied during most of the Communist period (1924-91) to Saint Petersburg. – Editor’s note], Moscow.
,
After WW2
See text in interview
I was only one time in Israel. My father died in 1985 and I left afterwards, but it was still before the Revolution [13]. I had only one cousin (nephew) in Israel, Grinberg Dorel [his mother was actually Ms. Kaiserman’s cousin. – Editor’s note]. He died in the meantime too.
I have many friends in Israel. I visited and lived in 20 houses during my time in Israel. In Haifa three friends, in Ranana, in Tel Aviv, I stayed in Nathania at my cousin and then at his mother’s place.
I was driven with the car all time. I couldn’t have managed it alone. I liked a lot what I’ve seen. It was a feeling hard to explain. Especially when you arrive in Jerusalem – it seems as ifsomething floats through the air. The past and the present…
To see on what people managed to built the cities and the roads… I travelled from north to south, I was at the Red Sea too. On the way to the Red Sea the road is built on sand dunes. I kept watching and wondering – I couldn’t believe it. You could see sand dunes right and left and the road twisted and turned to the first oasis.
The Red Sea makes an extraordinary impression on you. I visited an underwater-museum, a building made of glass. You descended with a sort of ladder until you get on the seabed. On the seabed is this natural museum, and you can see around you all sorts of big and small and colored fish – I haven’t seen in my whole life such fish in yellow and mauve, black and white… A splendor.
And on the seaside there are some hotels, so high that you cannot see their top. One is called King David, the other the Queen of Sheba…That place was called Eylat, but we stayed some atother place, we didn’t have that much money, and my friend wasn’t rich either – we stayed in some tents. If there wasn’t any air conditioningwe wouldn’t have resisted on that weather– there were 40 degreesCelsius.
We drove to the nearest place fromEgypt. We were in that town on the border with former Egypt – it wasn’t yet retrocede to Egypt. [Gaza, which was during 1967-1994 under Israel’s administration. – Editor’s note]. We could go near the soldierwho stood at the border between the lands.
We descended with an elevator into a cave eroded by the water and took a walk in that cave. We have seen extraordinary things there. Of all things I have an interest in all flowers and living creatures. They are fascinating.
I liked Nathania most of all cities. I saw there jewelries for the first timein my life– I hadn’t seen real jewelries shops until then. I don’t wear jewelries, I don’t have any, but I like them. And I would stop in front of a showcase and couldn’t walk further. I stayed in front of the shopand admiredthem.
People say Haifa is a beautiful city. I didn’t like Haifa that much but it is indeed beautiful. Once we drove from Tel Aviv to Haifa on the seashore. At a certain point you can see mountings – not like the Romanian mountains with pine trees, but bald mountains.
And there are somenests, like bird nests, thatsuspended on these mountains – they were human dwellings. Everything is built on the top of the mountain, not in the valley, as cities are built in Romania. I visited also a Moroccan house. I can’t remember which friend of mine had a Moroccan friend, and she brought me to her, to see how Moroccan people live [Jews who came from Morocco].
In Haifa we went with some friends to a flower exhibition. What beautiful flowers there were… It wasn’t a permanent exhibition, it had closed the following day. What flowers, what aromas, what colors… there were flowers from all over the world.
I have many friends in Israel. I visited and lived in 20 houses during my time in Israel. In Haifa three friends, in Ranana, in Tel Aviv, I stayed in Nathania at my cousin and then at his mother’s place.
I was driven with the car all time. I couldn’t have managed it alone. I liked a lot what I’ve seen. It was a feeling hard to explain. Especially when you arrive in Jerusalem – it seems as ifsomething floats through the air. The past and the present…
To see on what people managed to built the cities and the roads… I travelled from north to south, I was at the Red Sea too. On the way to the Red Sea the road is built on sand dunes. I kept watching and wondering – I couldn’t believe it. You could see sand dunes right and left and the road twisted and turned to the first oasis.
The Red Sea makes an extraordinary impression on you. I visited an underwater-museum, a building made of glass. You descended with a sort of ladder until you get on the seabed. On the seabed is this natural museum, and you can see around you all sorts of big and small and colored fish – I haven’t seen in my whole life such fish in yellow and mauve, black and white… A splendor.
And on the seaside there are some hotels, so high that you cannot see their top. One is called King David, the other the Queen of Sheba…That place was called Eylat, but we stayed some atother place, we didn’t have that much money, and my friend wasn’t rich either – we stayed in some tents. If there wasn’t any air conditioningwe wouldn’t have resisted on that weather– there were 40 degreesCelsius.
We drove to the nearest place fromEgypt. We were in that town on the border with former Egypt – it wasn’t yet retrocede to Egypt. [Gaza, which was during 1967-1994 under Israel’s administration. – Editor’s note]. We could go near the soldierwho stood at the border between the lands.
We descended with an elevator into a cave eroded by the water and took a walk in that cave. We have seen extraordinary things there. Of all things I have an interest in all flowers and living creatures. They are fascinating.
I liked Nathania most of all cities. I saw there jewelries for the first timein my life– I hadn’t seen real jewelries shops until then. I don’t wear jewelries, I don’t have any, but I like them. And I would stop in front of a showcase and couldn’t walk further. I stayed in front of the shopand admiredthem.
People say Haifa is a beautiful city. I didn’t like Haifa that much but it is indeed beautiful. Once we drove from Tel Aviv to Haifa on the seashore. At a certain point you can see mountings – not like the Romanian mountains with pine trees, but bald mountains.
And there are somenests, like bird nests, thatsuspended on these mountains – they were human dwellings. Everything is built on the top of the mountain, not in the valley, as cities are built in Romania. I visited also a Moroccan house. I can’t remember which friend of mine had a Moroccan friend, and she brought me to her, to see how Moroccan people live [Jews who came from Morocco].
In Haifa we went with some friends to a flower exhibition. What beautiful flowers there were… It wasn’t a permanent exhibition, it had closed the following day. What flowers, what aromas, what colors… there were flowers from all over the world.
,
After WW2
See text in interview
In fact Ceausescu [6] himself was an antisemite. If you wanted to have a more important job in a leading position, you had to change your name, because the Jewish name wasn’t in the good books. On that time many applied for emigrating to Israel.
Someone got the approval, the other didn’t. We asked ourselves: “On what basis? How do they analyse these records?“ „Why does one get the approval and another onedoesn’t?“ All depended on the height of the police man. If he was small he couldn’t reach the high shelf, so the low shelf got the approval. This was a common joke. There was no logic in these approvals and denials. For instance I had a friend. She had three sisters.
The emigration of their father was approved, and the girls with their mother left only 15 or 20 years later, because they didn’t get the approval. Do you think they were the only ones? I happened to know other families, who experienced the same thing. I remember a young family, they were desperate... Both of them applied for emigration, but by the time of their appliance they weren’t married yet. Then they knew each other, got married, had a baby and then the approvals were offered.
He got the approval, but she didn’t. He left and she remained crying here with a little child, and after the war there were hard times: famine and other insufficiencies, and it was very difficult. I remember dialogues with our relatives from Israel who visited Romania. Before leaving the house I would say: „I’ll take a bag, maybe I’ll find someting.“ „What do you want to find? Can’t go to buy something?“ „Yes, I will buy, but first I have to find something to buy.“
A lot of people left for Israel around 1959-60. Afterwards rather infrequent. Eventually we remained here. My brother and sister wanted to study, to finish university and after that they didn’t want to get fired from their jobs. One wasafraid that in the end one would end up homeless.
The engineer and the physicist got approvalsespecially hard. After applying for emigration, they could have kept you waiting for three or four years and gradually demote you. Seeing that others were fired from their jobs and hired to do the hard jobs – they could be scavengers for ten years, until their emigration was approved – my brother and sister gave up and decided to stay.
My parents got old and didn’t have the courage anymore. They should have startedfrom the beginning there. Mom didn’t want to part with any child: „No one leaves. We stay together.
Someone got the approval, the other didn’t. We asked ourselves: “On what basis? How do they analyse these records?“ „Why does one get the approval and another onedoesn’t?“ All depended on the height of the police man. If he was small he couldn’t reach the high shelf, so the low shelf got the approval. This was a common joke. There was no logic in these approvals and denials. For instance I had a friend. She had three sisters.
The emigration of their father was approved, and the girls with their mother left only 15 or 20 years later, because they didn’t get the approval. Do you think they were the only ones? I happened to know other families, who experienced the same thing. I remember a young family, they were desperate... Both of them applied for emigration, but by the time of their appliance they weren’t married yet. Then they knew each other, got married, had a baby and then the approvals were offered.
He got the approval, but she didn’t. He left and she remained crying here with a little child, and after the war there were hard times: famine and other insufficiencies, and it was very difficult. I remember dialogues with our relatives from Israel who visited Romania. Before leaving the house I would say: „I’ll take a bag, maybe I’ll find someting.“ „What do you want to find? Can’t go to buy something?“ „Yes, I will buy, but first I have to find something to buy.“
A lot of people left for Israel around 1959-60. Afterwards rather infrequent. Eventually we remained here. My brother and sister wanted to study, to finish university and after that they didn’t want to get fired from their jobs. One wasafraid that in the end one would end up homeless.
The engineer and the physicist got approvalsespecially hard. After applying for emigration, they could have kept you waiting for three or four years and gradually demote you. Seeing that others were fired from their jobs and hired to do the hard jobs – they could be scavengers for ten years, until their emigration was approved – my brother and sister gave up and decided to stay.
My parents got old and didn’t have the courage anymore. They should have startedfrom the beginning there. Mom didn’t want to part with any child: „No one leaves. We stay together.
I wasn’t a party member. Sometimes you were forced by the circumstances to keep your job. But I didn’t have an important position, so there was no need to fire me if I wasn’t a party member. I didn’t want to belong to the party, because we considered emigrating to Israel. I couldn’t say I wanted to be a party member, but I also that I want to emigrate to Israel.
They kept coming with offers, but I kept refusing. Afterwards they said that only the workers can be party members and they left me alone. I was lucky. Neither my sister nor my brother-in-law were party members. Only my brother. But he was forced to become one at his work. Someone told me once: “If you are not with us, you are against us.
They kept coming with offers, but I kept refusing. Afterwards they said that only the workers can be party members and they left me alone. I was lucky. Neither my sister nor my brother-in-law were party members. Only my brother. But he was forced to become one at his work. Someone told me once: “If you are not with us, you are against us.
When someone dies, you have to hire an experienced man, who will read prayers and light candle after candle all night, untilthenext day, when the funeral takes place. The funeral was organized according to the Jewish Tradition. If you came at the cemetery after the dead person was burried you hadto eat a hard-boiled egg sprinkled with ash and a pretzel.
We didn’t have any ash at my dad’s funeral, but at mom’s funeral there wassome. My father observed all traditions. When I came hungry at mom’s funeral, and ate the hard-boiled egg and the pretzel I was amazed todiscover that the egg and the pretzel were no different from the usual ones. But my brother couldn’t eatthem. It was like any other boiled egg, the difference is that it is boiled on ash, on embers, the egg is put in coal, and mixedwith the ash.
We sat shivah especially for mom. We sat shivah for dad only the period when people came and consoled us. But when the people left I got up. It is very difficult to sit shivah. You have to sit on the ground – well you can put a pad, but you have to sit for hours, and you go stiff, your legs hurt. You don’t have to sit on Friday and Saturday – more exactly from Friday evening until Saturday evening.
And there is the custom, that every evening, instead of going as usual to the synagogue, ten men go to the house of the deceased person and pray there.
Every evening and every morning. Shivah – shivah means seven in Hebrew – lasts for seven days. After these seven days the ten men come to the house again, say the prayer, take you outside the house, go arround the house – which means that you lead the soul, who is leaving the house.
The mourning is very hard. You are not allowed to wash yourself for a month, for 30 days. That was the most difficult thing for me. And I think you were allowed to change your clothes only on Saturday. The mourning lasts a year – you are not allowed to listen to music, to go to a concert or to a party during this time.
The wearing of mourning clothes is not compulsory – you don’t have to wear black clothes, but have to wear a black apron fastened like a belt, which you can take down Friday evening. You don’t have to wear mourning clothes on Saturdays and on feasts. Kadish is to be said for 11 months.
My brother said it too, but worked and couldn’t go in the morning, so we hired someone, who said it for him. And there was an annual commemoration with prayers at the synagogue and with donationsto poor people.
We didn’t have any ash at my dad’s funeral, but at mom’s funeral there wassome. My father observed all traditions. When I came hungry at mom’s funeral, and ate the hard-boiled egg and the pretzel I was amazed todiscover that the egg and the pretzel were no different from the usual ones. But my brother couldn’t eatthem. It was like any other boiled egg, the difference is that it is boiled on ash, on embers, the egg is put in coal, and mixedwith the ash.
We sat shivah especially for mom. We sat shivah for dad only the period when people came and consoled us. But when the people left I got up. It is very difficult to sit shivah. You have to sit on the ground – well you can put a pad, but you have to sit for hours, and you go stiff, your legs hurt. You don’t have to sit on Friday and Saturday – more exactly from Friday evening until Saturday evening.
And there is the custom, that every evening, instead of going as usual to the synagogue, ten men go to the house of the deceased person and pray there.
Every evening and every morning. Shivah – shivah means seven in Hebrew – lasts for seven days. After these seven days the ten men come to the house again, say the prayer, take you outside the house, go arround the house – which means that you lead the soul, who is leaving the house.
The mourning is very hard. You are not allowed to wash yourself for a month, for 30 days. That was the most difficult thing for me. And I think you were allowed to change your clothes only on Saturday. The mourning lasts a year – you are not allowed to listen to music, to go to a concert or to a party during this time.
The wearing of mourning clothes is not compulsory – you don’t have to wear black clothes, but have to wear a black apron fastened like a belt, which you can take down Friday evening. You don’t have to wear mourning clothes on Saturdays and on feasts. Kadish is to be said for 11 months.
My brother said it too, but worked and couldn’t go in the morning, so we hired someone, who said it for him. And there was an annual commemoration with prayers at the synagogue and with donationsto poor people.
He died here, in this apartment. He had only one concern in his later years. To go to the prayer house. And not to mix the meat with the milk. I do the same today. I cannot eat chicken with sour cream and I wouldn’t cook like that.
We moved from Stephen the Great streetto a house on Sfantul Sava street, which had a bathroom and a WC inside. It was much better. It wasn’t our house, we got it through the Dwelling Service. I’ll explain how this worked. A census of all existing apartments in the whole country was made around 1949. People were hired to do this job. They drew the plansof all apartments from Iassy. Afterwards people would go to the Dwelling Service and apply for an apartment.
Because flats weren’t built by then, they decided that every person has the right to eight square meters. If they were husband and wife they had to live in one room. If they had two rooms and no children, one room was taken from them, and they had to host a renter. If they had a boy and a girl, they had the right for separate rooms, one for the boy and one for the girl. That’s how apartments were alocated, that’s the way this Dwelling Service worked.
Some of the apartments were freed in time. When I moved for instance from Stefan cel Mare to Sfantul Sava, a family hadjust left from there. I had a kitchen and a bathroom there.
Afterwards my sister was assigned to Bucharest, my brother got married and moved to his wife’s apartment and I remained with my parents. I had the right to a room and my parents to another one. We rented that apartment. But there was a law regarding the rent payment too.
There were stoves, but you couldn’t find firewood anymore, so we bought a gas stove, which had to burn day and night, otherwise it got cold immediately and my father was old. Sometimes the stove clogged and I had to stave it in. I had to put my hand right to its end, and in the endI got all dirty. And it was just the moment I had to go school. Dreadful.
I think I lived for 20 years in that house. Meanwhile the Dwelling Service was disbanded, because a lot of people moved in apartment houses. It was then when I bought this apartment, and moved in with dad. This apartment wasn’t offered to me by the state.
I bought it from start on. I had a part of the moneyI needed to for it, I borrowed a part from CEC and my siblings helped me too. I don’t know if someone else moved in on Sfantul Sava street after I left, I don’t think so. Afterwards they destroyed it.
Because flats weren’t built by then, they decided that every person has the right to eight square meters. If they were husband and wife they had to live in one room. If they had two rooms and no children, one room was taken from them, and they had to host a renter. If they had a boy and a girl, they had the right for separate rooms, one for the boy and one for the girl. That’s how apartments were alocated, that’s the way this Dwelling Service worked.
Some of the apartments were freed in time. When I moved for instance from Stefan cel Mare to Sfantul Sava, a family hadjust left from there. I had a kitchen and a bathroom there.
Afterwards my sister was assigned to Bucharest, my brother got married and moved to his wife’s apartment and I remained with my parents. I had the right to a room and my parents to another one. We rented that apartment. But there was a law regarding the rent payment too.
There were stoves, but you couldn’t find firewood anymore, so we bought a gas stove, which had to burn day and night, otherwise it got cold immediately and my father was old. Sometimes the stove clogged and I had to stave it in. I had to put my hand right to its end, and in the endI got all dirty. And it was just the moment I had to go school. Dreadful.
I think I lived for 20 years in that house. Meanwhile the Dwelling Service was disbanded, because a lot of people moved in apartment houses. It was then when I bought this apartment, and moved in with dad. This apartment wasn’t offered to me by the state.
I bought it from start on. I had a part of the moneyI needed to for it, I borrowed a part from CEC and my siblings helped me too. I don’t know if someone else moved in on Sfantul Sava street after I left, I don’t think so. Afterwards they destroyed it.
Nowadays they still organize religious ceremonies, but back then, if two persons belonging to different religious communities were to be married, nobody accepted it, neither the synagogue nor the church. I remember once being able to attend a wedding of some friends.
Rabbi Rosen [12] promised to approve their marriage. The father of the girl was Jewish, but her mother wasn’t. They say, you inherit your mother, not your father. You know for sure who your mother is, saying who your father is...is problematic.
All accepted to organize a religious marriage, in Hebrew, but it wasn’t approved. They made only the civil marriage, afterwards they invited everybody to lunch, where she dressed like a bride and prepared everything as for a wedding.
Rabbi Rosen [12] promised to approve their marriage. The father of the girl was Jewish, but her mother wasn’t. They say, you inherit your mother, not your father. You know for sure who your mother is, saying who your father is...is problematic.
All accepted to organize a religious marriage, in Hebrew, but it wasn’t approved. They made only the civil marriage, afterwards they invited everybody to lunch, where she dressed like a bride and prepared everything as for a wedding.
She met her husband, Iancu Tucarman, in Bucharest thanks to family aquaintances. They had a religious ceremony. My brother-in-law was an agronomist. He worked at that time at a farm near Succeava, but he had an ID from Bucharest. She had an ID from Iassy.
So they organized the wedding in Iassy, both the religious ceremony and the civil marriage. The religious ceremony took place in our house. We had that big house in Sfantul Sava neighbourhood, with large rooms, so we organized it there. It was harldy a year after mom died, so it was a modest wedding, but the rabbi was present.
So they organized the wedding in Iassy, both the religious ceremony and the civil marriage. The religious ceremony took place in our house. We had that big house in Sfantul Sava neighbourhood, with large rooms, so we organized it there. It was harldy a year after mom died, so it was a modest wedding, but the rabbi was present.
The courtyard was very long, and at the back it led into a basement with two flights of stairs. There we sheltered from the bombing. I can still hear this Haham pray, as the war and the bombings started.
He prayed and asked God to send a bomb that would destroy us, as we expected very hard times. That is what he said when the war started. Until then there were the Iron Guard, but at least it wasn’t war. I was very angry when I heard this Haham’s prayer.
I said to myself: “It is easy for you to wish for that, you are already fifty, you are old, but I am young, and I still want to live my life.” Now I see that he was right. If we were finished then, we could have escaped the Transnistria, the Pogrom, and everything else. The Haham escaped, nevertheless, and fled to Australia, immediately after the war.
He prayed and asked God to send a bomb that would destroy us, as we expected very hard times. That is what he said when the war started. Until then there were the Iron Guard, but at least it wasn’t war. I was very angry when I heard this Haham’s prayer.
I said to myself: “It is easy for you to wish for that, you are already fifty, you are old, but I am young, and I still want to live my life.” Now I see that he was right. If we were finished then, we could have escaped the Transnistria, the Pogrom, and everything else. The Haham escaped, nevertheless, and fled to Australia, immediately after the war.
There were several Rabbis in Iassy. Beside the Rabbis, there are the people who know our prayers, our religion and customs very well and who perform the ritual of slaughtering the poultry and the cows. They are called the Haham, and are equally esteemed as a Rabbi.
There were many Rabbis and Hahams. A Rabbi, Landman, was our neighbor in Steven the Great District. There were some other Rabbis as well, but I don’t remember them. There was also a Haham who shared the courtyard with us, and whose name was Lichtenstein. He had a very beautiful open balcony – I can still see it before my eyes. He would eat his breakfast there in the morning and he would put there his samovar filled with water.
A Haham earned probably more than a Rabbi.
There were many Rabbis and Hahams. A Rabbi, Landman, was our neighbor in Steven the Great District. There were some other Rabbis as well, but I don’t remember them. There was also a Haham who shared the courtyard with us, and whose name was Lichtenstein. He had a very beautiful open balcony – I can still see it before my eyes. He would eat his breakfast there in the morning and he would put there his samovar filled with water.
A Haham earned probably more than a Rabbi.
Romania
After that came the Sukkoth. We celebrated it like all the other holidays, namely with better food and a cleaner house. On Sukkoth we would build a sort of tent in front of the house. We would build it from wood pillars, dressed in linen and white sheets, we covered it with leaves. Inside we put fruits, flowers and a table with chairs. It wasn’t large.
It was big enough to fit a table and a few chairs – nothing else was there. During the 8 Days of Sukkoth we would eat there our breakfast, lunch and dinner, and we would pray there.
Where we used to live, in Steven the Great District, we had this neighbor, a Rabbi, Landman, who lived upstairs. In fact he built the Sukkoth, but he built it in front of our house, and when he came from the Synagogue, he would eat first, and we would eat afterwards in the same Sukkoth. Any of the neighbors could eat there, but because it was in front of our house, we took advantage of it first.
It was big enough to fit a table and a few chairs – nothing else was there. During the 8 Days of Sukkoth we would eat there our breakfast, lunch and dinner, and we would pray there.
Where we used to live, in Steven the Great District, we had this neighbor, a Rabbi, Landman, who lived upstairs. In fact he built the Sukkoth, but he built it in front of our house, and when he came from the Synagogue, he would eat first, and we would eat afterwards in the same Sukkoth. Any of the neighbors could eat there, but because it was in front of our house, we took advantage of it first.
Romania
Ten days after Rosh Hashanah, we celebrated Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Everybody was fasting. We, the children, wanted to show how great we were, so we kept the fasting till midday, but to be honest we would eat or drink something in between. Our parents went to the Synagogue for Yom Kipur, and stayed there all day.
Romania
The first Holiday of the Autumn Holidays is the New Year, in Hebrew Rosh Hashanah. It lasts for two days, during which the women and the men of the community read prayers. At home, Rosh Hashanah was celebrated with festive meals, and a lot of sweets as well.
For example: we would prepare white beans, the big sort, with sugar and honey. We loved it, it was delicious! How was it made? I think the beans had to be boiled, then the water had to be changed two times. The third time we added a little bit of oil, sugar and honey and baked it in the oven.
And they would turn brown, although they were white when we first bought them from the market. And there was the chickpea – coffee surrogate is its definition in word quizzes – a sort of bean, which you could eat when fried.
During WWII, because coffee was scarce, the chickpeas were fried in special trays, grinded and drunk instead of coffee. Well, we would boil them together with rice and oil or poultry fat, sugar and honey. Sweet chickpea, that is how we called this dish.
For example: we would prepare white beans, the big sort, with sugar and honey. We loved it, it was delicious! How was it made? I think the beans had to be boiled, then the water had to be changed two times. The third time we added a little bit of oil, sugar and honey and baked it in the oven.
And they would turn brown, although they were white when we first bought them from the market. And there was the chickpea – coffee surrogate is its definition in word quizzes – a sort of bean, which you could eat when fried.
During WWII, because coffee was scarce, the chickpeas were fried in special trays, grinded and drunk instead of coffee. Well, we would boil them together with rice and oil or poultry fat, sugar and honey. Sweet chickpea, that is how we called this dish.
Romania