Mother told me one more thing: It seems there was already a cinema there back then, and she told me she took me to the cinema, and we watched a silent film. And allegedly I kept asking her, 'Mother, what are they saying?', and bothered the public.
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Fazekas Magda
My mother didn't speak Hungarian at all. And she got into an environment where nobody spoke Romanian. My father didn't really speak Romanian either. It must have been hard for my mother to adapt. She had lived in a town, and had studied in the French Institute in Galati, so my mother spoke French and Romanian, but she didn't speak Yiddish. My father didn't speak any other language but Hungarian and Yiddish. So it wasn't a truly appropriate marriage. However, my father must have been a lively man, who had seven children, one after the other. What can I say? My mom was a beautiful woman...
My mother was called Fanni Pascal, and my grandfather's name was Michel Pascal. According to others, my grandfather had a very jovial character. They were rich; they lived a life of ease. He was a grain and crop trader and an exporter, so he didn't trade only within the country, but he transported goods from Piatra Neamt to foreign countries as well. My sister Dorika, who visited them in Piatra Neamt, told me that they were really comfortably off.
It is true that at that time all marriages were concluded through mediation. There were matchmakers. My mother was very young, only about eighteen years old, when her stepmother urged her to get married. She was married off very early. There was an age difference of twenty years between my mother and my father. I presume both weddings must have been religious weddings, and they had an official [civil] one too.
Friduska got married at a young age, so she left Gyergyoszarhegy. Her husband was Izidor Hirsch, he was from Marosvasarhely, but they lived in Brasso. I know she had a dowry when she got married. They had one boy, who was called Miki, or Miklos. Izidor had a nice family house in Marosvasarhely. This Izidor was a real gentleman, I won't tell anything else about him, maybe he was spoiled at home, I don't know. However, at the time of the Second Vienna Dictate [2] he was in Marosvasarhely, and didn't go back to Brasso. Friduska and his son, Miki, were in Brasso, she and the child survived, and Izidor was deported.
Miki first studied to become a dental technician. He was a great sportsman; he was even a champion in gymnastics. Once he had this daring idea, and enrolled at university, finished his studies, and became a gym teacher. Sometime in the 1970s Friduska emigrated to Israel with her son. There Miki worked as a gym teacher until his retirement. Friduska suffered a lot because of her poor health. She was ninety-four years old when she died in Israel.
Miki first studied to become a dental technician. He was a great sportsman; he was even a champion in gymnastics. Once he had this daring idea, and enrolled at university, finished his studies, and became a gym teacher. Sometime in the 1970s Friduska emigrated to Israel with her son. There Miki worked as a gym teacher until his retirement. Friduska suffered a lot because of her poor health. She was ninety-four years old when she died in Israel.
Romania
My father opened the shop when he was still a young man, before getting married. He ran his shop in Gyergyoszarhegy for fifty years. This shop was that sort of store which wasn't only a grocery, but they were selling clothes too. All kind of clothes, textiles, there was drapery as well, off- the-peg clothes at that time. But not from the beginning, when my father opened the shop; he enlarged it gradually.
My father was a soldier in World War I, he was enrolled as a soldier, but he didn't go to the frontline. At the time of World War I the family fled to Budapest. [Editor's note: One of his children, Jeno Struhl, was born there, but afterwards the family returned.
My father only finished elementary school. None of the children left the village [to study]. They grew up there, and at that time they weren't sent to high school, because there wasn't such a thing. I think one had to finish seven grades at that time, only later one had to finish eight, if I remember correctly. [Editor's note: Magda Fazekas's father was born and went to elementary school at the time of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The compulsory school attendance was six years of elementary or public school.
After his deportation [and death during the Holocaust] we inherited what Uncle Jakab had left behind: a house and some furniture.
The husband of Aunt Roza was called Moric Majer. They had three children: Jeno Majer, Marci [Marton] Majer and Ibolya Majer. Uncle Moric and Aunt Roza lived for a while in Gyergyoszarhegy, where we lived. They had a big shop. These shops were called chandleries, because one could find everything there. Since they were more enterprising than my father, they moved to Brasso. They wound up the shop when they moved away. I don't know what kind of business they did in Brasso.
The two boys and the girl too studied to become dental technicians, if I remember correctly. Jeno had an office in Brasso, and Ibolya worked with him as a dental technician. Marci moved to Sepsiszentgyorgy, and he got married. Jeno didn't get married, but Marci did, and he lived in Sepsiszentgyorgy with his wife. It is likely he had a dentist's office there too; I don't know this for sure, because I never visited them in Sepsiszentgyorgy. But I did visit Jeno a few times in Brasso.
The two boys and the girl too studied to become dental technicians, if I remember correctly. Jeno had an office in Brasso, and Ibolya worked with him as a dental technician. Marci moved to Sepsiszentgyorgy, and he got married. Jeno didn't get married, but Marci did, and he lived in Sepsiszentgyorgy with his wife. It is likely he had a dentist's office there too; I don't know this for sure, because I never visited them in Sepsiszentgyorgy. But I did visit Jeno a few times in Brasso.
Nelli married a physician, and had a daughter. Andor graduated in law, but because of the anti-Jewish laws [1] he couldn't find a job in Hungary and went to France. He fled the country. Nelli, Uncle Bernad and his wife were deported [during WWII]. After he left Hungary, Andor joined the Foreign Legion in France. He got to Africa with the legion, and in Senegal he met the daughter of the governor of Senegal. They got married. His wife was called like his sister, Nelli. Their life is an interesting story, a romance.
Romania
These American soldiers have everything: school, hospital. The Hebrew teacher of the soldiers who are on duty in Stuttgart was a woman, and she assisted the rabbi during the service. I watched this from the gallery with my daughter, but the only sad thing was that I couldn't understand even what they explained, because they did so in English. They translated it into German too to make people understand what bar mitzvah was for, what its meaning was. Though it was a very long ceremony, it was worth to see. They prayed, then they took out the Torah, they opened the scroll, and he read certain parts of the Torah. Next to the rabbi there was all the time the child, the parents too, and the two girls, his two sisters. So this whole thing was very interesting.
The first bar mitzvah I saw in my life was in Germany. In Obersulm, where I live with my daughter Judit there aren't any Jews. But in a neighboring place, Affaltrach, there is a synagogue, well what is left of it; they didn't demolish it, when during the Kristallnacht [23] all the synagogues were demolished and set on fire. The farm-buildings were near, and they were afraid the fire would spread, and everything would burn down, so they didn't destroy it. However, they robbed this synagogue as well.
Twenty years ago an association was established in order to save the synagogue: 'Freundeskreis ehemalige Synagoge Affaltrach' that means the Society of the Former Synagogue of Affaltrach... My daughter is a member of this association too. They restored it and renovated it nicely as it was, but they don't use it for keeping services in it, for there isn't any Jew or rabbi, but only a museum, and they organize concerts there. I was four times at concerts in this synagogue. There is a German Lutheran priest, Helmut Krause, he's the president of the association, and he's always there when they perform a concert. My daughter undertakes duties at the museum; everybody is a volunteer there.
Recently, in spring 2007 the last event was a bar mitzvah; the parents brought the child there from Stuttgart. This bar mitzvah was the first religious event, since the synagogue was restored. The parents are in fact from America, and the father does his military service as a soldier in Germany. The rabbi who conducted the service also came from America. It was a very interesting event. Unfortunately I didn't understand a word of it, because he was praying in Hebrew, but in between he was also explaining to the public, which was mostly American.
Twenty years ago an association was established in order to save the synagogue: 'Freundeskreis ehemalige Synagoge Affaltrach' that means the Society of the Former Synagogue of Affaltrach... My daughter is a member of this association too. They restored it and renovated it nicely as it was, but they don't use it for keeping services in it, for there isn't any Jew or rabbi, but only a museum, and they organize concerts there. I was four times at concerts in this synagogue. There is a German Lutheran priest, Helmut Krause, he's the president of the association, and he's always there when they perform a concert. My daughter undertakes duties at the museum; everybody is a volunteer there.
Recently, in spring 2007 the last event was a bar mitzvah; the parents brought the child there from Stuttgart. This bar mitzvah was the first religious event, since the synagogue was restored. The parents are in fact from America, and the father does his military service as a soldier in Germany. The rabbi who conducted the service also came from America. It was a very interesting event. Unfortunately I didn't understand a word of it, because he was praying in Hebrew, but in between he was also explaining to the public, which was mostly American.
It's interesting, I never made false fish, since I've been here in Germany. When we visited Regensburg with Evike, they live near Regensburg, we went to buy matzah at the local Jewish community. They were just preparing for Pesach. The door was open, and we looked in, and we saw the laid table in the assembly room... And they had prepared false fish for starter.
It is rather Juditka who had something of a Jewish identity, Evike doesn't really. In fact my children always knew they were of Jewish origin on their mother's side. For example I told Clarika [Evike's daughter] about the Holocaust when she was fifteen. I didn't tell the elder girl anything about this, because I had a completely different relationship with the elder, Ivonne, than with the little one. When we moved to them, she was a teenager, and she wasn't interested in it. Little Clarika was five years old when we emigrated, and she grew up next to us.
I didn't relate anything to these elder children. Not to Evike and Juditka, my daughters. What they found out, they learned from somebody else. I didn't tell them. I didn't want to. I told Clarika because she hadn't yet been taken to such a place. For you see, German children are taken to visit Auschwitz, Dachau [22]. Evike's family lives in Bavaria, children are taken to concentration camps which are nearby. Clarika was that type in general, that she enjoyed my company. So I told her stories, and she told me, 'Now, if they take me to such a place in school, I will see it completely differently than the other children.
I didn't relate anything to these elder children. Not to Evike and Juditka, my daughters. What they found out, they learned from somebody else. I didn't tell them. I didn't want to. I told Clarika because she hadn't yet been taken to such a place. For you see, German children are taken to visit Auschwitz, Dachau [22]. Evike's family lives in Bavaria, children are taken to concentration camps which are nearby. Clarika was that type in general, that she enjoyed my company. So I told her stories, and she told me, 'Now, if they take me to such a place in school, I will see it completely differently than the other children.
Dorika died suddenly. She liked the 'Teleenciclopedia' very much, it was always on Saturday. [Editor's note: The program Teleenciclopedia presenting issues of natural science, technology and health has been broadcasted by Romanian Television 1 since 1965 on each Saturday afternoon, at six.] On Saturday afternoon we were sitting on the balcony, we had a small table there with two chairs, and we were cleaning currants picked by my husband that day. Dorika told me we would never do this again on Saturday, that this was for the last time we were doing this. It was for the last time for my poor sister indeed... She went in to watch the 'Teleenciclopedia,' she invited me to join her, and all of a sudden she says, 'Oh, I feel so bad.' My husband was in the bathroom. And by the time he came out, she was dead, she had died in my arms, I never saw anyone dying before. It was terrible.
Dorika died in 1991. I had a breakdown then. I went to Germany to see my daughters, but I wouldn't have thought that... My brothers and his daughter- in-law undertook to look after my husband so that I could go to my children. He could provide for breakfast and supper for himself. It turned out what illness he had, when he wanted to put out a ficus on the balcony. He lifted up that heavy pot, and his vertebrae cracked, and three of his ribs broke. For these bones were already full of tumors...
We left for Germany in 1995; Evike offered that we could stay with them, and they would look after my husband. How interesting is faith, for a girl was born back then, not a boy - though he [Magda Fazekas's husband] would have liked a boy - and this girl turned out to be his caring keeper for years. Once we even told him, 'You see how faith is, for a girl was born, so that you can have a peaceful old age, you don't have to worry about anything, you can watch TV and read the newspaper peacefully' - She brought him the four biggest newspapers published in Germany every week.
I took care of my husband for fourteen years. He died in August 2006 in Regenstauf; his urn is placed in the family tomb in the Hazsongard cemetery in Kolozsvar. I sat a lot with him in those last years of his life, the problem was that he could not hear, he had problems with his hearing for a very long time, he had fallen sick back then in Szaszregen, and he became deaf gradually. It was very hard to talk to him. In the last years, if he couldn't understand what I said by watching my lips, I wrote him down what I wanted to say, and him answering wasn't a problem, and that's how we could talk.
While he was still alive, I led my life next to him, and we watched all kind of programs on TV. For example he didn't enjoy these lighter movies and musical programs. I liked operetta, I liked nice and spectacular things, which he didn't like at all, it even made him a little nervous, yet sometimes he watched a little of it. He was interested in sports. He was very much interested in it. He went in for sports a lot when he was young, he played tennis, volleyball, he swam, and he liked watching sports on TV. He had a passion for tennis. We knew these famous tennis players, as if they belonged to us; each of us had a favorite.
Dorika died in 1991. I had a breakdown then. I went to Germany to see my daughters, but I wouldn't have thought that... My brothers and his daughter- in-law undertook to look after my husband so that I could go to my children. He could provide for breakfast and supper for himself. It turned out what illness he had, when he wanted to put out a ficus on the balcony. He lifted up that heavy pot, and his vertebrae cracked, and three of his ribs broke. For these bones were already full of tumors...
We left for Germany in 1995; Evike offered that we could stay with them, and they would look after my husband. How interesting is faith, for a girl was born back then, not a boy - though he [Magda Fazekas's husband] would have liked a boy - and this girl turned out to be his caring keeper for years. Once we even told him, 'You see how faith is, for a girl was born, so that you can have a peaceful old age, you don't have to worry about anything, you can watch TV and read the newspaper peacefully' - She brought him the four biggest newspapers published in Germany every week.
I took care of my husband for fourteen years. He died in August 2006 in Regenstauf; his urn is placed in the family tomb in the Hazsongard cemetery in Kolozsvar. I sat a lot with him in those last years of his life, the problem was that he could not hear, he had problems with his hearing for a very long time, he had fallen sick back then in Szaszregen, and he became deaf gradually. It was very hard to talk to him. In the last years, if he couldn't understand what I said by watching my lips, I wrote him down what I wanted to say, and him answering wasn't a problem, and that's how we could talk.
While he was still alive, I led my life next to him, and we watched all kind of programs on TV. For example he didn't enjoy these lighter movies and musical programs. I liked operetta, I liked nice and spectacular things, which he didn't like at all, it even made him a little nervous, yet sometimes he watched a little of it. He was interested in sports. He was very much interested in it. He went in for sports a lot when he was young, he played tennis, volleyball, he swam, and he liked watching sports on TV. He had a passion for tennis. We knew these famous tennis players, as if they belonged to us; each of us had a favorite.
I went to the synagogue to services only on high holidays, with Dorika, on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. On Yom Kippur Dorika and I were fasting, I always lit candles on these holidays, two candles in the Sabbath candlestick. And I observed fasting until I turned eighty.
Hedike gave me two candlesticks; she gave them to me with the request: 'You should light candles each Friday night.' But I didn't practice this; I didn't light candles on Friday evening. I prayed only in the synagogue, when we recited the 'mazkir' [yizkor], this is a prayer for the departed recited in the synagogue. Each year I prayed only for my parents. I recited only the 'mazkir,' which I said for my parents; we weren't particularly religious. And since I had a mixed marriage, we observed holidays meaning that we prepared festive meals, but my husband didn't go to church.
At Pesach we didn't prepare any Jewish food, but we used to buy matzah from the community. We didn't prepare those Pesach meals we had had at my parents'. We made chulent, which we liked a lot. Moreover, my two daughters make it even today, the children like it a lot, and the men like it too, I mean Evike's husband likes it, and Feri likes it as well.
I am a member of the Jewish community even today, ever since I moved to Marosvasarhely. I registered my husband at the Calvinist church, so that he would be a member of the church too, for when he must be buried, he would be included in the records, as member of the Calvinist church. We paid the church fee there, and I pay the Jewish community even today. My brother, Andor, may he rest in peace, always paid the community tax for me too. Evike told me, 'Even if you leave, remain a member of the community.' We contributed to the installation of the Holocaust statue. We donated, both Evike and I did. I don't know whether Juditka donated something, but I know for sure we gave them German marks.
We observed Christian holidays too, Easter, but my husband didn't go to church. He wasn't religious at all, he was a Calvinist. His father was a believer who observed religion, but my husband wasn't religious. From the point of view of what religion I had or he had we didn't have problems.
We always had a Christmas tree. Without Dorika we would have had nothing under the tree. For I wasn't that kind of character, I've never liked shopping, and I've remained like this down to the present day. If she hadn't pressed me, 'Let's go and buy you a pair of shoes', I'd have never bought one myself. In Germany too Evike took me by force to a shopping center. I didn't like it, I was always like this, and I haven't changed in that respect.
We always had a Christmas tree. Without Dorika we would have had nothing under the tree. For I wasn't that kind of character, I've never liked shopping, and I've remained like this down to the present day. If she hadn't pressed me, 'Let's go and buy you a pair of shoes', I'd have never bought one myself. In Germany too Evike took me by force to a shopping center. I didn't like it, I was always like this, and I haven't changed in that respect.
My husband adored nature, and I liked it too, I liked it a lot. I enjoyed gardening, things like that, and we ventured out into nature a lot. To the Fogarasi [Fagarasi] Mountains for example, so these weren't short outings, I wasn't fit for them, but I had to go with him, because he wouldn't have gone alone. And when Juditka was big enough to be able to go, then we took her for the first time to the Fogarasi Mountains, and when Evike grew up too, when she was around thirteen, we went there again. Yet I was quite old already, almost fifty. We were in the Retyezat [Retezat] Mountains, the Western Carpathians, the Bucegi Mountains, in Brasso on the Cenk Peak.
In 1968 I was in Paris with Dorika; we met our cousin Andor, who lived in France. In 1977 Dorika and I went to Israel, where we met Margit, who came there from Canada. We visited together the relatives, we went on a lot of trips together. My husband and I were only on ONT excursions [that is, organized by the Oficiul National de Turism/The National Tourism Department] together. We traveled to Russia, I was there once, but he was there once more alone, in Leningrad. When we were there together, we visited Moscow, Siberia, we saw Lake Baikal. There in Siberia the Amur River borders it from China, on the other side it's China, we traveled that far. And we were in the taiga, it was a very exciting trip, and we had very good company, mainly colleagues, professors from the university. It was very nice.
,
After WW2
See text in interview
Later Feri came home from Germany, and they had their civil wedding here. He was her fiancé all the time, he left as her fiancé. Juditka had a ring, it was a small silver ring, and a little heart on a chain hanging on it. Five years passed, and they had to wait a few months after the wedding, until they let Juditka go. The children of Judit were born there, in Germany. I was there at the birth of both children. Peter, the elder boy is twenty-seven years old, Andras is twenty-five.
It was quite complicated for Evike and her family to leave. Judit was already in Germany, but Evike and her husband couldn't just simply go to Germany. However, Evike, her mother being a Jew, could apply for going to Israel. First they studied Hebrew here, in Marosvasarhely. There was a lawyer here, who spoke the language well, and he accepted to teach them. They had to wait; they submitted the application for emigration, and of course the Securitate [19] kept under surveillance those who applied for emigration. I don't know after how much time they got the permit to go to Israel.
It was a very painful parting, because her elder daughter, Ivonne, was born here. They lived with us until the end, in the room which faces the yard, and they had the small room, the bathroom and the kitchen. Dorika, my poor sister was already retired, and after retirement it was her who cooked. I bought everything, I helped them, but in fact we did it together. The little girl, Ivonne was two and a half years old, she was a very sweet, nice little girl, she could already speak clearly.
They traveled to Bucharest by train, in a sleeping-car, and they flew to Israel from there. There they stayed with a relative. That family, poor them, lived in a small apartment, and they had two little children as well. When they arrived, they couldn't yet go to my cousin, because it was already organized that they would immediately be sent to a Hebrew language course, to the ulpan [20]. And they would have given them lodging and everything there. They said they wouldn't go to the ulpan, because they wouldn't stay in Israel.
They chose Germany, because the brother of Albi's [the son-in-law's] mother lived there with his family. They had been living there for a long time. Well, it didn't result in a scandal, but there was something... The matter dragged on for quite a long time in Israel, but finally they let them go. However, they assumed the obligation to repay Israel the expenses, because Israel paid for every person who emigrated there. They paid a considerable amount for a person Ceausescu [21] let go. I don't know what the exact amount was; Albi's uncle refunded the money for Israel, and thus they let them go. [Editor's note: Israel and Germany paid a certain amount to Romania for each emigrant. This amount was established on the basis of the emigrant's qualification and the position they had in Romania. They had to pay more for a person who had a university degree, than for a person who finished a professional school. From the end of the 1960s it cost Israel 3000 USD on average to 'buy' a Romanian Jew.]
They attended a language course in Germany for one year, and they got some aid too from the Germans, from the very beginning. First both Albi and Evike worked in a hospital. Evike got a job in a hospital for plastic surgery, and Albi in a medical department. Finally he became a radiologist. Ivonne will be twenty-five this November, and Clarika turned seventeen in May.
It was quite complicated for Evike and her family to leave. Judit was already in Germany, but Evike and her husband couldn't just simply go to Germany. However, Evike, her mother being a Jew, could apply for going to Israel. First they studied Hebrew here, in Marosvasarhely. There was a lawyer here, who spoke the language well, and he accepted to teach them. They had to wait; they submitted the application for emigration, and of course the Securitate [19] kept under surveillance those who applied for emigration. I don't know after how much time they got the permit to go to Israel.
It was a very painful parting, because her elder daughter, Ivonne, was born here. They lived with us until the end, in the room which faces the yard, and they had the small room, the bathroom and the kitchen. Dorika, my poor sister was already retired, and after retirement it was her who cooked. I bought everything, I helped them, but in fact we did it together. The little girl, Ivonne was two and a half years old, she was a very sweet, nice little girl, she could already speak clearly.
They traveled to Bucharest by train, in a sleeping-car, and they flew to Israel from there. There they stayed with a relative. That family, poor them, lived in a small apartment, and they had two little children as well. When they arrived, they couldn't yet go to my cousin, because it was already organized that they would immediately be sent to a Hebrew language course, to the ulpan [20]. And they would have given them lodging and everything there. They said they wouldn't go to the ulpan, because they wouldn't stay in Israel.
They chose Germany, because the brother of Albi's [the son-in-law's] mother lived there with his family. They had been living there for a long time. Well, it didn't result in a scandal, but there was something... The matter dragged on for quite a long time in Israel, but finally they let them go. However, they assumed the obligation to repay Israel the expenses, because Israel paid for every person who emigrated there. They paid a considerable amount for a person Ceausescu [21] let go. I don't know what the exact amount was; Albi's uncle refunded the money for Israel, and thus they let them go. [Editor's note: Israel and Germany paid a certain amount to Romania for each emigrant. This amount was established on the basis of the emigrant's qualification and the position they had in Romania. They had to pay more for a person who had a university degree, than for a person who finished a professional school. From the end of the 1960s it cost Israel 3000 USD on average to 'buy' a Romanian Jew.]
They attended a language course in Germany for one year, and they got some aid too from the Germans, from the very beginning. First both Albi and Evike worked in a hospital. Evike got a job in a hospital for plastic surgery, and Albi in a medical department. Finally he became a radiologist. Ivonne will be twenty-five this November, and Clarika turned seventeen in May.
In those times relationships were of course censored. The letters which came from Germany, and those which were sent there, were censored, because we noticed a very little sign, which appeared on every envelope. One could see two lines, the same appeared on the envelopes. It wasn't striking, yet we discovered it. This correspondence lasted for five years. We received each letter.
We got married in 1949, and in 1950 Juditka [Judit] was born, in 1955 Evike [Eva]. Juditka was the best child one could imagine. There was quite a big difference of age between the two children. I gave birth to Juditka when I was thirty. When we got married, my husband said that he wanted three children, but since my second child was born when I was already thirty- five, I was out of time, so we dropped the idea of a third child.
Both children started school in the Papiu [high school]; at that time it was a mixed school, girls attended it too at the beginning. Then they finished school in the Unirea [high school]. Both went to a Romanian school. They studied well, both of them. Juditka, my elder daughter, enrolled at the University of Timber Industry in Brasso, while Evike, the younger one, studied at the University of Medicine, and my husband was delighted with it, because she pursued his profession. He adored that girl so much, it's beyond description.
Evike didn't have any problems at university; she was accepted following the first entrance examination. Her husband was her classmate, he is called Albert Frank, he was born in Nagykaroly [in Romanian Carei], his father was a doctor. He is a very good boy, a very good husband. They have two children. The elder is Ivonne; we didn't hesitate about this name, because we had liked it before. I was glad too that they gave her this name. Their second child is Clara; I like this name as well. I love my grandchildren very much.
Jutka too met her husband at university. He is called Ferenc Incze. He was born in Brasso, his mother is also from Brasso, and his father was born in Zagon [in Romanian Zagon], but lived in Brasso. Juditka was very pretty, she looked like Sophia Loren, she resembled that actress a lot. During her university studies her colleagues called her Sophika. Later, in 1974 Feri [Ferenc] went to Croatia on a students' journey, and he and a Romanian colleague didn't come home. They got to Austria. There they first had a provisional residence, until they clarified their identity. Since Feri could certify his German origins - his mother had German origins - he could go to Germany.
After Feri left, Juditka got to Zilah [in Romanian Zalau]. According to those times' practice she got to Zilah following placement [Editor's note: meaning that after finishing her studies she was compelled to take on that precise job]. But she wasn't there for long, because she wanted to come to Marosvasarhely, and she applied for a teacher's job in Marosvasarhely, at the school of timber industry. She did get it; we were very happy that she was home, and she wasn't so far and alone any more.
Both children started school in the Papiu [high school]; at that time it was a mixed school, girls attended it too at the beginning. Then they finished school in the Unirea [high school]. Both went to a Romanian school. They studied well, both of them. Juditka, my elder daughter, enrolled at the University of Timber Industry in Brasso, while Evike, the younger one, studied at the University of Medicine, and my husband was delighted with it, because she pursued his profession. He adored that girl so much, it's beyond description.
Evike didn't have any problems at university; she was accepted following the first entrance examination. Her husband was her classmate, he is called Albert Frank, he was born in Nagykaroly [in Romanian Carei], his father was a doctor. He is a very good boy, a very good husband. They have two children. The elder is Ivonne; we didn't hesitate about this name, because we had liked it before. I was glad too that they gave her this name. Their second child is Clara; I like this name as well. I love my grandchildren very much.
Jutka too met her husband at university. He is called Ferenc Incze. He was born in Brasso, his mother is also from Brasso, and his father was born in Zagon [in Romanian Zagon], but lived in Brasso. Juditka was very pretty, she looked like Sophia Loren, she resembled that actress a lot. During her university studies her colleagues called her Sophika. Later, in 1974 Feri [Ferenc] went to Croatia on a students' journey, and he and a Romanian colleague didn't come home. They got to Austria. There they first had a provisional residence, until they clarified their identity. Since Feri could certify his German origins - his mother had German origins - he could go to Germany.
After Feri left, Juditka got to Zilah [in Romanian Zalau]. According to those times' practice she got to Zilah following placement [Editor's note: meaning that after finishing her studies she was compelled to take on that precise job]. But she wasn't there for long, because she wanted to come to Marosvasarhely, and she applied for a teacher's job in Marosvasarhely, at the school of timber industry. She did get it; we were very happy that she was home, and she wasn't so far and alone any more.
My husband [Andras Fazekas] was a doctor, a cytopathologist. At the beginning, when I met him, he was a pathologist. But there too a political matter intervened, reorganization was carried out. Back then he worked there, at the pathological department, but he was kicked out. Our children were still little then. He was transferred to Csikszereda [in Romanian Miercurea Ciuc]. But Csikszereda is far, and Dorika, who already worked in public health, had connections, she was a known person, and she managed to arrange that he would be placed not in Csikszereda, but in Szaszregen [in Romanian Reghin]. And in Szaszregen he took on the job in the hospital, but he worked there not in his profession, but as a general practitioner.
My husband worked three years in Szaszregen; he left on Monday, and came home on Saturday. In those times people worked on Saturdays as well. But it even happened that he couldn't come home. He lived with a Jewish family - he chose a Jewish family, because he was already part of a Jewish family - but he had a room that wasn't heated. He caught a bad cold, and after that he didn't hear well.
Finally he could come back from Szaszregen to Marosvasarhely somehow; with difficulties, but in the end we succeeded. Yet they had no job at the pathology, there wasn't a vacancy, he couldn't go back there, but to the internal medicine department. Due to these three years he had spent in Szaszregen his hearing deteriorated so much that he couldn't examine and listen to patients anymore. Then he had to leave his job at the internal medicine department, and in order to avoid unemployment, he took on a district doctor's job. He was sensitive already. He used to go to the office by bike; there were only a few cars back then, and he had a cold, he was ill again, and finally he couldn't do that job either. He wasn't able to due to his physical condition. He was ill many times.
Somehow, I don't know how, there was a vacancy at the pathology. He went back, but to a position where one starts the profession from. He should have been an assistant lecturer already, but these things intervened, Szaszregen, then the internal medicine department, after that drifting as a district doctor. Well, in fact he was broke. And he got back to such a job within his original profession, where he had the smallest salary; yet we were pleased with that nonetheless. And I had a support, because Dorika assisted us like a mother. So somehow we could get on. I didn't have any job, I didn't have to work, because Dori always helped us, so from this point of view we were all right; she adored our children.
My husband could have undergone a head physician exam; he was supposed to take the exam in Bucharest, but he wasn't accepted. Little was missing enabling him to go, some trifling, maybe two months of experience in the field, but because of this he couldn't go to take the exam. And after this last exam they announced a head physician exam only eight years later. And until then we lived on that small salary. Finally he took the head physician exam. Thus he became a histologist in the histological laboratory. When he was dissecting bodies, he had to find out why the person had died. He was doing this for a few years, then he was setting up diagnoses in the laboratory. He had a hard job, because it implies responsibility; for example if they cut out a piece of a woman's breast to establish whether she had a benign or a malignant tumor, he had to decide about it. And he made not one mistake. He was an acknowledged specialist.
He worked until the age of seventy-two, because they didn't let him retire. He was the head physician of the institution. He left in the morning, and came home at ten, half past ten in the evening. For besides he was conscientious, he was never mistaken; it never happened that he made a wrong diagnosis... He worked all the time. I couldn't tell anymore for how many years we could enjoy the head physician's salary, but certainly not for many years. He worked until the age of seventy-two, though he could have retired earlier.
My husband worked three years in Szaszregen; he left on Monday, and came home on Saturday. In those times people worked on Saturdays as well. But it even happened that he couldn't come home. He lived with a Jewish family - he chose a Jewish family, because he was already part of a Jewish family - but he had a room that wasn't heated. He caught a bad cold, and after that he didn't hear well.
Finally he could come back from Szaszregen to Marosvasarhely somehow; with difficulties, but in the end we succeeded. Yet they had no job at the pathology, there wasn't a vacancy, he couldn't go back there, but to the internal medicine department. Due to these three years he had spent in Szaszregen his hearing deteriorated so much that he couldn't examine and listen to patients anymore. Then he had to leave his job at the internal medicine department, and in order to avoid unemployment, he took on a district doctor's job. He was sensitive already. He used to go to the office by bike; there were only a few cars back then, and he had a cold, he was ill again, and finally he couldn't do that job either. He wasn't able to due to his physical condition. He was ill many times.
Somehow, I don't know how, there was a vacancy at the pathology. He went back, but to a position where one starts the profession from. He should have been an assistant lecturer already, but these things intervened, Szaszregen, then the internal medicine department, after that drifting as a district doctor. Well, in fact he was broke. And he got back to such a job within his original profession, where he had the smallest salary; yet we were pleased with that nonetheless. And I had a support, because Dorika assisted us like a mother. So somehow we could get on. I didn't have any job, I didn't have to work, because Dori always helped us, so from this point of view we were all right; she adored our children.
My husband could have undergone a head physician exam; he was supposed to take the exam in Bucharest, but he wasn't accepted. Little was missing enabling him to go, some trifling, maybe two months of experience in the field, but because of this he couldn't go to take the exam. And after this last exam they announced a head physician exam only eight years later. And until then we lived on that small salary. Finally he took the head physician exam. Thus he became a histologist in the histological laboratory. When he was dissecting bodies, he had to find out why the person had died. He was doing this for a few years, then he was setting up diagnoses in the laboratory. He had a hard job, because it implies responsibility; for example if they cut out a piece of a woman's breast to establish whether she had a benign or a malignant tumor, he had to decide about it. And he made not one mistake. He was an acknowledged specialist.
He worked until the age of seventy-two, because they didn't let him retire. He was the head physician of the institution. He left in the morning, and came home at ten, half past ten in the evening. For besides he was conscientious, he was never mistaken; it never happened that he made a wrong diagnosis... He worked all the time. I couldn't tell anymore for how many years we could enjoy the head physician's salary, but certainly not for many years. He worked until the age of seventy-two, though he could have retired earlier.
During this time Dorika helped us. She didn't have any actual qualification in commerce, but she was an extremely clever, capable person. I wasn't as resourceful as my sisters, who opened a sewing workshop, and the others, the boys; I was the youngest, and I was spoiled too a little.
Dorika applied for a job, because they wanted a chief bookkeeper at the public health institution. She didn't have any qualification in accounting, but she accepted the job. Such courage! She took on the chief bookkeeper's job at such an institution... And not only that she could cope with it, but we always had friends who were bookkeepers she could discuss certain issues with. Then she was rewarded, she was the first one from all the public health institutions in the country. She was given a reward, a diploma, and her name was mentioned in a specialist journal, where they praised her.
She didn't get married. She dedicated all her life, as she left school, to her family, to save my father's honor. When she took on this job at the public health institution, it wasn't easy, she had to go there early in the morning; most often she didn't take a bus, but walked all the way. I think the way there was three kilometers, and she walked in summer and in winter, when it was freezing. Then a ministerial act dissolved all the public health institutions [reorganizations were carried out] in all Romania.
Her next job was at the Sanepid, she was chief accountant there [Editor's note: Sanepid - the name of the Romanian public health institution]. They elbowed her out of there. Then she was chief accountant at the Red Cross, where her boss was a vicious man. He gave her such a hard time that she developed heart problems. By the time she could retire, her health had already deteriorated. We were together to the very end in Marosvasarhely, she died in 1991 at the age of eighty-two. She is buried in the Jewish cemetery, and my brother Andor is buried there too.
Dorika applied for a job, because they wanted a chief bookkeeper at the public health institution. She didn't have any qualification in accounting, but she accepted the job. Such courage! She took on the chief bookkeeper's job at such an institution... And not only that she could cope with it, but we always had friends who were bookkeepers she could discuss certain issues with. Then she was rewarded, she was the first one from all the public health institutions in the country. She was given a reward, a diploma, and her name was mentioned in a specialist journal, where they praised her.
She didn't get married. She dedicated all her life, as she left school, to her family, to save my father's honor. When she took on this job at the public health institution, it wasn't easy, she had to go there early in the morning; most often she didn't take a bus, but walked all the way. I think the way there was three kilometers, and she walked in summer and in winter, when it was freezing. Then a ministerial act dissolved all the public health institutions [reorganizations were carried out] in all Romania.
Her next job was at the Sanepid, she was chief accountant there [Editor's note: Sanepid - the name of the Romanian public health institution]. They elbowed her out of there. Then she was chief accountant at the Red Cross, where her boss was a vicious man. He gave her such a hard time that she developed heart problems. By the time she could retire, her health had already deteriorated. We were together to the very end in Marosvasarhely, she died in 1991 at the age of eighty-two. She is buried in the Jewish cemetery, and my brother Andor is buried there too.
My husband was called up, and he was in the army for twenty months. During this period I let out the room to Sanyi [Sandor] Ausch, who is now the president of the Jewish community. In the meantime Sanyi Ausch got married and moved. My husband was still gone, and I didn't have any income, and I was pregnant. After the Ausch family left, I let it out to a young couple, he was a doctor and I also knew him.
In the meantime Juditka was born. My husband came home after twenty months. Juditka called him Bagyi, she didn't call him daddy. During all that long time while he was a soldier, he had leave only once; he did his service in Fogaras. They paid him nothing, and recognized nothing, he was a regular. They gave him only a few lei for pay. By that time Andor moved from here as well.
In the meantime Juditka was born. My husband came home after twenty months. Juditka called him Bagyi, she didn't call him daddy. During all that long time while he was a soldier, he had leave only once; he did his service in Fogaras. They paid him nothing, and recognized nothing, he was a regular. They gave him only a few lei for pay. By that time Andor moved from here as well.
My husband moved here, but when we bought the house, it hadn't been empty. A Jewish family lived on the upper floor, and they left for Israel. Back then if somebody passed an apartment to somebody, they got key money for the apartment in order to give it up. But this Jewish family didn't ask anything for letting us move in. They gave us the upper part, and below a widow lived with her daughter. Then the daughter got married, and the old woman was left alone, downstairs in the two rooms. And she gave us on her own choice one room, the room which was facing the yard, and she kept the bigger room. But we couldn't get that one room; we asked the old lady, we offered her money to move to her daughter, but we couldn't convince her. It was hard to get the entire house, in order to own the whole place. We had so many meetings and talks and everything, my husband went to the housing department many times. So it was very hard, but finally we did get the house.