The Boer-English war broke out. [Anglo-Boer War, 1899-1902] I don't know exactly when this was, but I know this was a historical event. It took place in [South] Africa. And Father had two choices then: he could either join the military as a soldier, or, because he was an accountant, have some administrative position in the army. And he got in as an accountant. And somewhere there, it was Kaapstad [Cape Town], Johannesburg - I don't remember, I just somehow recall these names. So he survived that war in some gold mine.
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Salomea Gemrot
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My Father was very secular, assimilated; it couldn't have been otherwise, because he had spent so many years abroad. He was always well-dressed; he used to have a very short beard, but no sidelocks or anything of the kind. He was very tolerant and so was Mother. He made sure we were tolerant as well.
Father was a certified translator - of English, I think. In addition, there was also this jury in the court, the members of the jury had some influence on the verdicts. And he was there. As someone who knew languages perfectly, he was a very respected and well known man in Rzeszow. In addition to English, he also knew literary German perfectly. I remember how certain people visited us sometimes and he spoke German with them. Father was also very well-read. He brought an entire library with him from England. He had the Pentateuch, with a leather cover, and he studied it whenever he had time. It was a thick volume, with Father's signature in golden letters, very beautiful. He also had all of Shakespeare's works, but as a child I wasn't interested in this. I had heard something about Shakespeare at school, but there was only 'Macbeth' in the school library and Father had his complete works - also with beautiful covers, not leather but blue cloth. He also had books by the German classics in his library, in German.
Father used to read a lot of Polish political papers, mostly about current events. He was interested in what was happening at that time. He wasn't a member of any political party, but he was interested in politics, these international wars.
My parents had a large farm: land, three cows, two horses. There was a servant, but she mostly helped out on the farm, she took care of cows and chickens. I don't remember what her name was, she was middle-aged.
Mother cooked by herself. Her cooking was kosher, completely kosher, because Mother was very religious. We followed all Jewish traditions. At home parents spoke Yiddish among themselves. And the children understood, of course. My brothers spoke this language perfectly and, of course, they also spoke Polish, because Mother made sure that we wouldn't be alienated from the place where we lived.
My parents weren't considering going to Palestine. Father thought he was too old to reorganize the life of the family. He wasn't young when this exodus started [see Hahalutz] 3.
At home and at school I was always called Sabina, not Salomea. My brothers also used Polonized names, I don't know why, whether it was because someone advised them to do it, or because it was such a time that they wanted to assimilate at all cost and didn't want to be second-rate citizens anymore.
My parents sent me to school early - when I was six years old - because they didn't know what to do with me. I started school still in Austria. I went to Polish schools [Autonomy of Galicia] 4. When I was in the second grade there was still no World War I. [Editor's note: In 1916, when she was in the second grade World War I had already commenced.] So in the second grade we were already learning German. All children had to learn it; there were two hours of German until the fourth grade, sometimes even more. And although there were no repressions, nothing, they still learned it.
Mother was very concerned about us not being persecuted for our ethnicity. Because there was a time, at school and everywhere else, where children were discriminated whenever someone heard a Jewish accent. So I went to a school in Rzeszow, where Jewish children were separated in a class. We had our own desks. We also had separate religion classes. Father was, of course, a very educated person and he couldn't stand it. And Father wanted to transfer me from that school, the school where [Jewish] children were treated differently, worse. He wanted to transfer me, to enroll me in a school were there was no segregation.
So my parents enrolled me in a private Hebrew school, where I studied Hebrew for two hours a week.
Zygmunt was the oldest brother, he was a jeweler by trade, but he studied bookkeeping for some time. He was born in 1902. He served in the Polish army. There, in the army, he made a lot of fuss and quarreled, because he was that kind of guy. He was strong and he thought that, as a Jew, he was no worse than others and if someone offended him, he'd react. There was no way to stop him. That's what his character was like.
I belong to the Association of Jews [TSKZ]. Last year I had an accident, I fell so unfortunately that I broke some important element in my hip and what's left is this injury and pain. So I don't walk. Since that time I have rehabilitation at home, but I don't have much hope. When I was in hospital after this happened, the doctors started considering surgery. One doctor came to see me and I asked him, 'Well, how long will the recovery take?' He said, 'Up to three years.' So I said, 'We can't do it, because there's no guarantee I'll live for 100 years.' 'Yes, you're right indeed' - he admitted. Well, after all who's got a guarantee to live so indecently long on this earth? And, unfortunately, the way it is now, I can't really go anywhere, but earlier - well, I didn't go for events to the association [TSKZ], because I'm too old for such things, but for all these meetings, sometimes I did. Ala still attends them, pays the dues and so on. Every year I get compensation from the Germans, from the Foundation. [The foundation Polsko-Niemieckie Pojednanie (Polish-German Reconciliation) was created in 1992. The Germans have remitted 500 mln German marks to be divided between the living victims of the Third Reich]. This compensation arrives here in the mail.
After the war, I didn't really practice. I didn't practice, although I was never Godless. Never. I always thought something was watching over me and every evening I'd pray, not in Yiddish, but in Polish, I'd always say to myself, 'Thank you God for one more day of my life.
,
After WW2
See text in interview
avram sadikario
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I officially joined the Party in 1941. Before that I was a member of SKOJ [21] starting in 1938. The committee evaluated my activities and recommended that I be a member of the Party. There were no signatures. It was all illegal. They reviewed my activities and recommended me. There were not a lot of members of the Party. A party member was extremely active. In Bitola I would say, among Jews and non-Jews, that there were 30-40 members. All 30-40 of them would never get together. When there were demonstrations yes, but they didn't know who the others were. I didn't know who was a member of the Party. When they first recommended me I refused because I didn't deserve it. But you couldn't just say 'I do not deserve.' They just recommended you. The president of the cell, Done Popandonov, came to me to tell me this.
This was in 1941. At the beginning it wasn't so bad, afterwards it got worse and worse. First of all, it was forbidden for Jews to work. Second, it was forbidden for Jews to live outside the Jewish quarter. They reduced the size of the quarter and made a special quarter where we could live. We had to pay a very high tax. It was terrible. Most were poor to begin with, but those who were not became poor. We could only walk around in the Jewish area, outside of that it was forbidden.
We had to wear stars [see Yellow star in Bulgaria] [20]. We had to wear the pins [yellow stars] for Jews which we bought at the Jewish community. They were not expensive. We had to wear them all the time. Since we weren't allowed into certain parts of the city, if we went there we covered them up.
We only had contact with non-Jewish youth. My friends from school were very good, I maintained contact with them. Some of them came to us. They could come to us but we couldn't go to them.
We had to wear stars [see Yellow star in Bulgaria] [20]. We had to wear the pins [yellow stars] for Jews which we bought at the Jewish community. They were not expensive. We had to wear them all the time. Since we weren't allowed into certain parts of the city, if we went there we covered them up.
We only had contact with non-Jewish youth. My friends from school were very good, I maintained contact with them. Some of them came to us. They could come to us but we couldn't go to them.
I stopped keeping kosher in Hashomer Hatzair, when I was 13, 14 or 15. At first my parents didn't know but they suspected it. I felt bad that I defied them, but I kept quiet. But anyway we kept kosher. We didn't go to restaurants and at home everything was kosher. But we didn't especially keep it and when we had the opportunity to eat salami we did. We were all in Hashomer Hatzair and we were all rasha, that is how you say wicked people in Hebrew. It wasn't especially part of the ideology of Hashomer Hatzair, to eat non-kosher. But once you don't keep kosher any more, there is no more kosher. Why keep kosher?
North Macedonia
And also since Hashomer Hatzair was a Jewish atheistic organization they were against it. I was religious until I was 13-14. I always went to the temple and tikkun, prayers early in the morning. I was very religious. And all at once I became an atheist. I was very insolent and I said there was no G-d, and such foolish things. I openly said this. My father got mad. I made him mad. I am sorry for this. And when I was a little older I didn't [talk like that with him]. I wasn't opposed to the fact that he was a believer. I didn't have other conversations with my father about ideology. He didn't have an ideology to talk about.
Hakhsharah was for those who were preparing to go to Israel. Before one went to Israel, one prepared oneself for agricultural work in hakhsharah. I didn't go. I was too little. [The participants] were from all over Yugoslavia and it was in different places. Every year there was a camp, moshav, in Slovenia. Slovenia is a very nice country for camping. It was like a summer camp. It lasted a month. Jews from all over Yugoslavia came there. Only from Yugoslavia, not from other countries. Every year we went, without parents, by train. We went for ten years for two or three weeks each time.
Hakhsharah was for those who were preparing to go to Israel. Before one went to Israel, one prepared oneself for agricultural work in hakhsharah. I didn't go. I was too little. [The participants] were from all over Yugoslavia and it was in different places. Every year there was a camp, moshav, in Slovenia. Slovenia is a very nice country for camping. It was like a summer camp. It lasted a month. Jews from all over Yugoslavia came there. Only from Yugoslavia, not from other countries. Every year we went, without parents, by train. We went for ten years for two or three weeks each time.
My parents were not against it as long as we were dreaming, but when we were supposed to go to Israel then they were opposed to it. They didn't want to break up the family. My parents weren't opposed to Zionism. They were Zionists. They were against us going to Israel. They wanted Israel to exist, for a state to be created. But they didn't want us to go [and live there]. They didn't want to lose their children.
I became a member of Hashomer Hatzair in 1936. [It was first organized in Bitola in 1931.] They organized us. A sheliach came from Israel [then Palestine], Moshe Ashkenazi. [Editor's note: He arrived in Bitola in 1932 from Kibbutz Merchavia. He understood Serbian and remained in Bitola for two years.] He stayed for a year and taught us Hebrew, history and all kinds of other things. Half of the youth in Bitola were members. These were educated people. Hashomer Hatzair first came to Bitola in 1936. One of the founding members of Hashomer Hatzair was Roza Kamhi's brother, Pepo Kamhi. There were others too. It existed before, but it really developed during the year Moshe Ashkenazi came from Kibbutz Merchavia. He was an exceptionally intelligent, educated, cultured person; he knew everything.
There was also Tehelet Lavan [13]. This was another organization that was a bit weaker. They accepted everyone - all those who were poor and uneducated and delinquents. Hashomer Hatzair was more elitist.
There was also Tehelet Lavan [13]. This was another organization that was a bit weaker. They accepted everyone - all those who were poor and uneducated and delinquents. Hashomer Hatzair was more elitist.
When I was a kid my favorite food was 'aropi.' That is a sweet dish made from pumpkin and honey. The pumpkin was cut up and mixed with honey. My mother would make this for me. We always had it at home. I think that only Jews ate this. [My wife] Dzamila doesn't make this. She could. It isn't difficult to make, but she doesn't.
I had my bar mitzvah when I was 13 and I read the whole parasha [weekly Torah portion]. My bar mitzvah teacher came to my house and taught me to read my portion. We practiced for more than a month. I knew the whole parasha by heart. It was a big honor in the temple and outside. They made cakes and other things. I got some presents and money.
All male Jews, and later females too, finished elementary school. Then only a small number went on to secondary school. Only a small percentage of Jewish kids went to gymnasium. One could choose between the gymnasium or the commercial academy. Secondary school was eight years. There was one gymnasium and one commercial academy for all of Bitola.
I went to the gymnasium. There was no Macedonian in secondary school either. It was not just that it wasn't spoken officially; if someone heard it being spoken in the yard, some people were tolerant, others were not. If they heard someone speaking it they would say: 'What are you speaking?' and take the person by the ear and slap, slap, two or three hits, 'You are speaking some foolish language.
I went to the gymnasium. There was no Macedonian in secondary school either. It was not just that it wasn't spoken officially; if someone heard it being spoken in the yard, some people were tolerant, others were not. If they heard someone speaking it they would say: 'What are you speaking?' and take the person by the ear and slap, slap, two or three hits, 'You are speaking some foolish language.
There was a state-run elementary school where the Jews went. There was one Jewish elementary school and many others. There were four grades in the elementary school. The elementary school was called 'La skole de la Zudios' which means Jewish school [in Ladino]. All the Jewish kids went there, but the teachers were Macedonians, that is Serbs. All Jewish kids went to this school. There were no non-Jewish students. [Editor's note: The territory of today's Macedonia was attached to Serbia as a consequence of the Balkan Wars (1912-13) and the Slavic-speaking Macedonians, as a pretext, were considered part of the Serbian nation by Belgrade.] Serbian was taught in the school. In elementary school all the subjects were in Serbian. Nothing was in Macedonian. The Macedonian language was forbidden. It was forbidden as a language. It was forbidden to speak it. If a teacher heard someone speaking Macedonian, he would reprimand the person. It was forbidden because it was understood that Macedonians were Serbs and should speak Serbian and not Macedonian, a gypsy language.
Dzamila and I speak in Macedonian and in Spanish [Ladino]. My children learned Ladino but they have forgotten some of it. When they were little we spoke to them in Ladino but when they began school they started to forget. They speak as if they are foreigners [non-native speakers].
Before this rabbi came, I was the rabbi. [Editor's note: There is actually no full-time rabbi in Macedonia. There is a cantor who leads the services and a rabbi that comes from Belgrade a few times a year.] They called me the rabbi because no one knew Jewish history as well. For each holiday I would tell something about Jewish history and something for Pesach, Purim, Rosh Hashanah. They called me rabbi and I said that I am an atheist rabbi. I think we need to have a synagogue for those who are religious, let them go. I am an atheist, but in that respect I am not particularly opposed that someone prays.
There was never a service in the community because we were all atheists. [Editor's note: The Bet Yakov synagogue, which was built before WWII, was destroyed during the Skopje earthquake and was not rebuilt.] Now they made a synagogue upstairs. [Editor's note: The Jewish community of Skopje built a small chapel on the second floor of their community building in 2001. This is the first synagogue to exist in Macedonia since the war.] When they built the synagogue in Skopje a few years ago, I thought it a little strange. What do we need a synagogue for? But now it is good that they built it. There are services every Sabbath. And we go for the holidays. I do not believe but... There are religious people amongst us, especially among the foreigners [Editor's note: Because of the political situation in former Yugoslavia, especially in Kosovo, there are many foreigners living, working or passing through Macedonia, some of whom are Jews who come to the synagogue.] When there is a service I go to the prayers. I do not believe, but I go.
There was never a service in the community because we were all atheists. [Editor's note: The Bet Yakov synagogue, which was built before WWII, was destroyed during the Skopje earthquake and was not rebuilt.] Now they made a synagogue upstairs. [Editor's note: The Jewish community of Skopje built a small chapel on the second floor of their community building in 2001. This is the first synagogue to exist in Macedonia since the war.] When they built the synagogue in Skopje a few years ago, I thought it a little strange. What do we need a synagogue for? But now it is good that they built it. There are services every Sabbath. And we go for the holidays. I do not believe but... There are religious people amongst us, especially among the foreigners [Editor's note: Because of the political situation in former Yugoslavia, especially in Kosovo, there are many foreigners living, working or passing through Macedonia, some of whom are Jews who come to the synagogue.] When there is a service I go to the prayers. I do not believe, but I go.
When the State of Israel was established this was a big deal for us. There was a gathering in the Jewish community and we celebrated, celebrated and celebrated. We had meetings, sang.
I founded the community because it is different to identify yourself as a Jew for that. I am a Jew. I feel like a Jew. How could I be a Bulgarian, a Macedonian, a Serb; I am not. I am a Jew. It is another thing that I am an atheist; that has nothing to do with it. Because the nation doesn't need to be connected to the religion. And all of my friends are like that too. And some are even Christians. When there is a census I always declare myself to be a Jew.
I founded the community because it is different to identify yourself as a Jew for that. I am a Jew. I feel like a Jew. How could I be a Bulgarian, a Macedonian, a Serb; I am not. I am a Jew. It is another thing that I am an atheist; that has nothing to do with it. Because the nation doesn't need to be connected to the religion. And all of my friends are like that too. And some are even Christians. When there is a census I always declare myself to be a Jew.
The Jewish community in Skopje existed before World War II, but the Jews left [and were killed]. In 1945-46 we re-established the Jewish community in Skopje. I was one of the founders. The president was a very good man, also a partisan fighter, named Blajer. He was in favor of us establishing a Jewish community. And we, the remaining three hundred Jews, did it. We came from different places: partisans, refugees, who had been in Albania, etc. In 1948 many of them went to Israel, only about 50-60 remained: those of us who were not allowed to go. [Editor's note: Soon after the creation of the State of Israel, the Yugoslav authorities permitted Jews to emigrate there freely if they so desired. At first, doctors and other professionals were discouraged from leaving, but later they too were allowed to go with their families. Source: Harriet Pass Freidenreich] Doctors, like me, were not permitted to go because there were not enough of us. And then inertia set in and we stayed here, we complained, but we stayed. I regret that I didn't go to Israel. I wanted to.
I've known Dzamila since we were children. Dzamila was married after the war, at the end of the war. Her first husband died in a traffic accident. He was driving a motorbike and somehow crashed. I saw her the first time after the war when I went to Bitola. She was there too. The fact that we shared the same fate brought us together. And she lost everything: brothers and sisters. And I lost everything. Everything. Including my two brothers who were killed while with the partisans.
The first time I felt any anti-Semitism was when the Bulgarians occupied Bitola. They spread this [anti-Semitism], but it wasn't accepted by the people. Only a few people accepted it, a very few.
My father worked until 1942; by the end of 1942 he wasn't working. They took his store. He had some money that he lived of. On 11th March 1943 [see Deportation of Jews of Bitola to Skopje] [22] they [Bulgarians] seized the whole city. There was a curfew in the whole city, no one was allowed out, not Serbs, not Jews. And the Jewish quarter was occupied and blocked off by the Bulgarian police. There was specially reinforced police near each house; they collected everyone, took them to the train station, and sent them to Skopje.
My father worked until 1942; by the end of 1942 he wasn't working. They took his store. He had some money that he lived of. On 11th March 1943 [see Deportation of Jews of Bitola to Skopje] [22] they [Bulgarians] seized the whole city. There was a curfew in the whole city, no one was allowed out, not Serbs, not Jews. And the Jewish quarter was occupied and blocked off by the Bulgarian police. There was specially reinforced police near each house; they collected everyone, took them to the train station, and sent them to Skopje.