There was a cheder and a Jewish school in town.
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Displaying 12691 - 12720 of 50826 results
Henrich Zinger
Jews lived in the center of the town. Before 1918 there were mostly one-storied buildings in Uzhgorod. When the Czechs came to power in 1918 they began to build two and three-storied apartment houses in the central part of the town with spacious and comfortable apartments. There were stores on the ground floor. Subcarpathia came to prosper during the Czech rule.
My father also had two older brothers, but all I know about them is that they moved to the USA at the beginning of the 20th century. My father corresponded with them for some time, but then they stopped writing for unknown reasons.
There was a frontline in the area where we were working. One night the Soviet troops passed to the offensive and we were ordered to retreat. The nine of us stayed together. We decided to hide in a village. This was the village of Oshurki, as the woman who gave us shelter told us. There were bombs falling all around. My fellow comrades followed the woman into the house, but I stayed outside. I saw a big basket near the front door and got inside. Within some time three German soldiers came to the yard, placed a mortar and started shooting. They were keeping the Russian troops to give their troops an opportunity to retreat. They were very close to where I was hiding. They didn't see me while I could see them through the basket. Then they finally ran away. It became quiet. I got very cold.
Some time after the Germans had left I heard the sound of skis. A Russian officer wearing a white camouflage suit and carrying his machine gun came down the hill to inspect the surroundings. He came into the house and I was still lying in the basket. The Russians were aware that the Hungarians had Jewish labor units. He asked how many of us there were and told us to hurry into the rear, since the army troops might come back, and showed us in what direction to go. It was 2 o'clock in the morning. We still didn't know where to go. We went through some villages. We got thirsty and hungry. Most houses were destroyed. We went into some houses to get warm and get some food. We came to houses like beggars, moving on and on. On the next day we bumped into our fellow comrades lying dead on the road. They had been shot from a plane. There were planes hanging over us, but I remembered from the time when I served in the Czech army that one had to pretend to be dead and walk on after the plane was gone. I don't know whether they were Hungarian or German planes flying over us, but they killed all that didn't follow this rule.
I don't know how many days we roamed about. We were hungry and looking for food. Once we found some pumpkins. We made a fire and fried these pumpkins. They were rotten, but we ate them anyway. Once we found a horse that had frozen to death. We cut pieces from it. We found shelter in abandoned houses. Once we were robbed by some Russians. They were civilians with a gun. They came at night and took away our shoes and clothes. They took my sheepskin vest. They gave us their old clothes.
Finally we bumped into some Russian military. They understood Ukrainian and I asked them whether they needed a tailor or if we could maybe do other work for them. They brought us their clothes and underwear to have them fixed. They gave us some food and when it was time for us to leave they gave us a bag of dried bread. We moved on having no idea where to go. We didn't know the country.
We fell ill with typhoid and some people showed us the way to a hospital. The hospital for patients with typhoid was housed in a school building. Every day dead bodies were taken out of there like logs. The patients were lying on dirty straw on the floor. There were lice that bit patients to death. I don't know where I got the energy, but I didn't sleep at night cleaning my clothes from lice. This probably saved me. There was no water or food. We melted snow to have water. We were so weak that we couldn't walk. We could only move on our fours. Two of my fellow comrades and I survived.
Some time after the Germans had left I heard the sound of skis. A Russian officer wearing a white camouflage suit and carrying his machine gun came down the hill to inspect the surroundings. He came into the house and I was still lying in the basket. The Russians were aware that the Hungarians had Jewish labor units. He asked how many of us there were and told us to hurry into the rear, since the army troops might come back, and showed us in what direction to go. It was 2 o'clock in the morning. We still didn't know where to go. We went through some villages. We got thirsty and hungry. Most houses were destroyed. We went into some houses to get warm and get some food. We came to houses like beggars, moving on and on. On the next day we bumped into our fellow comrades lying dead on the road. They had been shot from a plane. There were planes hanging over us, but I remembered from the time when I served in the Czech army that one had to pretend to be dead and walk on after the plane was gone. I don't know whether they were Hungarian or German planes flying over us, but they killed all that didn't follow this rule.
I don't know how many days we roamed about. We were hungry and looking for food. Once we found some pumpkins. We made a fire and fried these pumpkins. They were rotten, but we ate them anyway. Once we found a horse that had frozen to death. We cut pieces from it. We found shelter in abandoned houses. Once we were robbed by some Russians. They were civilians with a gun. They came at night and took away our shoes and clothes. They took my sheepskin vest. They gave us their old clothes.
Finally we bumped into some Russian military. They understood Ukrainian and I asked them whether they needed a tailor or if we could maybe do other work for them. They brought us their clothes and underwear to have them fixed. They gave us some food and when it was time for us to leave they gave us a bag of dried bread. We moved on having no idea where to go. We didn't know the country.
We fell ill with typhoid and some people showed us the way to a hospital. The hospital for patients with typhoid was housed in a school building. Every day dead bodies were taken out of there like logs. The patients were lying on dirty straw on the floor. There were lice that bit patients to death. I don't know where I got the energy, but I didn't sleep at night cleaning my clothes from lice. This probably saved me. There was no water or food. We melted snow to have water. We were so weak that we couldn't walk. We could only move on our fours. Two of my fellow comrades and I survived.
Then some Russian officers and civilians came. There were doctors among them. One doctor asked me where I came from. I replied that I was from Uzhgorod and he happened to come from Uzhgorod, too. He had moved there from the USSR in the 1920s. He asked me more questions and looked around in search of those that could be saved. Those that had a chance to live were taken to another premise. The rest of the patients perished. When we recovered we moved on. We got washed in a sauna and cleaned our clothes.
Then we were sent to Usman [a town in Russia, about 400 km southeast of Moscow], to a camp for prisoners-of-war. There were German, Italian, Romanian, Turkish and other soldiers. There were many military men that surrendered at the front. When we came there we were ordered to take off our clothes, then we were searched by a doctor and allowed to put on clothes again. This was a transit camp where prisoners were examined and sorted out before they were transported to another camp. I was always looking for work to do. I had needles and other sewing accessories. Only my scissors where taken away during the search, although it was my tool. I got a pair of scissors later. I said that I could fix clothes.
At the beginning my clients were inmates of the camp. I did work in exchange for food. Later I opened a shop. There was a storage facility with stocks of food for the army in the Russian military unit where I was. The Italians went there to steal food. They were starving. Those that were captured were shot immediately and I saw this more than once. Later a shoe shop was opened near my shop. The shoemaker was also an inmate of the camp. I stayed a rather long time in this camp. Newcomers arrived constantly to the camp. Once a train full of former SS military arrived. My friend Schwartz from our labor battalion was among them. He had been hiding with Germans in the house of a woman when they were captured. I took him to my shop.
Then we were sent to Usman [a town in Russia, about 400 km southeast of Moscow], to a camp for prisoners-of-war. There were German, Italian, Romanian, Turkish and other soldiers. There were many military men that surrendered at the front. When we came there we were ordered to take off our clothes, then we were searched by a doctor and allowed to put on clothes again. This was a transit camp where prisoners were examined and sorted out before they were transported to another camp. I was always looking for work to do. I had needles and other sewing accessories. Only my scissors where taken away during the search, although it was my tool. I got a pair of scissors later. I said that I could fix clothes.
At the beginning my clients were inmates of the camp. I did work in exchange for food. Later I opened a shop. There was a storage facility with stocks of food for the army in the Russian military unit where I was. The Italians went there to steal food. They were starving. Those that were captured were shot immediately and I saw this more than once. Later a shoe shop was opened near my shop. The shoemaker was also an inmate of the camp. I stayed a rather long time in this camp. Newcomers arrived constantly to the camp. Once a train full of former SS military arrived. My friend Schwartz from our labor battalion was among them. He had been hiding with Germans in the house of a woman when they were captured. I took him to my shop.
From Usman we moved to Voronezh [Russia, about 500 km southwest of Moscow], where we were taken to the sauna. We had our clothes disinfected and got them back. We were feeling much stronger than before. There was another big camp there. Its inmates were German, Italian, Romanian and Hungarian. We lived in huge wooden barracks. We slept on two-tier plank beds along the wall. We had sufficient food there. They received American food supplies of lentil with chicken meat. America supplied food for prisoners-of-war under an international treaty. The camp in Voronezh was much better than the previous camp. We had sufficient food and a place to wash. There were Jews in the camp, but we didn't observe any Jewish traditions. We didn't eat pork, but this was the only thing we could do in that respect. This was a different world and we were separated from the reality we were used to. I opened a garment shop there, and it was a good shop.
We made uniforms for Russian officers, women's clothes and fixed clothes. There were very skilled German tailors working in the shop. I learned many things from them. I still have notebooks with my notes from this time and albums with patterns. My shop was located near the military unit headquarters, beyond the camp. The colonel, chief of headquarters, lived upstairs and the shoe and garment shops were downstairs. Schwartz and I lived there. I was a tailor and he was a shoemaker. I didn't have to live in the camp for long. I obtained an identity card with my photograph. Schwartz and I lived in the building of the headquarters and moved around. We got food for our work. There were bed bugs that disturbed us in our sleep. We wrapped wet cloth around the legs of our beds to keep bugs from getting onto the bed. However, they got onto the ceiling from where they fell on us. We survived. Every morning I came to the camp to select 20-25 inmates to work in the shop. They weren't going to escape - there was nowhere to go. The local residents thought they were fascists and wouldn't help them. They worked in the shop during the day and in the evening they returned to the camp.
We made uniforms for Russian officers, women's clothes and fixed clothes. There were very skilled German tailors working in the shop. I learned many things from them. I still have notebooks with my notes from this time and albums with patterns. My shop was located near the military unit headquarters, beyond the camp. The colonel, chief of headquarters, lived upstairs and the shoe and garment shops were downstairs. Schwartz and I lived there. I was a tailor and he was a shoemaker. I didn't have to live in the camp for long. I obtained an identity card with my photograph. Schwartz and I lived in the building of the headquarters and moved around. We got food for our work. There were bed bugs that disturbed us in our sleep. We wrapped wet cloth around the legs of our beds to keep bugs from getting onto the bed. However, they got onto the ceiling from where they fell on us. We survived. Every morning I came to the camp to select 20-25 inmates to work in the shop. They weren't going to escape - there was nowhere to go. The local residents thought they were fascists and wouldn't help them. They worked in the shop during the day and in the evening they returned to the camp.
I met my future wife when I was in this camp. There was a house across the street from the building of the headquarters where we lived. I often saw a girl in a window. There was a big family living in that house. Schwartz and I often watched them through the window. It was an episode of peaceful life for us, associated with home. There was a river and a pump nearby where people came for water. We went to swim in the river and often saw this girl, who came with her buckets to get water. Once I took the courage to talk with her. I was wearing a German uniform that Germans had given me for my work. Those Germans didn't know that I was a Jew since I spoke fluent German. I also spoke Russian. I talked with the girl and asked if I could see her in the evening. I longed for talking with someone. I was afraid that she would refuse since she didn't know who I was. She agreed and we met in the evening. I chose a spot where nobody could see us since inmates of the camp weren't allowed to be outside in the evening. We walked and talked. It was like a holiday for me.
We began to see each other more often. I brought her food that we received in the camp. Her name was Sophia Belinskaya. I didn't know who she was. She looked like a gypsy girl. Once she told me that her mother told her to stop seeing me. She thought I was a German and might kill her. We talked more and she told me that she was a Jew. I confessed that I was a Jew, too. Her mother didn't believe it was true. She said there were only German inmates in the camp. I began to come to her home in the evening when nobody could see me. Sophia lived in a big family. There were seven children and Sophia was the oldest. She was born in 1924. Sophia's mother was a housewife. Her father left their family. I tried to support their family as much as I could. We made gowns from white fabric in my shop. We received fabric in rolls. Every night I wrapped some fabric around my body and went to visit them. Sophia's mother sold this fabric at the market and bought food for the family. Once Sophia's mother invited me to lunch. I understood that she wanted to talk to me and find out whether I could speak Yiddish. By the end of my visit she knew that I spoke better Yiddish than she did. After that Sophia's mother wasn't afraid of me any more and I visited them every evening.
We began to see each other more often. I brought her food that we received in the camp. Her name was Sophia Belinskaya. I didn't know who she was. She looked like a gypsy girl. Once she told me that her mother told her to stop seeing me. She thought I was a German and might kill her. We talked more and she told me that she was a Jew. I confessed that I was a Jew, too. Her mother didn't believe it was true. She said there were only German inmates in the camp. I began to come to her home in the evening when nobody could see me. Sophia lived in a big family. There were seven children and Sophia was the oldest. She was born in 1924. Sophia's mother was a housewife. Her father left their family. I tried to support their family as much as I could. We made gowns from white fabric in my shop. We received fabric in rolls. Every night I wrapped some fabric around my body and went to visit them. Sophia's mother sold this fabric at the market and bought food for the family. Once Sophia's mother invited me to lunch. I understood that she wanted to talk to me and find out whether I could speak Yiddish. By the end of my visit she knew that I spoke better Yiddish than she did. After that Sophia's mother wasn't afraid of me any more and I visited them every evening.
My father didn't tell me much about his family. They were very poor and lived from hand-to-mouth.
My father's family observed Jewish traditions. The family was religious. At that time all Jewish families were religious. My grandfather and his sons went to the synagogue and prayed at home. My father's family celebrated Sabbath and Jewish holidays and followed the kashrut.
My father and his brothers studied at cheder. The children were raised religiously.
When the children grew older they went to learn a profession. My father became an apprentice of a stonemason when he turned 13. This stonemason made gravestones. They didn't pay for my father's apprenticeship, my father worked for the stonemason for two years for free. If after finishing their training apprentices stayed to work for their master they got paid for their work.
My mother's family lived in the village of Velikiy Berezny. It was a big village, 40 kilometers north of Uzhgorod. It's a district town now. There were big fairs in the village. The population consisted of Hungarians, Ukrainians and Jews. There were many Jews like in any other village in Subcarpathia.
The Jews spoke Yiddish, Hungarian and Ukrainian.
The Jews lived side by side with their neighbors of other nationalities and had friendly and supportive relationships with their co-villagers. Nationality didn't matter at that time. There were earthen floors in most houses covered with weaved rugs.
There was a synagogue in the center of the village and two cheders: a cheder for boys and a cheder for girls [2].
Most of the Jews were craftsmen and tradesmen. All stores in the village were owned by Jews. Some Jews were farmers.
All Jews were religious and went to the synagogue on Sabbath and all Jewish holidays. Many Jews attended the synagogue every day. There was a shochet in the village. All Jews followed the kashrut. When a cow was slaughtered Jews could only eat its front part. [Editor's note: This custom was followed in a number of communities, although Jewish law does not forbid eating certain parts of the rear part of a cow.] The rear part was sold to the villagers. Every family had separate utensils for meat and dairy products. They also had special crockery for Pesach.
They were buried in the Jewish cemetery in Velikiy Berezny in accordance with Jewish traditions.
My mother's family was religious like all Jewish families at that time. They observed all Jewish traditions.
My parents met with the help of a shadkhan, which was a common way of introducing young people back then. They got married in 1910. They had a traditional Jewish wedding with a rabbi and a chuppah in Velikiy Berezny.
The newly-weds settled down in my mother's parents' house where her older sister and her husband lived as well. Her husband was a shoemaker. The house was big and accommodated two families comfortably.
Some time later my father bought a plot of land near my mother's parents' house and built a house with a thatched roof for our family. We lived there until 1944. The house wasn't big. It was built from air bricks made from the mixture of cut straw and clay placed in rectangular containers to dry in the sun. Many houses in Subcarpathia were built from air bricks. Our house was like many other houses in the village and had a room and a kitchen. There was a big stove in the kitchen. My mother cooked on it and in winter this stove was used for heating. The stove was stoked with wood. Wood was inexpensive since there were many woods in Subcarpathia and brushwood was free. There were fruit trees around the house, a big backyard, a kitchen garden and sheds for grain, a chicken-coop and a barn on the right side of the backyard. We didn't keep cattle, but my mother kept chickens.
My father made gravestones and engravings on them. These gravestones were kept in the yard. He did this work from spring till fall and in late fall he started making frames for pictures and photographs.
My father provided for the family and my mother was a housewife, which was customary in Jewish families. Married women were responsible for the house and raising children.
My parents were religious. They strictly observed the kashrut. There's a number of rules to be followed. There was a special tray with the sides made of twigs in each house. When a shochet slaughtered an animal and let the blood flow down this wasn't kosher meat as yet. He had to remove pellicles and fat, place this meat on the tray and salt it. The tray was put in slant to let the blood with salt flow down into a bowl. Then the meat had to be thoroughly washed to become kosher. Jewish customs and traditions are complex and were transmitted from one generation to the next.
My mother didn't wear a wig since it wasn't customary in the village, but she always wore a kerchief, even at home. We never saw her without a kerchief. She wore casual clothing like all other women in the village. She wore long-sleeved blouses and long dark skirts. She had a long silk dress to wear to the synagogue. This was her only fancy dress. My father wore a kippah at home and a wide-brimmed black hat to go out. On weekdays he wore his work clothes. He had a black woolen suit to wear to the synagogue.
On Friday evening our family got together. We said a prayer, which went like this 'Barukh ata adonay, elohenu melekh ha-olam, asher kidshanu be- mitzotav v-civanu lehadlik ner shel shabat, and my mother lit candles. She said a prayer over the candles with her hands covering her eyes. Then we said a prayer all together, said 'Shabat shalom!' and had dinner. My father blessed the kids. My mother cooked something special for this meal. On Friday morning she usually told me to take a chicken to the shochet. We didn't have chicken on weekdays. We couldn't afford it. From Friday evening till Saturday evening Jews didn't do any work. It wasn't even allowed to strike a match or stoke the stove. On Friday morning my mother cooked food for Sabbath. In winter our Ukrainian neighbor came to stoke the stove on Saturday. He also lit the lamp. There were kerosene lamps. On Saturday morning my father went to the synagogue. Women only went to the synagogue on Jewish holidays. When my brother and I grew older my father took us with him. After he came home from the synagogue he read a special section from the Torah to us. His dream was to have a seat of his own at the synagogue. He couldn't afford to pay for it. I hoped to earn money and pay for my father to have a seat at the synagogue when I grew up. I wanted all Jews in Velikiy Berezny to know that I bought it for my father, but unfortunately, this dream of mine would never come true. Life has its own ways.
We spoke Yiddish at home. We also spoke fluent Hungarian. When Czech became the state language in 1918 our parents had a problem learning it. They spoke Hungarian with their neighbors. We, children, picked it up soon. We also knew 'rusinskiy' - a dialect of the Ukrainian language spoken in Subcarpathia.
We celebrated Jewish holidays at home. On Pesach our neighbors came to our house to make matzah for several families. Women got together at the big table in the kitchen to sieve the flour, make dough and roll it, and my father baked matzah in the oven. I liked sitting beside him. They made a lot of matzah to last throughout the eight days of Pesach.
We went fishing to have fish on holidays. There was a small river in Velikiy Berezny. Fishing was different than it is now. We bought some powder to throw into the river. The fish became drugged and turned up on the surface with their stomach up and we picked it. The powder wasn't hazardous for people.