Gusta Rudich

This is my mother, Gusta Rudich, nee Weiselberg, in the 1940s, after we moved from Cuciurul Mare, where we used to live, to Brasov. There was no special occasion as far as I remember, she probably needed the photo for an ID. My mother was born in Cernauti in 1907 and spoke Yiddish, Romanian and German. She married my father in the synagogue, I don't know exactly when, and then my father started to run along with my mother the shop my maternal grandparents owned in Cuciurul Mare. My mother was rather religious: she lit candles every Friday evening. All food was kosher, she kept separate pots for dairy and for meat products. On Sabbath the shop was closed, and the family went to the synagogue. My elder sister, Rozalia, was born in 1927 and I was born in 1932 in Cuciurul Mare. We had a good financial situation, I don't remember ever needing food or clothing. It was mainly mother who told us stories about Esther and the exodus from Egypt. For us, as kids, it was a marvel how Moses could part the waters with just a stick. During World War II my mother was deported to Transnistria with the rest of the family, and she suffered from frostbite, especially on her legs. When we came back to Cuciurul Mare and then moved to Brasov, she was a housewife. My mother died in 1985 here, in Brasov, and was buried in the Jewish cemetery.