Zosia Laks and Jadzia Mendelson with Hadasa Krzesiwo

qThis is a picture of my two younger sisters, Zosia and Jadzia, with our servant Hadasa. It was taken on vacation in the 1930s.

Almost every year we'd go on vacation. We'd leave the city for at least a month, or two. We'd take all our stuff. We'd go near Katowice, to Bystra, to Cyganski Las, sometimes to Rabka, always to southern Poland, Silesia.

I never went to the seaside before the war. Our more distant family would go with us, too, and we'd spend time there together. We'd rent cottages from peasants.

Father had help, this girl called Hadasa who worked for us for very many years. She could do bookkeeping. She was schooled in trading. Hadasa would sit at the typewriter and serve all the people who came there.

Her maiden name was Manela. She lived in Bedzin, next to the market square, with her mother. She took a tram to work every day. A tram ride from Bedzin to Katowice took from 20 to 30 minutes. Hadasa also had a brother.

They were both Zionists, but rather religious ones: they were probably members of Mizrachi, not of the Zionist Organization. We were great friends with Hadasa. She sometimes went on holiday with us.

Photos from this interviewee