Helena Akerman

This is my mother Helena Akerman (nee Weiss). This photo was taken in Mukachevo in 1908. There were seven children in my mother's family. My mother was born in 1885. Her Jewish name was Hinde and in her passport she was Helena. All the boys studied in cheder and the girls had classes at home with a teacher. Afterwards they studied in a Hungarian secondary school. My mother's sisters and brothers were deeply religious and observed all Jewish traditions. I don't know where or how my parents met. They got married in 1908 or 1909. Of course, they had a Jewish wedding. They didn't tell me any details. After the wedding they began to live with my mother's parents in Mukachevo. We had three rooms and a kitchen in this house. There were no comforts. We fetched water from a pump tank in the yard. There was a big stove in the kitchen where my mother cooked. There were smaller stoves to heat the rooms. The stoves were stoked with wood. We didn't have a garden. We bought food at the market. My mother wore elegant black clothes and a wig. My parents were wealthy. They had seats of their own in the synagogue that they could afford to pay for. My mother went to the synagogue on Sabbath and on Jewish holidays and my father went there every morning and evening.