Ilona Siefert's family on holiday in Abbazia

On holiday in Abbazia. Standing (from left to right) are my mother's sister, Klara, with her little son, my grandfather and my mother. I am siting in front (on the left), with our ?Fräulein? and my sister. The photo is from the mid-1920s. The whole extended family went down to Abbazia at the same time. We traveled by train. Oh, that was a long journey! It took almost a whole day, and we had to change trains at Fiume, not easy with our large amounts of luggage. In Abbazia, we all lived in the Breiner Hotel, a strictly kosher hotel. I remember that the meat table and the meat section were set with red covers, and the milk table and section with nice blue tablecloths. You could eat meat or milk-based meals, but the two parts were kept separate. The Breiner was the only kosher hotel in Abbazia, so all our Jewish acquaintances also went there. The family all went together, my mother and the two of us (and of course the Fräulein - since she worked all year, it was natural that we wouldn't leave to go on holiday without her!). My mother's younger sister with her two sons also went, as did our grandparents, and, I think, others as well. There were lots of children in Abbazia, as well as acquaintances, relatives and neighbors. Everybody knew everybody else. There was also always a rabbi who spent his summer holiday there, because the place was kosher enough even for him. He conducted a religious service every Sabbath, as there was a synagogue there, too. I must have been around 15 when we went to Abbazia for the last time.

Photos from this interviewee