Matilda Cerge as a small child

Matilda Cerge as a small child

Here I was photographed as an angel with paper wings and a clouded backdrop. The picture was taken in Belgrade in the 1930s. My mother was very pretty and young and my father fell in love with her. She met him when she was about 20. They married very soon after they met. I don't know exactly when, maybe it was 1928. I was born when she was still 20. My mother didn't have time to tell us stories. She was always busy. All day long she was busy. Whenever the store was open she was there. And when she came home she didn't know what needed to be done first. In addition to the help we had she was always straightening up and helping around the house. Mother sang very nicely. When the three of us were home we always sang together. Different songs. We were always singing. My sister Rahela sang soprano and Mother and I alto. When we were together we were singing.
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Centropa Collection acquired by USHMM

The Centropa archive has been acquired by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. 

USHMM will soon offer a Special Collections page for Centropa.

Academics please note: USHMM can provide you with original language word-for-word transcripts and high resolution photographs. All publications should be credited: "From the Centropa Collection at the United States Memorial Museum in Washington, DC". Please contact collection [at] centropa.org.