Purim celebration in Cakovec in 1940

This is Purim celebration in Cakovec in 1940.

I am not in this picture, but my sister Tea is the one standing, second from left.

We would have Purim celebrations regularly. We would even rehearse songs and plays that we would perform. That was like a tradition in our Community in Cakovec. This photo is taken during one of Purim celebrations.

My sister is in this picture; she is the second from the left in the upper row. She was six years old then. It was Purim, so she is dressed as Esther, like the other girls in the picture. For Purim, of course, we always put masks on.

Most of the girls were masked as Queen Esther, and boys were masked as Mordechai. I don't know who the other girls in this photo are, but they are all our friends that we used to socialize in the Jewish Community in Cakovec.

My friend Singer is also in this picture. He is the middle one in the bottom row, the one with Tallith around him. His parents had a cloths store in the center of Cakovec.

He was taken to Auschwitz and survived. After the march from Auschwitz back, his toes froze and fell off. He left for Israel in 1948, went to the army and was killed right away.

He was born in 1930, so he was 18 when he died. What a terrible destiny: he survived Auschwitz and died in Israel.

My sister was taken together with our mother a crematory in Birkenau in 1944. She was only 10 years old.

I am particularly fond of this photo because my sister is on it. But I also like it because of the beautiful Jewish symbols that it has: the Jewish star, and Tallith.