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Father used to take me to a bathhouse with him. We bathed in one tub, until Father installed a bathtub in our apartment. It was easy to see how the 19th century changed into the 20th century on Nowolipie, which was a wealthy street. Earlier, tenement houses had no bathrooms, people had to get by somehow.
Children would be bathed in washtubs or some large dishes that you could sit in. Everyone took turns bathing. Finally, Father installed a bathtub under the table in the kitchen. You lifted the table top and there was a bathtub underneath it. There was also a boiler, where water was heated from the cooking going on in the kitchen. There was a coal stove, this boiler was real progress.
In 1928-1929 Father built a villa in Michalin [well-known summer resort near Warsaw in the interwar period]. In 1929 he was earning a lot of money, his company was prospering very well. I know that this villa cost him a lot - 40,000 zloty. [Editor's note: a monthly teacher's salary was 150 zloty.] It had all the necessary amenities, that is, sewage and a bathroom.
There was a water-tower there, where you'd pump water, which we liked very much. The tower was called Mira, like my sister. Mother loved all this very much; she liked flowers and flowerbeds, which she arranged together with the caretaker, Jozef. But the idea for this villa was that there would be summer residents that we could rent it out to them. And we went there too, very often we'd take the most modest room.
Children would be bathed in washtubs or some large dishes that you could sit in. Everyone took turns bathing. Finally, Father installed a bathtub under the table in the kitchen. You lifted the table top and there was a bathtub underneath it. There was also a boiler, where water was heated from the cooking going on in the kitchen. There was a coal stove, this boiler was real progress.
In 1928-1929 Father built a villa in Michalin [well-known summer resort near Warsaw in the interwar period]. In 1929 he was earning a lot of money, his company was prospering very well. I know that this villa cost him a lot - 40,000 zloty. [Editor's note: a monthly teacher's salary was 150 zloty.] It had all the necessary amenities, that is, sewage and a bathroom.
There was a water-tower there, where you'd pump water, which we liked very much. The tower was called Mira, like my sister. Mother loved all this very much; she liked flowers and flowerbeds, which she arranged together with the caretaker, Jozef. But the idea for this villa was that there would be summer residents that we could rent it out to them. And we went there too, very often we'd take the most modest room.
Period
Interview
Jozef Hen