Tag #117401 - Interview #87373 (Berta Finkel)

Then the war broke out, and from Sulita we came here, to Botosani. At first, Jewish people came to Sulita from Stefanesti, from Harlau, from all corners across the country. And where could you lodge so many people? We had it rough, we, Jewish people. And then, we all came here to Botosani in 1940. [Ed. note: The Jews from Sulita were evacuated to Botosani in June 1941. [1] Mrs. Finkel isn’t accurate with dates, in most cases she approximates them.] They informed us that we had to leave, I believe it was the police – I no longer remember, I was still a child. It took us a whole day to get there. It took a while, as we were a file of around 80 families. We set out at 8 o’clock in the morning, and we arrived in a file in Botosani at 10 o’clock in the evening, as it was dark by then. For evening comes at half past nine, ten o’clock during the summer. We came by cart. The carts were supplied by the state, I believe, we rented them. And what could we take with us? We left everything behind, at home, and it went to smithereens, as they say. We brought a sack or two of corn flour, and a bit of grain that we kept in the attic. I no longer remember if soldiers came with us or not.

In Botosani, we lived at one of my mother’s sister-in-laws, the wife of Zeilic Meerovici. Afterwards, we lived at one of my mother’s nieces, Beatrice, the daughter of Zeilic Meerovici. We lived there for a while, then we moved on Bratianu St., we rented the place.