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My grandparents were traditional. My mother said that even though her parents were traditional, her father ate ham, but never at home. At home I don’t think they kept kosher, but nevertheless it wouldn’t have been acceptable to eat ham. On the photograph you can see that my grandparents aren’t wearing traditional costume, but entirely secular clothes. My grandfather didn’t belong to any organization. I don’t think he had any political sympathies. In any case nothing has stuck in my mind, or survived in the family history.
I think my grandparents spoke Yiddish between themselves; they didn’t speak it with the children. I remember my grandmother; she spoke Polish with mistakes, not pure Polish. My mother spoke fluent Polish. Even if somebody thought she was Jewish, and then she said something, they thought they were mistaken. All my grandparents’ children spoke Polish fluently. In our home we spoke nothing else besides Polish. I don’t even think my mother could speak Yiddish, but she understood it, and my father didn’t speak or understand Yiddish.
I think my grandparents spoke Yiddish between themselves; they didn’t speak it with the children. I remember my grandmother; she spoke Polish with mistakes, not pure Polish. My mother spoke fluent Polish. Even if somebody thought she was Jewish, and then she said something, they thought they were mistaken. All my grandparents’ children spoke Polish fluently. In our home we spoke nothing else besides Polish. I don’t even think my mother could speak Yiddish, but she understood it, and my father didn’t speak or understand Yiddish.
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Interview
Hanna We