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Mostly German was spoken at the preschool which I attended in Katowice. It was a private preschool, German, I think. Children of all ethnic backgrounds went there. My mother used to walk me to the preschool. I don’t remember if I went there with my brother or not.
I was six years old when I started attending the Berek Joselewicz Elementary School. It was very close to our home, on Stawowa Street, I think. There was one Jewish school in Katowice. It was organized by the Jewish religious community.
The school had a lot of pupils, there were boys and girls together in the classes, the building was quite impressive too, maybe three stories high, with a large schoolyard. The principal’s name was Dligacz. The classes were taught in Polish.
Winer taught Hebrew, but it was very basic. Our homeroom teacher was Miss Londner, who taught Polish. Her name was the same as my mother’s, but they were not related. There was Miss Apter, I think she taught history, Mr. Szapiro, who taught Polish.
I really liked Ms. Sara Diler, who taught us drawing. Marlena, that’s how we called her, she had beautiful legs, like Marlene Dietrich. Sara Diler was very shapely, nice, intelligent. We met in Israel, many, many years after the war and talked about the days in Katowice. It had turned out that before the war she was a friend of my future husband, Stanislaw Wygodzki [25].
There was gymnastics [at school] and in the Zionist sports organization which we belonged to. I think it was called Maccabi [26], or perhaps the name was different? We did exercises on all kinds of equipment. There were competitions too.
The gymnastics classes at school took place in the girls’ gymnasium on 3 Maja Street [Municipal Girls’ Gymnasium, located at number 42, on 3 Maja Street, created in 1922, currently M. Sklodowska-Curie High School number VIII.]
I had the greatest problems with Mr. Neumen, who used to throw me out of physics and mathematics lessons, because I didn’t know anything and disturbed the class. Well, I wasn’t such a good student.
I was lazy and only once, in 5th grade, did I have all As and Bs. Once I even had to repeat a grade, 6th grade. Yes, I failed mathematics and physics. I remember that it really hit me hard. My parents didn’t punish me at home.
They were sorry, just like I was. I told them I wouldn’t study at all, that I’d go to work. Of course, I couldn’t find a job. So I repeated 6th grade and graduated from that elementary school after eight years, because there were seven grades in all.
I was six years old when I started attending the Berek Joselewicz Elementary School. It was very close to our home, on Stawowa Street, I think. There was one Jewish school in Katowice. It was organized by the Jewish religious community.
The school had a lot of pupils, there were boys and girls together in the classes, the building was quite impressive too, maybe three stories high, with a large schoolyard. The principal’s name was Dligacz. The classes were taught in Polish.
Winer taught Hebrew, but it was very basic. Our homeroom teacher was Miss Londner, who taught Polish. Her name was the same as my mother’s, but they were not related. There was Miss Apter, I think she taught history, Mr. Szapiro, who taught Polish.
I really liked Ms. Sara Diler, who taught us drawing. Marlena, that’s how we called her, she had beautiful legs, like Marlene Dietrich. Sara Diler was very shapely, nice, intelligent. We met in Israel, many, many years after the war and talked about the days in Katowice. It had turned out that before the war she was a friend of my future husband, Stanislaw Wygodzki [25].
There was gymnastics [at school] and in the Zionist sports organization which we belonged to. I think it was called Maccabi [26], or perhaps the name was different? We did exercises on all kinds of equipment. There were competitions too.
The gymnastics classes at school took place in the girls’ gymnasium on 3 Maja Street [Municipal Girls’ Gymnasium, located at number 42, on 3 Maja Street, created in 1922, currently M. Sklodowska-Curie High School number VIII.]
I had the greatest problems with Mr. Neumen, who used to throw me out of physics and mathematics lessons, because I didn’t know anything and disturbed the class. Well, I wasn’t such a good student.
I was lazy and only once, in 5th grade, did I have all As and Bs. Once I even had to repeat a grade, 6th grade. Yes, I failed mathematics and physics. I remember that it really hit me hard. My parents didn’t punish me at home.
They were sorry, just like I was. I told them I wouldn’t study at all, that I’d go to work. Of course, I couldn’t find a job. So I repeated 6th grade and graduated from that elementary school after eight years, because there were seven grades in all.
Period
Location
Poland
Interview
Wygodzka Irena