Tag #122925 - Interview #101186 (Leizer Finchelstein)

I attended primary school at Vasile Adamache, it was a Romanian school. I don’t know why I wasn’t enlisted at a Jewish school. I think the custom for Jewish parents to send their children to Jewish schools wasn’t very well-spread before the 1930-1935’s. It was only when the anti-Jewish laws [3] were passed that parents had no choice anymore, and Jewish children were allowed to attend classes only at Jewish schools. I am indebted to father who sent all of us, children, to attend primary school. Back then, these four grades weren’t mandatory. It was fortunate that father, realizing he had no studies whatsoever, wanted that at least his children should graduate these 4 primary grades.

I will never forget the words of our teacher after we graduated the 4 primary grades. He told us at the graduation celebration: ‘Well, children, mind that you don’t forget how to read. During these 4 years I have strived to teach you how to read, write, and the 4 essential rules of arithmetics: subtraction, multiplication, addition, and division.’ He thus guided and advised us to read whatever we could get our hands on. He knew from personal experience that most children entered apprenticeships into various trades after the 4 primary grades and didn’t have time to read anymore.