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Nowadays, we spend the holidays at the Community where we are invited to go; that’s where we meet some of our acquaintances. There is nothing else left for us. Our house was either full, in the past, or empty, at present. I think we are now the only Jews left in this entire neighborhood [Podu Ros]. But we are on very good terms with all the neighbors in our block of flats. I did a bit of handiwork for all of them. Whenever someone moved in, they had work to be done: whether the windows didn’t shut properly, or the wardrobe didn’t fit through the door. It had to be taken apart and reassembled inside the apartment. The neighbors aren’t the same as of yore, either. But our friendship wasn’t the same as it would have been with Jewish neighbors. The latter knew even where the front door key was. It was a different kind of relationship. My wife gave advice to little girls, how to dress, how to wash. Whenever we go to Israel, we meet these children of our former neighbors, and they welcome us as if we were their own parents. Although God didn’t give us the blessing of having children, we have these children of our former neighbors, but our nephews as well.
Location
Iasi
Romania
Interview
Leizer Finchelstein