Tag #127677 - Interview #89861 (Dan Mizrahy)

Right before I was about to begin the 5th secondary grade at the ‘Spiru Haret’ High School and the 6th year at the academy, in September 1940, the anti-Jewish laws [5] were passed. With them, the wings of my childhood’s smooth flight were broken. Mihai Popescu – the secretary of the Conservatoire at the time – called me on the phone and told me to come and hand in my 6th-year student card, as I had been eliminated from the academy. He received me with kind words and, despite the green shirt with baldric which he wore [reference to the Legionary [6] uniform], he shook my hand and wished me luck. The expulsion from high school was less spectacular. No one called me or handed me an official notice. I was simply expelled. I kept running around like a hunted prey, trying to find a way out. My sister, in her turn, was about to enter the 7th grade at the ‘Regina Maria’ High School. She was left outside too.