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We invited him for the seder, he got a permission from the camp and celebrated with us. He was a relative on my father’s side and I think his name was Ferenc Domahidi. And there was one of my father’s colleagues from Szaszregen, whose son also did his military service here and came to us on one occasion.
There’s a moment during the seder when the cup must be filled with wine and the door must be opened to let the prophet Elijah come in and drink from it. We, children, always watched the cup – we couldn’t see, of course, the prophet coming in –, and saw how the wine was vanishing. We thought it was fantastic and said, ‘Look, he drank from it, and he is probably gone now he has drunk from it.’ Well, you know how kids are.
Another highlight was when one had to take away the afikoman without being seen by the head of the family. My father wrapped it up and put it somewhere, and while he washed his hands – one should wash his hands several times during this ceremony – either my brother or I took the afikoman.
I was the younger one, so they normally let me steal it. Then negotiations followed for what I would accept in exchange. I don’t remember what I asked for, but it couldn’t have been something really big, because back then children were more modest than today, and were happy with less.
Initially the four questions [the mah nishtanah] were asked by my brother, but later, when I grew older – and we learned it at school –, I asked them in Hebrew. The ceremony was held in Hebrew as well. The prayer book written in Hebrew for the whole ceremony is called Haggadah, and it was translated into Hungarian.
There’s a moment during the seder when the cup must be filled with wine and the door must be opened to let the prophet Elijah come in and drink from it. We, children, always watched the cup – we couldn’t see, of course, the prophet coming in –, and saw how the wine was vanishing. We thought it was fantastic and said, ‘Look, he drank from it, and he is probably gone now he has drunk from it.’ Well, you know how kids are.
Another highlight was when one had to take away the afikoman without being seen by the head of the family. My father wrapped it up and put it somewhere, and while he washed his hands – one should wash his hands several times during this ceremony – either my brother or I took the afikoman.
I was the younger one, so they normally let me steal it. Then negotiations followed for what I would accept in exchange. I don’t remember what I asked for, but it couldn’t have been something really big, because back then children were more modest than today, and were happy with less.
Initially the four questions [the mah nishtanah] were asked by my brother, but later, when I grew older – and we learned it at school –, I asked them in Hebrew. The ceremony was held in Hebrew as well. The prayer book written in Hebrew for the whole ceremony is called Haggadah, and it was translated into Hungarian.
Period
Location
Marosvasarhely
Romania
Interview
Eva Deutsch
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