Selected text
My parents had me in 1924, as their second and also their last child. Like all the members of our family, I was born in Bratislava. My parents named me Oto Wagner. At home we spoke German, especially my grandparents. They also knew Yiddish. That was still the old generation. Then with our parents, we also spoke German, but they also knew how to speak Slovak well. I consider my mother tongue to be Slovak. In prewar Bratislava, hearing Slovak, German or Hungarian in the street was an everyday occurrence. Communicating in these languages wasn't a problem either. Our family was no exception.
When I lived with my parents, the first place we lived was on what was then called Hodzovo Namesti [Hodza Square]. Now it's all changed, the old buildings have long been torn down and demolished. It's all more modern there now. Then we moved to Metropolka, where the state hospital is now. Across from this hospital is this tall building, with a café upstairs and a bank in the front. That's the building where we lived. In Metropolka, we had an apartment up on the third floor. My parents, brother and I lived together there until 1936. The apartment had three rooms, and was nicely and tastefully furnished. The furniture was partly old and partly also modern. In the beginning we had household help. There was one so-called maid, who cooked, cleaned, and so on. But that was only in the beginning. Later my mother did everything. She took on all the work in the household. I'd say that we had mostly Jewish neighbors. Beside us, for example, lived Professor König, who taught at a Jewish business school. Then there was one doctor that lived there; I don't remember his name any more. In all, about 80% of the families might have been Jewish. We always got along well, and were friends. So while I lived with my parents, I mostly met only fellow Jews, because there were only Jews around me, whether at school, in the street in front of the building, or when we'd go to the synagogue. Everywhere I met up mainly with Jews.
At home we primarily bought German newspapers, and then also what we'd get from the Jewish Community. We also had a collection of books, but it didn't contain anything special. My mother always read mostly things of general interest, newspapers, magazines and so on.
When I lived with my parents, the first place we lived was on what was then called Hodzovo Namesti [Hodza Square]. Now it's all changed, the old buildings have long been torn down and demolished. It's all more modern there now. Then we moved to Metropolka, where the state hospital is now. Across from this hospital is this tall building, with a café upstairs and a bank in the front. That's the building where we lived. In Metropolka, we had an apartment up on the third floor. My parents, brother and I lived together there until 1936. The apartment had three rooms, and was nicely and tastefully furnished. The furniture was partly old and partly also modern. In the beginning we had household help. There was one so-called maid, who cooked, cleaned, and so on. But that was only in the beginning. Later my mother did everything. She took on all the work in the household. I'd say that we had mostly Jewish neighbors. Beside us, for example, lived Professor König, who taught at a Jewish business school. Then there was one doctor that lived there; I don't remember his name any more. In all, about 80% of the families might have been Jewish. We always got along well, and were friends. So while I lived with my parents, I mostly met only fellow Jews, because there were only Jews around me, whether at school, in the street in front of the building, or when we'd go to the synagogue. Everywhere I met up mainly with Jews.
At home we primarily bought German newspapers, and then also what we'd get from the Jewish Community. We also had a collection of books, but it didn't contain anything special. My mother always read mostly things of general interest, newspapers, magazines and so on.
Location
Slovakia
Interview
Oto Wagner