Tag #135936 - Interview #99539 (Jozef W.)

Orthodox Jews were so engrossed in the Talmud that they mainly devoted themselves to its study. This was also the case with my grandfather. As a farmer he worked in the fields. There he would sow, plow, and reap. He took care of the cows, mucked out the manure, and so on. All his life he was healthy, and he lived to be very old. I remember that each morning he would have himself a shot of brandy. Together with my father’s brother and his wife, my grandparents had a little shop. It was a small general store, which my grandma ran with her daughter-in-law. Besides this little shop they also had a pub. But there were no conflicts between them and the other villagers [in Slovakia, Jews are often portrayed as barkeepers that inebriated the Slovak nation – Editor’s note]. I’d say it like this: they would tug on my grandpa’s payes, but it was in fun. Despite the fact that people realized the “otherness” between themselves and Jews, in that village environment I wouldn’t characterize it as anti-Semitism. They simply couldn’t not realize the otherness. Everyone respected my grandfather, and downright liked him.

My grandparents spoke Yiddish to each other. They however also spoke the local dialect, especially Grandma. My father’s brother’s wife also spoke the Spis dialect, as she was from Spis. My grandfather wasn’t very talkative. I do know, though, that he was very strict. Once, when I was about 6 or 7 years old, I lit up on the way to his place. He smelled that I had been smoking, and then he gave me a good licking with his belt.