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My father got married in 1914, about two years before I was born. He married the daughter of the Kezmarok rabbi. After the wedding he became a dayan [dayan: a judge of the rabbinical court – Editor's note] and taught German and religion at the German high school in Kezmarok. Kezmarok was mainly full of Germans, but they were from Spis, so they didn't speak grammatically correct German, but spoke a dialect. My father also spoke Yiddish, but it was so-called Oberländer Yiddish.
I was born into the worst poverty, in 1916, in Kezmarok. My parents named me Alexander, Jewish name Shmuel. With my father I spoke mostly German, but with my mother Slovak as well. I spent my early childhood in Kezmarok. Later, in 1926, we moved to Samorin, where my father became the head rabbi. For us it was a change to abundance.
It was a very good and big change from the standpoint of accommodations and supporting the family. Compared to Kezmarok, Samorin was a village, as Kezmarok was a town of artisans, but from the standpoint of supporting the family, it was incomparable.
I was born into the worst poverty, in 1916, in Kezmarok. My parents named me Alexander, Jewish name Shmuel. With my father I spoke mostly German, but with my mother Slovak as well. I spent my early childhood in Kezmarok. Later, in 1926, we moved to Samorin, where my father became the head rabbi. For us it was a change to abundance.
It was a very good and big change from the standpoint of accommodations and supporting the family. Compared to Kezmarok, Samorin was a village, as Kezmarok was a town of artisans, but from the standpoint of supporting the family, it was incomparable.
Location
Slovakia
Interview
Singer Alexander