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A rabbinical position came up in Samorin, because the rabbi there was a former classmate of my father's, Dr. Weiss. He was a modern person, and became a rabbi in Wiener Neustadt [New Vienna]. For one, he himself recommended my father for his old position, and Akiba Schreiber also recommended him for it. Samorin was only a small town, about sixty Jewish families, which was about 200 souls.
But the problem was that there was only a Hungarian Jewish school there, and in Kezmarok I'd been attending a Slovak school, and my other siblings a German one. So we began learning Hungarian.
In Samorin we lived at 4 Hlavna St. The apartment had three rooms and a kitchen, no great luxury. The building also had a small garden, but there wasn't anything there, just a couple of flowers. As the oldest, I used to sleep in the last room, which also served as the living room. The windows faced the street.
The entire street was lined with acacia trees which gave off a beautiful aroma. Electricity had already been installed, but not running water. There was no sewage system either. The town had open sewers that collected dirty water, and the main sewer was in Hlavna Street. In the summer it stank horribly. I'll never forget how in the evening the beautiful aroma of the acacia flowers mingled with the stench of the sewers. It was intolerable. People had to close their windows.
But the problem was that there was only a Hungarian Jewish school there, and in Kezmarok I'd been attending a Slovak school, and my other siblings a German one. So we began learning Hungarian.
In Samorin we lived at 4 Hlavna St. The apartment had three rooms and a kitchen, no great luxury. The building also had a small garden, but there wasn't anything there, just a couple of flowers. As the oldest, I used to sleep in the last room, which also served as the living room. The windows faced the street.
The entire street was lined with acacia trees which gave off a beautiful aroma. Electricity had already been installed, but not running water. There was no sewage system either. The town had open sewers that collected dirty water, and the main sewer was in Hlavna Street. In the summer it stank horribly. I'll never forget how in the evening the beautiful aroma of the acacia flowers mingled with the stench of the sewers. It was intolerable. People had to close their windows.
Location
Slovakia
Interview
Singer Alexander