Tag #136335 - Interview #78481 (Samuel Izsak)

My paternal grandparents were farmers in Mezoszabad, a village near Marosvasarhely, twelve kilometers from there. My paternal grandfather was also called Samuel Izsak. I don’t know exactly when he was born, but according to the family tree he died in 1914. I was born the next year, in 1915, and they named me after him. He was the judge – now we call it mayor – of Mezoszabad for a year, sometime at the end of the 19th century. It happened because the former judge had to be replaced at the elections, and my grandfather held this office until the next elections. He managed the village brilliantly, and while he was in this position he kept order there. There was no fighting between the young boys. The villagers always talked about him with great respect and appreciated him because he always supported them. A beautiful relationship developed between my grandfather and the villagers of Mezoszabad, who, by the way, were all Romanians. Mezoszabad is a Romanian village. I think his family was the only Jewish one there. I don’t know whether he was a member of any organization or party. I don’t even know whether he had any particular political beliefs.