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As far as my grandma on my mother's side [Maria Bachnerova] is concerned, she was one immensely wise, good-looking and very good woman. By the way, she was very fond of me; mainly because of all the grandchildren I was the most dependent on her help, because our family was unmistakably proletarian and poor. We belonged among the poorest class in Topolcany. She realized this, and helped us however she could. She was born on the same day as Tomas Garrigue Masaryk [2], so 7th March 1850, but I'm not exactly sure whether she was from Hlohcov or Trnava. I don't know anything else about her parents and siblings. She lived to the advanced age of 90. She was a very good-looking woman, even though she dressed in a quite old-fashioned way. The way women still dressed in the 19th century, so she wore a skirt, blouse, and apron and as far as her head goes, she no longer wore a wig. But she covered her hair with a scarf. She was already more liberal, even though some Jewish rituals were still observed there.
Grandma lived with her son Leopold in Bratislava. My uncle had a modern, four-room apartment on Gröslingova Street if I'm not mistaken, number 21 or 51. This apartment was also nicely furnished in a modern fashion. I also lived with them at one time, when I was studying. I remember that despite her advanced age, she regularly cooked, washed dishes and cleaned. Until I remember on one day, it was on Sunday, she said, 'Kids, I feel kind of tired. I'm going to go lie down.' She lay down and never woke up again. I looked for her grave as well. Here, in Bratislava at the Jewish cemetery, but unfortunately I didn't find it. I never knew her husband, my grandfather. My father once told me that his father came from Klatova Nova Ves and made a living as a shoemaker there. That's all I know about my grandfather.
Grandma lived with her son Leopold in Bratislava. My uncle had a modern, four-room apartment on Gröslingova Street if I'm not mistaken, number 21 or 51. This apartment was also nicely furnished in a modern fashion. I also lived with them at one time, when I was studying. I remember that despite her advanced age, she regularly cooked, washed dishes and cleaned. Until I remember on one day, it was on Sunday, she said, 'Kids, I feel kind of tired. I'm going to go lie down.' She lay down and never woke up again. I looked for her grave as well. Here, in Bratislava at the Jewish cemetery, but unfortunately I didn't find it. I never knew her husband, my grandfather. My father once told me that his father came from Klatova Nova Ves and made a living as a shoemaker there. That's all I know about my grandfather.
Location
Slovakia
Interview
Alexander Bachnar