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My grandsons don’t concern themselves with religion at all. Even their parents avoid religion. As far as Jewish history goes, they know everything. They’re immensely interested in the events of World War II, the Holocaust. When a movie on this theme comes out, they analyze it in detail. They know about Israel, they know where we belong, where their grandparents belong, they know all that. My older son Ivan and his wife agreed amongst themselves that as far as religion goes, they would bring up their children neither as Jews nor as Christians. Ludmila isn’t a devout Catholic, she doesn’t observe anything besides Christmas. But I’ve taken them with me to the occasional Purim gathering in Kosice. Neither my sons nor my grandsons are registered at the [Jewish] community. My older son regularly attends the synagogue with us at Yom Kippur, but otherwise not.
Since they’ve started attending high school, I see my grandchildren once a week, on the weekend. When my one son’s boys were in elementary school, I used to see them every day. Their school was close, and so they would come over ever day. They would have something to eat, and after dinner their parents would pick them up. I saw the other grandsons only once a week, on the weekend, as they lived on the other side of town. I didn’t have such a close relationship with them. We see our sons, Ivan and Peter, practically every day.
Since they’ve started attending high school, I see my grandchildren once a week, on the weekend. When my one son’s boys were in elementary school, I used to see them every day. Their school was close, and so they would come over ever day. They would have something to eat, and after dinner their parents would pick them up. I saw the other grandsons only once a week, on the weekend, as they lived on the other side of town. I didn’t have such a close relationship with them. We see our sons, Ivan and Peter, practically every day.
Location
Slovakia
Interview
Judita Schvalbova