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We always had a maid, it was natural. They usually came from the Csallokoz [First Czechoslovak Republic], only knew Hungarian and were glad to get a chance to come to the city. Our maids were like members of the family. They all lived with us, but they ate separately. The last girl who was with us incidentally wasn’t from Csallokoz, but from Zahorie, she was a Zahoracka [‘a Zahorie girl’ – Zahorie is a territory whose borders are defined by the Lower Carpathians, White Carpathians and the Morva River in Slovakia.]
She was an exquisite creature. She married here in Bratislava. Maria Sevcikova was her married name. She was an intelligent creature. She cooked, cleaned and aside from that, she was in charge of taking care of me.
If Mother went out in the afternoon, or wasn’t home, then she watched me, to see that I studied and practiced for an hour on the piano. Of course, she only listened in, she didn’t know I wasn’t practicing. I put the book I was reading into the score holder, and played scales while I read, because I didn’t have to concentrate to play them.
So, she was in charge of that. I really really loved her, and she loved us, too. She came from the town of Velke Levare. When she wanted to, she could take time off and visit her parents. Here in Bratislava she had a serious relationship, and my mother was even planning their wedding. Then she moved away. So we didn’t have a maid, just a cleaning lady.
Maria and her husband lived a little farther out. They had an apartment and during the war, she hid my mother three times in 1942. When I came back from the camp, in June of 1945 it was my birthday: my first birthday, when my parents were no longer living, or any of our family for that matter.
Suddenly, our Mari [Maria] appeared at our house. She brought a dish of cherry strudel and said, ‘You haven’t got a mother, but this is your favorite, your mother always made it for you, so I’m bringing you cherry strudel in her place.’ I was terribly happy of course, and I cried, and I said ‘thank you very much, you are an angelic person.’
While she was alive, she often came over to visit us, a girlfriend relationship formed between us. After the war, when I was married again, and my daughter was born – this was during the deepest time of Communism – I was notified that the daughter of our Mari got promoted, she had become a doctor.
She was an exquisite creature. She married here in Bratislava. Maria Sevcikova was her married name. She was an intelligent creature. She cooked, cleaned and aside from that, she was in charge of taking care of me.
If Mother went out in the afternoon, or wasn’t home, then she watched me, to see that I studied and practiced for an hour on the piano. Of course, she only listened in, she didn’t know I wasn’t practicing. I put the book I was reading into the score holder, and played scales while I read, because I didn’t have to concentrate to play them.
So, she was in charge of that. I really really loved her, and she loved us, too. She came from the town of Velke Levare. When she wanted to, she could take time off and visit her parents. Here in Bratislava she had a serious relationship, and my mother was even planning their wedding. Then she moved away. So we didn’t have a maid, just a cleaning lady.
Maria and her husband lived a little farther out. They had an apartment and during the war, she hid my mother three times in 1942. When I came back from the camp, in June of 1945 it was my birthday: my first birthday, when my parents were no longer living, or any of our family for that matter.
Suddenly, our Mari [Maria] appeared at our house. She brought a dish of cherry strudel and said, ‘You haven’t got a mother, but this is your favorite, your mother always made it for you, so I’m bringing you cherry strudel in her place.’ I was terribly happy of course, and I cried, and I said ‘thank you very much, you are an angelic person.’
While she was alive, she often came over to visit us, a girlfriend relationship formed between us. After the war, when I was married again, and my daughter was born – this was during the deepest time of Communism – I was notified that the daughter of our Mari got promoted, she had become a doctor.
Location
Slovakia
Interview
Katarina Löfflerova