Selected text
At this time, 1936, my parents went broke with the restaurant. We had to sell the restaurant and leave our apartment, since we couldn’t pay for it any more. 1936 to 1939 was the most difficult time in Palestine. There was a lot of unemployment at this time and even young people were on the streets and starving. Many went back to Europe.
We had to move out and our family lived in one room. There was no bath, no shower, and the toilet was in the courtyard. But I didn’t suffer. It was difficult back then, but it was difficult for everyone. You didn’t have the sense that one person was rich and the other poor. There was only a very small class who had it better. But it was really very small. The majority was poor. Even my father couldn’t get any work and we needed to count every penny. My father then set up a lift on the street – it was a big crate in which personal effects from Germany and Austria were sent to Palestine, and which often served as a first residence in Palestine – and opened a small pastry shop. He still owned a few appliances from the restaurant that he could still use. He built a table and began baking cakes. Then he sold the cakes to stores, and that’s how we lived.
We had to move out and our family lived in one room. There was no bath, no shower, and the toilet was in the courtyard. But I didn’t suffer. It was difficult back then, but it was difficult for everyone. You didn’t have the sense that one person was rich and the other poor. There was only a very small class who had it better. But it was really very small. The majority was poor. Even my father couldn’t get any work and we needed to count every penny. My father then set up a lift on the street – it was a big crate in which personal effects from Germany and Austria were sent to Palestine, and which often served as a first residence in Palestine – and opened a small pastry shop. He still owned a few appliances from the restaurant that he could still use. He built a table and began baking cakes. Then he sold the cakes to stores, and that’s how we lived.
Period
Year
1936
Location
Tel Aviv
Israel
Interview
Hillel Kempler