Lunka und Czarna Rot at a costume ball

On this photo, you can see two daughters of  my aunt Laura, sister of my father. On top, first from left there’s Lunka, and second from left (sitting), there’s Czarna, who we always called Niusia. This photo was taken in Truskawiec, during one of the costume balls which were often organized for young people. What’s more interesting, only one more girl on this picture (first from right, standing) is Jewish, the three others are Christians. They were all daughters of the manager of  the sanatorium, where that ball took place. I remember much later a relative of a husband of one of them hid me for few months in 1944, and after the war he came to Walbrzych and became the first chief of the local museum.

During the time when we lived in Lwow, we usually went for vacation to Aunt Laura, to Truskawiec. Her business was going better or worse, depending on the house she was renting at the given time. Whether it was a large, twenty-room one, or a smaller, fifteen-room one. She rented various houses, of various standards, certainly not all had bathrooms. Naturally, the kitchen was kosher. Though not so strictly kosher that on Friday night they had to put chulent into the oven and on Saturday they wouldn't set fire under the stove. Some of the employees at those boarding houses were Christians, and it was them who did things like setting fire under the stove or reheating dinner on Saturday.  When we went there the last time, Aunt was living in a detached house that had four or five rooms with a kitchen, but no bathroom. The toilet was outside. During the season, Aunt rented out two or three of the rooms, and as her husband, my uncle, whose last name was Rot kept a fuel depot, they had an extra source of income besides the boarding house.