This is me with members of Hashomer Hatzair in Topolcany. The photo was most likely taken in 1941. On the left Greta Neumannova, then Greta Rosenzweigova, both of them are alive, Lilly Weissova perished. Erika Polakova perished, Ruzena Steinerova perished, the last one is me, Ruzena.
I used to spend my free time with my classmates or in Hashomer Hatzair. I felt very comfortable in Hashomer. We used to have lectures and on Saturday we used to go on tiul - an outing. We used to go out into the country. We were learning the basics of Hebrew. From those times I remember the word 'sheket,' which is what you'd shout to quiet people down. Otherwise, Hashomer Hatzair was a leftist organization, and they tried to indoctrinate us with Marxism. My brother Andrej, who brought me into it, wasn't a very big Zionist. His friends went there, and that influenced him. Before the war Andrej was supposed to aliyah. He was already even all set to go, but in the end it didn't happen.
