1934 graduation at the Jewish Reform Real Gymnasium, Brno

This is my graduation picture from the Hebrew and German high school in Brno. I am in the fourth row, second from left. The school was called the Jewish Reform Real Gymnasium. I graduated in 1934. The school had an excellent reputation. The instruction was all in German. There were around 300 students there. Among the teachers was Dr. Epstein (third row, center, among teachers); he was a friend of President Masaryk. I was born in Lubieto in 1913. At that time, it was in Austro-Hungary. There were five Jewish families in my town and no one survived - except me. I had two sisters. One was killed in 1942 and the other in Kremnicka. The Germans killed everyone else in 1944. My father was Moritz Strelinger. I changed our name later. Our family had a store, and both my parents worked there. My grandfather was Jakob Strelinger. He was a teacher, and he spoke a great many languages. He was born in 1843, and he died at 92 years of age in 1935. When he was born, there were no birth registers in the village. He volunteered for the Austro-Hungarian army, but they sent him home because he was too young. My mother was Malvina Straus. Her parents had a hotel in Sliacpa; it had a kosher restaurant. No one from her family survived. I was the only heir of her family's property.