KRAKOWSKI
I was born in Radomska in 1926.
My father had a soap factory in our garden and all of our aunts and uncles lived in our house.
I attended the second shift at school from 1-5 pm and a maid used to take me there. When I was a little bit older I went alone and I was told that of I was scared I should say the Shema ( a Jewish prayer) and G-d would protect me. It was a jewish school with a Polish principal and the mix of children was Polish and Jewish.
I was happy and a good student.
In 1935 my aunt and her family migrated to Israel and it was always expected that we would follow soon. I was 9 1/2 when this happened but my sister had heart disease and we were told that it would be too risky for her to make the move, so we moved to Lodz instead.
In 1936-1937 Jabotinski came to Poland, I was 10 years old and we moved to Zdunska Wola I felt uncomfortable there because I did not have any friends.
Our family were Mizrachi and we kept the Sabbath, my father wore a Yalmuka everyday, he was very interested in politics. He read two papers in Yiddish daily and my mother read the news in both Polish and Yiddish. On Saturdays they only read Yiddish. on Saturday evenings the family would gather together and play cards. Every holiday my father talked about Jerusalem.
My mother’s maiden name was Krell, her family came from Czestochowa where her father, (my grandfather) ,was personally known to the credit bank there. When the Polish president came to town my grandfather was part of the official welcoming committee. In 1935 -36 he established a charity organisation. he listened to the radio
Life at school was very difficult but I was told by some of the girls that if i brought some delicious fruit for them they would protect me from the gangs, so I brought fruit from home everyday.
My father opened a soap factory in Lodz and he made a point of not doing anything on a Monday, his working week began on a Tuesday, it was a superstition of his. People of both faiths came to our house, our neighbourhood was mainly jewish but Zdunska Wola was mixed.
In 1939 my grandmother came to take me home to Zdunska Wola.