War
At the end of the semester my parents came to Paris with my sister; my father
proceeded on business to New York and we stayed on vacation in France first
in PlombiŠres, a resort for medical treatment, then in the Vosges. The doctor
suspected that I had a liver disease, but I was only exhausted and needed a
good rest. My father planned to stay with us after his return from the USA.
He returned indeed, but much earlier than planned, under quite unexpected
circumstances. I shall never forget the dramatic events that followed: on the
eve of his fiftieth birthday, 21 August, he called us from new York asking us
about the news, whether we knew about a general mobilization in France. We
didn't. Anyhow he said that he was returning immediately; we had to meet in
Paris and hurry home. The next day we heard about the mobilization in
France. American newspapers were simply better informed. We returned
home at the end of August.
When we passed through Italy some Jewish families from Romania were
detained and not permitted to return home; to them and to us this seemed a
disaster. Alas! We did not realize then how lucky they were; they were free
to go anywhere. At that time this was the most tragic scene I had ever
witnessed; how many, much worse were to follow! On 1 September Germany
attacked Poland, the year was 1939 and on 3 September Britain and France
declared war on Germany. We were paralyzed by fear and terror; Europe was
on fire, beloved France had to pay for the mistakes of short sighted politicians.
However, we were lucky, we thought, to have left in time! The idea that
something much more terrifying could happen to us never crossed our minds.
Yugoslavia was the elected land that could keep its neutrality. Moreover, my
father had provided affidavits for us and had deposited a considerable amount
of money in the Manhattan Chase Bank in New York. All this would not have
moved us from our homeland. Some time later we received the first and the
last orange from our grove in Palestine. I remember we once had a discussion
when my father asked us to consider moving to the USA. When he was there
his friends suggested he leave Yugoslavia and come over with his family. Dr.
Neuberger left everything behind in Zagreb and moved to New York with his
wife and two little boys. He told me much later that he had tried to influence
my father to follow his example.
I was blind and deaf to such proposals. If we have to fight, Yugoslavia is
the only country we must live in and fight or die for if we must, from Russia
salvation will come, humanity must be liberated from Western exploitation,
capitalism has to be abolished, social equality is the only solution, class
difference must disappear, workers have to dispose of the capital gained by
trade and industry, workers must be the owners of big concerns and factories,
no more small, private concerns, no more private properties, etc., etc. I
babbled such and many other shallow mottoes saying that they my parents and
Mira could go, but I must stay with Fritz to defend our cause! Nevertheless,
had my father considered the problem seriously my protests would have been
in vain. Was it his optimistic nature, the devotion to his business that was his
own creation and developed to such proportions, or perhaps the fear of
starting everything from the beginning? Probably all these reasons together
prevented my father from taking action, i.e. leaving Yugoslavia.
At this time my relationship with Fritz was no more a secret. In fact, my
mother had known of it long ago. She had seen my letters and I had told her
about Fritz, but never mentioned marriage. As soon as we came home, Fritz
became a regular and frequent visitor, my parents accepted him and liked him.
I started to visit his parents who treated me with the utmost hospitality.
Here we were back home; life continued as if nothing had happened. War
was a distasteful word concerning some distant places and people, nothing
tangible. I resumed my studies at the University of Zagreb, as well as my
meetings with Fritz-we were now more in love than ever before, we knew that
we were suited to live together. When my parents realized that we were
inseparable they insisted on having an engagement ceremony which took place
in May l940 ,in our home; family and friends were invited. My father had now
a successor. That summer he engaged Fritz in his business; first Fritz was sent
to a paper factory in Slovenia (Slatkogorska Tvornica Papira) later he had to
go through all the stages to get well acquainted with the paper industry, his
future profession.
I spent a marvellous summer with Fritzel's parents in Slovenia, in Gozd -
Mrtuljek where Fritz visited us for only a few hours at a time: my parents
would have never agreed that I spent a longer time with Fritz alone before our
marriage. Although my own point of view about society and its conventional
rules was more liberal. I hated all these parties, ceremonies, fashionable
gatherings - I would never have done something to hurt my parents' feelings.
I was not obstinate by nature and would act even against my own will only to
please them: with all my independence, they were the main authority, but more
than anything else, I loved them so much!
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