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Manya Auster Feldman - August 11, 1998

So you had decided you wanted to come to America?

Well, well, no. Originally we, our, our aim was to go to Israel.We wanted to go to Israel. At that time it was still—oh, in 1948, they—the.. .

This is Israel. . .

they—the country was established and so we started planning,making plans. Some of our friends went already, illegally. And they, they,they wrote—they, they wrote to us that we shouldn't dare to go there,that the circumstances are very bad. There were no housing. There was no food.That's when we made our decision, if that's the case we're going to America.My oldest son was born in Berlin in 1949. And we came to America in, in Decemberof 1950.

Straight to the Detroit?

Straight to Detroit, yes.

Why?

Because my husband comes from a town—my husband came froma town, my late husband from Rohotony. He had uh, people that come from thattown.

Oh, he was not a survivor?

He was, he was a survive—he was in the army four years.He was in the Russian Army. He fought for Stalingrad. He came from Stalingradall the way to Berlin. And in Berlin, he was wounded. And after he was wounded,they sent him to recuperate on a Kolkhoz. Do you know what are Kolkhoz

Collective farm yeah. . . .

In Russia. Uh. . .

A farm. Collective farm.

Yeah. Um, what do you call—by the government. It's a governmentfarm. So they—he went to recuperate there from the—and then whenhe came back to Poland he was also—he was in not in Stettin. By the way,he brought a girl with him and we brought her to America. He found her inhis city. She lost her parents. He brought her. And I—we like—Idid not—we didn't adopt her. We are her guard. . . guardians. She wassixteen years old when I married my husband. And uh, we brought her to America.And she was—she didn't take our name. We educated her here. Then shegot married. And she lived in Chicago, now she's in New York. And I'm in contactwith her.

You said he was from Rohoton—

Right.

which is. . .

Rohoton is Galicia. It's, it's southern Poland. It's not far,actually, from the—I come from a different, uh, area. You know, I toldyou, yeah. Yeah.

But he had relatives here?

Not relatives ??? people from his town.