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Emerich Grinbaum - January 8, 2001

Had you thought about it at all? Have you?

Of course. You know, it's interesting. You know I was-beforethe war and during the war I was the most religious in my family-most observantin my family. I was the only one who put tefillin everyday. My father didn'tdo it everyday, and, and, of course, and-they called me rebbele, as a matterof fact, rebbele, because they know I was very religious and, and I was veryyou know, I never eat without putting a cap, a hat on my-on something. Wenever ate Traife until the camp. In the camp they gave us, we don't know whatdid they give us-some horsemeat or something. But I was thinking you know,and uh, I still had a deep feeling that God exists, despite the fact. Althoughwe didn't observe anything at that time. We ate uh, pork and everything.

After, after the war.

After, after the-we came back. There was no-not a question. Iwent to the synagogue uh, uh. At the beginning we went to Rosh Hashanah whenit was open. And later on we-later on they closed the synagogue, especiallywe went to the university. That was absolutely dangerous to go to any...therewere no synagogues but they, Jews gathered in certain places. So I, sometimesI was sneaking in uh, for uh, Yortzeit or, or Yortzeit. We didn't know whenthe martyr was, but we, sometimes we, and to Kaddish or, or Roshananah orfor, for Yizkor service or something. But it was dangerous, you know.

This is under the Soviet regime.

Sure-'45, Soviet regime. That was, that was dangerous, especiallywhen, when, during my university year, we did it very rarely. Because theymight have kicked you out from, from the medical school. Later on I was morebrave so I went reg...more regularly, but still working as a doctor they,they didn't like it. They didn't find out though.

So-but nobody said to you this was God's punishment for theJews.

No.

Nobody thought that.

No, I don't think so...

Some Orthodox Jews have said that.

I know! There's in Israel lately, there was... I don't thinkthat that was such a punishment for. That just, we took our fate as, as it,as it is.