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Joseph Gringlas - January 22, 1993

Was it hard to talk about it? Is it hard to talk about it?

Is it hard to talk? It's hard to talk about it, yes, becauseit's, it's, it's not something, a story to tell which is very, how do yousay, agono...pleasant, to talk about it, so. Especially talk to your own children.It, it's, it's not-it's very hard to tell.

Um, but you told him. You gave him.

Yeah.

And Marcy too.

Mm-hm.

You talked to her as well?

Yeah, sure.

Did she hear it from Larry?

She heard from Larry, of course.

Um, w...when-is there anything during, during the course ofa normal day that might remind you of something that happened during the war,that you see? A train, a chimney.

Yeah. Oh sure. It, it reminds you a lot.

Like, like what for example?

When you, especially when you go to cemetery or other thingswhen...

Mm-hm.

and when you-especially seeing a lot of, even when you wa...puton the television news and you see the crime going on. It just brings youback to people suffer-went through. You know, it brings all-it's, it's alwayswith you, it's. I don't think it can ??? your heart.

So, I mean it obviously doesn't dominate your life, but itaffects some of what.

It eh, it's good to be busy, you know. It's eh, good to be-keepyour mind busy and. Because if you don't, most of the time if you have toomuch time it comes to you back. Could feel, some...even you're married andyou have a family, still there's a loneness and that you lost the-it's, youknow, if they say life goes on, but, it goes on but this doesn't go away.

Did your children ever ask about grandparents, about theirgrandparents?

Yeah, they ask.

When they were young?

Mm-hm. Ask, yeah, but they notice that there's no-when they understoodsome that what happened to my family they knew what happened to their grandparents,they're gone.

But I mean when they were younger, did they ever ask you whywe don't have grandparents, or?

I can't, I don't remember if they ask, I never hear them askingbut they-later on they understood that what happened and got the knowledgewhat's went on, they understood what happened to their grandparents, theiruh, grandparents. The, they, they went with friends from United, from school,like going special occasions that other families. They knew that they havegrandparents and when, in our family they didn't see, they didn't have thegrandparents from my family.

Or aunts or uncles.

There were some uncles still alive and they came, so they sawthem I'm sure. On my mother's side. Still cousins there in Detroit. But Idon't know. There's a distance. It's uh, well it's-but I think it's uh, all,all bad occasions, that's all I see. There's-how I can explain, there's nota-it's not a cousin you sit down and talk about it, you tell, there's no feelingabout.

Because they weren't there.

Hm?

Because they weren't there?

No, I'm talking about the cou...American cousins, which didn'tknow, going through that.

But they don't have any feeling for it.

I don't think so.

Because they weren't there, right?

And I think that the parents, some people, even strange people,strange people, which is not family, from other people went through and theyand they helped a lot out, cause. You know, talking, it's not, it doesn'thave to be a family to be, to be eh, close or get to feelings about it. Otherpeople which are, some of-strange people who sometimes show that, that they'revery sorry about it and they feel bad about it, what happened.

Why do you think they don't have any feelings for it?

Why? I don't know, it, it, it's a big long story. When I wasa child I remember my brothers, my mother's brother eh, it was strange. Imean there was no closeness at all. So when I came to Detroit didn't-feelingwasn't so good, 'cause I was- remember. A lot of thi...I remember even goingto school. We're going in, in Germany school, about electronics and therewas from ORTs came people say, "Do you have anybody in the United States?Maybe should help to get-something." I don't think there was, no there wasno answer back. So, I don't know, this. Certain families have no feelings,you know that. There's, so.

But people in general who don't respond sympathetically tothe story, who don't want to hear about it or whatever...

Yeah.

whether they're family or not family, why do you think theydon't want to hear about it? I mean it...

No, mostly, mostly wouldn't show that they don't want to hearabout it. Mostly if they ask questions they want to...

If they ask, yeah.

hear about it.