Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

Abraham Asner - October 10, 1982

Family

And then uh, from Poland and I'm legal, I come to Berlin. And from Berlin I start to have my addresses from my uncles and aunts and I start to correspond with them and I get in touch. Some of who... One rabbi was uh, I met in the camp. And I gave a letter on his--by that time the mail wasn't going so good--and uh, he get in touch, then finally uh, I get in touch with my uncle, with my aunt. And they sent me out affidavit to come to Canada and to come to United States. That affidavit come to Canada, come first, I left to Canada. And to United States come later. Then uh, was uh, if I would wait later I would come to United States. And he says, the uncle what a, he brought me over uh, mostly, he pay for everything. He's Ed Asner's uh, father. Of course, I don't know at that time. When I was in Berlin, I remember uh, I used to write to my mother's sister, aunt, she's still alive. She's uh, I think about ninety years old now. When I was a little boy, maybe about three years old, I remember my grandfather immigrate to United States. And the only person from United States what I know is used to be my grandfather. And when he left--my grandfather to United States--he was a old man. I know that. Then I was permitted between three and four. And uh, when I start to respond I never ask for my grandfather because I know it, before my army he used to write to us because my mama, my mother was a, a widow. My grandfather was a religious man. He used to go to ??? shul and uh, get paid for that. And he used to send the money for my mother. And I remember before my army, before my 1938 uh, he was saying it's hard to write for him because his hand was shaking. At that time when I was uh, three or four years old he was a old man, and this would be about sixteen years later, seventeen years later. And they was, he, he die already, no? And I don't ask him. Then my aunt wrote me, he eighty, you know, your grandfather's still alive. I was so surprised, I was so happy. Here, the only person what I know is my grandfather. Before I came to, to Canada he died maybe about a few months before. And then when I was in Boston, he was living in Boston, I went to visit uh, the grave. My grandfather's, my grandfather's grave on his tombstone written "a wonderful soul."


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