Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

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Ella Baker - May 11, 2011

And when I saw I can survive on my own working.

Uh-huh.

I worked at a Jewish home for the aged in Petoskey, that was my first job.

The Jewish home in uh, Petoskey?

In Petoskey.

Yeah. What did you do there?

Yeah, nurses aid and there was lots of us immigrant.

Mm-hm.

And that was also an attachment there. Everybody was a momele, momele, momele they couldn't do enough for them, you know, things that the reminder all the time. I'm not licking my wounds, but you can't avoid it, can't, you know, there is, you know, just working there it was momele there.

They were my old, older ladies who momele.

Yeah, that was momele we couldn't do enough for them. They had it made with us.

Uh-huh.

We stood on our head to make them happy.

So there are a lot of uh, of refugees working?

Lots of, lots of immig...immigrants were coming...

Lots of them.

So many of them from, from Israel, I'm sure.

Uh-huh, interesting. So you're here, you're uh, so how many um, so later on you married uh, an American, Baker?

Baker, yeah.

Okay, and he, alright so uh, when did you come to America? What year?

In '56.

1956, oh yeah, yeah, the war. Alright, and um, you settled in Detroit and um, uh, what are your um, your first husband's last name, what was your first husband's name?

Uh, is, is Joseph Salamon.

Joseph.

Salamon, S-A-L-A-M-O-N.

And your second husband's name?

Was uh, Bill Baker.

Bill Baker, okay. And Mr. Baker passed away?

Yes, about 15 years ago. We were married 35 years.