Peri Berki - December 9, 1983
Moving Back to Budapest
So you were able to pass as a... 'Course it helped that you spoke absolutely perfect Hungarian.
It was my mother tongue.
Yes, so you didn't have a problem with that. Um, what did you do after... You left the peasant woman? I mean, how did that...
So this, this Margit who took us to the country originally, and I told you that she told, she told one of her friends that we are Jewish. I said that before.
Yes. Mm-hm.
And then she, all of a sudden she became very nervous, upset. Maybe somebody, her friend will tell it to someone, and not only I, but she will be punished too. So anyhow, we wanted, she told me that we should get away from the to... from the village. She will help us, sure. She helped us. She went, we went to a doctor, giving in an envelope a little money to the doctor, she said that I am sick and I have to go uh, to, back to Budapest and transfer by ambulance. That's what she told the doctor. And then she gave her, her money, him money and he gave us a slip that I have a bleeding ??? and I have to be taken to the hospital. And then my son came with me, but he was not... And we called the ambulance and we gave some money to the man, to the amb... to the driver, and he didn't want to take Sy, my son because he was supposed to take only me. So then what we gave him some money and he took both of us. And we went then back to Budapest and lived again with my sister in a, in a Jewish house.
But weren't you afraid that you would be um, taken away, I mean?
What's the difference we're both afraid or not? We have to act. We were always afraid.
Yes.
It always was under naturally, but we didn't, we didn't act. We act very assuredly. How do you say?
Yes, assuredly.
© Board of Regents University of Michigan-Dearborn