Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

Peri Berki - December 9, 1983

Living Amongst Gentiles

I know it's, it's difficult to talk into a tape recorder because um, you're always aware... Well, as I've said, what you've written should be preserved at the archives no matter what you do with it. I'm sure they would like a copy of that, that would be a more complete story.

Yeah, I'm willing to, to give my story. In fact, I want to give one because uh, not that it's, it's a different story because I was... I wasn't in a concentration camp, but I lived with Gentile peoples. And I have uh...

Yes.

very interesting uh, close pictures of how Gentile people think of Jews, not knowing that the person is a Jew. They speak more openly. You understand?

Yes, that's very interesting. Um, how did, now how did you get into the home of these Gentiles again?

It's a very long story.

Um, can you sort of summarize it?

Yeah. It's uh...

It's better if I ask questions?

Yeah, mm-hm.

So, I guess we were talking about how you came to be with this Gentile family.

Yeah, mm-hm. Okay uh, in uh, the '38 was the Anschluss. After that there came certain orders to, to Hungary, less, some restrictions in Jewish circles. Uh, for example, the, a Jewish family couldn't have rifles and you couldn't have radios. And they came and they confiscated our radio. It wasn't, and this wasn't in '38, this was later. But the interesting time, it just was slowly more restrictions and the, more rumors what happening in Germany and what happening... And it, and in '39, no, it was in '41, let's speak the two years because these are all the little happenings and it would take half a year to talk about it.


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