Regina Cohen - April 18, 1982
Involvement in Zionist Youth Groups
Did you ev...were you involved in any youth groups?
Yes, through, through the uh, school I went to. I belonged to a Zionist group and uh, as a matter of fact we wore the uniform of navy blue skirt and light blue blouse. It was the Star of David on my pocket with Zion written right on there. I speak a, a fair amount of Hebrew from that time. I--you know, from what I learned it. And we were, we were involved as a youth movement.
What was the name of that group?
It was, it was uh, just a Zionist organization.
Mm-hm. Was it most a social organization?
Yes, well it, it would be, um...
Or were there people that actually picked themselves up and left to go to Palestine?
No, this was--this for the children--for the children was organized. It was same as you've got the youth group here...
Mm-hm.
...with any youth group, B'nai Brith youth group, or any other youth group. And then they had the uh, Halutz organization that my uncle belonged to. And he left for Israel 1939. Um, then there were...
This was he and his family.
No, he was a single man.
Oh.
As a matter of fact, he passed away uh, two years ago in Israel, in Netanya.
Oh.
And he never married. Shame. Um, there were the Betarim.
Mm-hm.
It was another movement. Uh, there were all the different movements that some belong to for the reason of uh, emigrating. Or it was a social group, really. Jews belonged amongst the Jews and we all belonged to each other. We didn't uh, socially, you don't socialize with the Christians because we don't belong to them. Um, I think eventually a lot of the young people--the youth would have gone as a group to Israel would we have made it. But we didn't.
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