Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

Ruth Federman - February 13, 2008

Writing

But what I do, I print it myself. I have a printer because this is also a occupation for me, you see? I, I need to do something, yes? So I--if you are interested, I have a book. I haven't got now a book because uh, I must print them new. And I'm going to put all kinds of things inside which I don't have, and I'm going to print the English for you.

That would be very nice.

Because the English is without pictures, yes?

These are wonderful pictures.

It's terrific. It, you know, people who read it say, first of all, what I--in the beginning, uh, saying about my life and about the life in Palestine then, so I give it to my Israeli friends who are Sabras, yes? They say, "If, you know, I can see myself, what you are, what you are writing about the Palestine then. It's like if I am writing it."

It's important history.

Yeah. It's real history.

Who are the ???.

Hm?

The ???.

No, ??? is my cousin.

I see. That's the cousin.

So you know about him?

Well, I saw the picture.

Ah, that's my cousin in Canada who is now John ???.

I have his name.

You have his name.

I have it at home.

John ???.

Yeah. Woman: Where, where in Canada?

Toronto. Toronto.

No, no, he now lives somewhere outside, uh...

Outside of Toronto.

Yeah. You have his, uh, name?

I do. Um, that's how I contacted you, 'cause...

I thought so because you saw--he is, he is something very special. When you, when you contact him, be careful because he will write to you books...

He did.

...books.

He did.

You know what we did? Look, I was a little bit angry about him because he came here with Mahal, which means, at the time of the mandate, people uh, men who were soldiers--he was a pilot, yes? They brought here to help us but he didn't help. He came here only because he had the opportunity to came and went after a year back to England because they promised him that he can study--continue his study, which is okay. He even married here. And he went to Canada and he got a terrific job with--this is what Hugo Marom told me, Hugo Marom told me. I didn't know where, uh, uh, uh, John ??? was. He disappeared. He never wrote, yes? Which, I was very angry because he knew that we have difficult times here with wars. Why don't you write? But he started to after the, uh, no. At the time of the Communists, I couldn't go to Prague. I loved very much his mother. And we--what--got him to contact him somehow and she went to Canada to a wedding of a daughter of John ??? and I went specially to Canada to meet her. So that was the first time I met him again after years.


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