Hannah Fisk - January 24, 1983
Pride in Being Jewish
How did you feel initially when you came to the United States?
I slept three months on the floor, believe it or not. Three months. Didn't have a piece of furniture, nothing. I felt good. I figure, maybe for now I'm going to be able to put my head up and say I'm Jewish. You know? We don't deny, honey. When my husband first went for a, for a interview, he happen to come into a Polack. You know how Polacks feel about Jewish--the, the, I think the feeling got mutual. He said to him--it was summertime and my husband happened to have a number--he says, "What is this?" He says, "This is a number from a concentration camp. I was in a concentration camp." He says, "Are you Jewish?" He says, "Yes." He says, "You're going to work for me?" He says, "Because the Jewish come in here and I can smell they are Jewish, but they wouldn't tell you, they wouldn't say, they deny. Why? You were in a camp. You were struggling for the Jews. Why are you have to shame to be Jewish?" He thought he's uh, German or Italian, you know, because he doesn't actually look Jewish, but we don't deny, honey.
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