Benjamin Fisk - November 8, 1982
Family Life During War
How large was your whole extended family would you guess including your aunts and uncles and cousins?
Oh, I don't know, probably in the hundreds, you know, in the hundreds.
And how many...
At least two hundred, you know, with all my relatives, you know.
And how many survived the war would you say?
I don't know uh, you can count them on the fingers you know. Not too many. I know there's one cousin, that he is alive, you know. And from the older people, there is no one is around. Nobody. Just uh, you know. Do you remember somebody from my family? I should probably see if they're around, you know. I had a cousin in New York. One cousin, you know, which we found out after the war we went to visit him. And after this cousin in New York I don't think that there was nobody on my side, you know.
You said that when the war broke out--did you have any idea that the Germans were going to invade Poland?
We knew the Americans were going to come over. The Germans you know they were bordering, you know, we lived by the border to, you know, they were talking about it, you know, for months. They were preparing, you know, if they were but a lot of good it did.
Yeah. Where did you go, you said you left?
Yeah we left, but you know, but like I told you the horse and buggy, you know, how fast could we go? We went to our aunt, you know, my mother's sister, and uh, from there, you know, before we turned around the Polish army and the Russian army were ???, you know.
Where did she live? Where did your aunt...
She ??? by the tunnel, over there. You know my mother said ???
Okay.
My mother's sister, I went with her.
Wife: Pińczów?
No, no not Pińczów. Pińczów was far away.
Wife: Katowice?
No, no not Katowice. Katowice is, uh...
Wife: ???
No, it was never ???
Wife: ???
No, no, no. I told you before, you know. Let me have a look at this paper that you're holding. I have a bad memory... [interruption in interview]
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