Simon Goldman - June 6, 2003
Jewish Family Services
Was there a group of other survivors that you met, socialized with?
Oh yes, all the time, a lot of 'em. All my, all my, I would say all my friends are survivors.
Was it through the Jewish Family Services?
Well, we, we, yeah, we--there was another fellow like I said, Jeff Kluvski that came with me to Detroit. And there was, I believe there was another one. When, when we came to Detroit, we got, we all entered, got introduced to the Jewish Center. We had free memberships...
On Woodward?
...and uh, that's where we met all, all the survivors. That was our meeting place.
And did anybody, any American ask you what your experience had been? Did you ever talk to anybody about it?
No, I've never talked to anybody about it.
Did they ask? You didn't want to tell them, or they didn't bother to ask about it.
Well, it's not too many. Not too many.
Did anybody tell you not to talk about?
No, no.
Did you talk to each other among the survivors about...
Yeah, a little bit. Not, not much. I mean, we, we talk, yes.
You know Jack Gun's story.
He has, well, well I talk to ???. He spent Auschwitz and Birkenau, all the camps. We're close friends, and. I got another here, Cathy, too, you know. We're all close friends. But we, now again on occasion we talk about, a little bit about it. But otherwise...
What about your children, do they, did you ever tell them anything?
Never talked to them about it.
Did they ever ask?
Yeah, a little bit, but, uh.
Never.
Never talked to them about it.
Why not?
I don't know, I, I just couldn't talk about it. In fact, Jack talked me into talk to you.
Jack dragged you back and forced you. Do you think it's important to talk about it?
I think right now I feel that it's important to talk about it.
It's an unusual story. It's not one that's common, that people would associate.
No, I don't think so, that maybe. People who survived it didn't write it.
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