Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

Joseph Gringlas - January 14 & 22, March 18, 1993

Telling Story

They didn't want to hear too much, is that. Did you want to tell them the story?

Yes and no. I--it felt that somebody wants to hear you, what happened, went through. It's, it, I wanted--yeah I was, at the beginning, you know, not uh, going through all of it, but just telling how we eh, to go, how we went through was the worst. But I don't, I think it, it didn't go through. It d...it's, they thought that this couldn't by possible to be like that. Im...impossible.

What kind of reactions did you get--if you'd started to tell them a story--what, what--how did they react to you? Not just the family, but anybody in the United States when you first arrived here?

Well mostly was the, telling the story you didn't tell the people what--were, we told, usually people like want to know from other, like the fami...or other people wanted to know, you told them the story. They were, some were very good listen. And they were sorry what happened but, what can you do?

So you did talk about it.

Yes. And at the beginning, when I came, but not. Just because, eh. Not because, I--when they ask you what, they were, some people were eager to hear, listen. But went on, how did you survive because it's, nobody could feel that you could survive something like that.

Did it make you feel better to talk about it?

It was--yes and no, you know. It's--I don't know, terrible, it was feeling that, after awhile telling that's, what ki...what happened to you, what--how you would have want to telling the stories about yourself. It wasn't bad. In a way feeling, it's coming out a little of yourself, telling that but--a mixed feeling.

Mixed feeling. So you stopped talking about it.

Yeah, stopping. After awhile we stopped talking and I went, I went to work.

Did you talk to your brother about it?

Oh always.

Did you exchange--you exchanged...

Yeah, Mm-hm. Yeah, I was, this, with this, with my brother, I mean we came to family and the family, we talked about it.


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