Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

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

Effects of the Holocaust

L...l...let me start another track and then we'll come back to talking about your grandchildren, as, as well as your children. Um, your experiences, did they affect the way you lived your life afterwards? Day to day for example.

It was aff...I guess, It must affect them too. You know with Larry, I don't know if you heard about. Larry thought uh, in school he didn't want to bring, bring in some friends because he thought I, I don't speak the English quite well, so. And then he found out that why, what, what happened, that we, we weren't born in this country, we came from Europe. And then he found out little by little what we went through, you know.

Did you tell him? Well, obviously you told Larry.

Yeah it--sometimes talking with, especially when my brother came we started talking. They hear, you thought they don't hear, but they listen to, but they hear what's, what. So they got some, got a feeling what happened and probably.

Until Larry asked you about it--until Larry asked you, when he was at the University of Michigan, about your experiences, had you ever sat down with either of the children?

Not, not eh, you mean, in general not much, but for just some--telling some stories we went through but, you know. 'Cause I didn't want them to, nothing to, happy things to tell them and I might cause them to be--feel bad about it, so. Just in general, not, not too long to sitting down and talk about it. But then later on, about uh, five years later, I guess they learn a lot from other people and that's going on--went on. Reading books. So he, one time he said, "Dad why don't you sit down and write, write about your story."


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