Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

Lisa Kallai - January 28, 2008

Life After the War

Um, you said some major decisions in your life, you got married, you had a child, moved to Israel. Um, tell me about those, those major decis...I mean, just the fact of getting married after the war of having a child after the war...

Well, I think that's sort of more or less a natural development that most people go through.

Well there are some survivor's who have decided not to.

Well, the ones, the ones that did not adjust...let's say those who...

Right, right.

...adjusted led a normal life who'd go through that cycle and I, I was relatively fortunate after that stage. I got a university education and so, um...

Do you think your experience influenced your becoming a Zionist?

Uh, I think...of course, of course. A feeling of, on the one hand, belonging in England because really I did feel comfortable there. On the other hand, somewhere I was stranger. It was the post war; it was the Holocaust and everything together that made me feel that Israel would be a solu...would be the right solution...

Had your read Herzl?

...but uh, I don't remember what stage I read him.

But you read him.

Yes. Um, like I said, I don't know whether I would have gone through with it if I hadn't got married to an Israeli. I might've done, I might not, I don't know. Actually I thought of coming to Israel before I got married. I had an interview...somebody from the university here interviewed me in London and said, "Stay in England and do your PhD." This was after I had my first degree so that stage I stayed in England to do my PhD.

It was just meant to be. What're you feelings about Israel these?

Well "these days" that's the, the, is the operative word. Not exactly the Israel I chose to come to.

How?

Oh, in many ways. Didn't dream of corruption. We were idealists at the time so, I think rosy colors, open doors...

Socialism.

Absolutely.


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