Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

• Contents
• Map

Salvatore and Lili Katan - August 18, 1981

LK: So we came back ??? to Italy. Luckily he was very good with area so he knew the language. So we stayed there in the camp for a while. ??? anywhere that we can go. Nowhere, okay? ???

SK: American ???

LK: Yeah, ??? and ???

SK: ???

LK: ??? Hungarian died ??? because they have 250 people there and ???

SK: ??? we had a house.

LK: And ??? there ??? So we stayed there and after two days ??? very bad and very hard situation and ??? so we decide to go to Israel. We had ???, yes, but before they said, "Well, ??? go Israel why don't you put in an application to go somewhere else just in case."

SK: It was at that time the British were taking the Greek--the Jewish ??? the Cyprus in ???, you know, and there everybody was encouraged to go because we don't want to get caught ???

LK: So anyway ??? to go to the United States and we had that group to go Israel and we had the last shot Friday and Monday, noon, we're supposed to get together with the ??? Israel. At this time I became pregnant and they had a Polish lawyer who works with Americans ??? and we became very close to him. And he comes down Friday and he says, ???, he says, "I know you're ready to, to go to Israel Monday but you have a visa to go to the United States."

SK: To America, to America.

LK: Okay? So I started to cry and I said, I said, "Wait, please. We are ready Monday to leave. We are ready to go with everything." "Don't bother. Sit down. I'm want to talk to you." So we sit down for two hours and how ??? anybody wants to can go to Israel but ??? and I tell you something, you could take my advice or forget about it. It's your choice but ??? you won't ??? gonna go to Israel and give ??? bread and you not going to eat so you have a choice, here you have a choice: go to America, give birth to this child and then if you still want to go to Israel, go from America." So my husband said, "Well, once we go to America it will be very hard, you know." But then we talked and talked and talked...

SK: He talked.

LK: ...and then he talked to my husband and he--I mean, he was--put it this way, he was a good friend ??? but we were very disappointed right there. He said, "Well, listen," he don't believe, you know, in fate in what this man should be--probably wasn't meant for us to go to Israel because in two days apart we have an affidavit, we put the application in three years ago and now we have it."