Joseph Klaiman - May 4, 1982
Meeting Wife and Starting Family
She was in the camp too?
She was in Bergen-Belsen. Yeah. I went out with her, her girlfrie...her girlfriends from Pabianice and then I met her. And we were from this time up we was going all the time and we got married. And we got married in Germany. And I got married in Germany.
When did you get married in 1946?
Nineteen forty-eight.
Oh '48.
Yeah, we was going for, for three years uh, going. In 1948 we got married. In 1949 my, my wife beca...uh, pregnant. And when my was pregnant I wanted to go to Israel and this time I, I couldn't go. I don't know what happened. The Israelis said they--first they have to take a lot of older people and children, told us. And when my wife was pregnant and eight months we still was in Germany, and I didn't want my child to be born in, uh...
In Germany.
...in Germany. I went to uh, I went to the Jewish council and they said uh, they going to send us to Israel. So we was in a camp where they sent all the people, and after, after everyday came the--came a plane because my wife was already in the eight months, we didn't know exactly where we were going. So anytime when the plane came, my, my wife, my wife was so anxious to go, she had fever. But the doctor checked her, she had a fever. So and she couldn't go. And I was scared that it's going to be--and I didn't wanted to--I don't want my child to be born in Germany. I went to the doctor and I told him, "Listen, let the plane go away. I don't wanted to send it off. Okay, you'll check it a couple hours. After the plane left you're going to see that she is going to have--the fever's going to be normal--everything's normal. She's so anxious to go because we don't want our child be born in Germany that she...she's so anxious, she become sick after she sees the plane.' He came in, checked a couple times and then he said, he said, "Okay.' When we came in here, my child was born three weeks later.
In Israel?
No, right here.
Oh right--oh here?
Yeah, we came right here. It was not in Israel. It was in uh, we came here.
You came right to Detroit?
Right to Detroit.
How did you come to Detroit?
The Jewish Hostel Service sent us.
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