Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

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Hermina Vlasopolos - April 9, 1984

Yeah.

And uh, I mean, through her, and through this friend of mine who, they started a new, a new company with the Hungarian movies and so on, I had enough work. And uh, then when the SovRom was, was formed, they took over because they took over everything, they took over most of the translators. Two or three were on the payroll, and a few of us didn't want to be tied up, you know, by hours. This was because I had a child, you know...

Sure.

...and so on. And uh, I was better paid this being--of course, not having all the fringe benefits, I was better paid, you know, by, by East. Well in '5...'52, when uh, no--in '52 I think I was--anyway when my husband started to have problems because his teaching, I mean, it was too liberal for them and--he taught economics, and uh, they had to be very, very on the line. And uh, he started to have problems, I had to go on the payroll because one had to be hired. You know, because otherwise you had to pay three times the telephone. If you didn't have work it means you are undesirable...

I see.

...and they made you pay for the rent three times as much as the people who work, the telephone and so on. So uh, I uh, I became, you know, their employee. But the Russian, the Russian, I mean, it was not SovRom people, you know, it became a Romanian foreman. He had gone back to Russia, but uh, at the time--so, when he was--I mean, I, I start working for them, a lot of people knew me there, uh, I worked the critique to a movie, to a Polish movie which was referred, reference to Auschwitz, concentration camps and so on. And then the chief editor called me and asked me if I want to talk, I want to work with him. And I became editor and I worked for a year with them. Then I went back to the, the movie translations because it was better paid and I--then, while I was there, you know, I wrote about the concentration camp. Then uh, people asked me to lecture sometimes, you know. But uh, you know, I wrote enough. I think I told you, because my, I had a cousin who was the owner of the only Jewish-Romanian paper and he asked me to write, you know. They didn't like me. It was a little bit too strong and too critical to the Jewish-Romanian society.