Simon Maroko - February 19 & 26, 1986
Introduction
The following is an interview with Mr. Simon Maroko conducted at the Jewish Community Center on the afternoon of February 19, 1986. The interviewer is Sidney Bolkosky.
Okay, could you tell me your name please and where you're from?
I'm Simon W. Maroko. M-a-r-o-k-o. You prefer it with the spelling, I presume. Uh, I'm an M.D. Um, you want my address? S: No, that's--you live in...
I live in the city of Sylvan Lake, S-y-l-v-a-n, which is next, between Pontiac and Keygo Harbor.
Where were you born?
I was born in Tarnów, Poland in 1923 on June 27.
Uh, did you grow up in Tarnow?
I stayed in Tarnów for about ten month, and then uh, as part of my father's career as a cantor and later on chief cantor uh, we moved to uh, Pressburg, Bratislava in Czechoslovakia, kitty-corner from Vienna. I have some early childhood memories from then in the, Judengasse, the Jewish street there. And uh, I stayed there until my third birthday. I believe on my third birthday or thereabouts we arrived in Holland, in Amsterdam. And uh, I've stayed in Amsterdam or in Holland from then, which was 1926 until 1946. And I left uh, with Aliya Bet to Palestine.
So you would consider yourself Dutch.
My education and upbringing and my accent is Dutch.
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