Lucy Glaser Merritt - July 8, 1991
Introduction
The following is an interview with Mrs. Lucy Merritt conducted on the afternoon of July 8, 1991 in Oak Park, Michigan. The interviewer is Sidney Bolkosky.
Could you tell me your name please?
Lucy Glaser Merritt.
Your maiden name was Glaser?
Yes. Mm-hm.
Um, and where were you born?
I was born in Vienna, Austria in January 15, 1920.
Um, when did you leave?
Uh, January 12, 1939.
Um, so you were in Vienna during-at least in the '30s.
Yeah.
What was your life like uh, in the '20s and '30s?
I don't remember too much about the '20s, but in the '30s high school, when I was in high school, high school starts at age ten and for me nine. Uh, it was very pleasant. We had friends. We went on outings together with the school. And we participated in all the required sports, such as skiing, which you had to do to graduate from high school and swimming, which you had to do to graduate from high school. And we had plays in school and I never felt discriminated. I heard discussions. We were discussing, when we were older-they were discussing racial theories and the head shape, color and whether that. The kids among themselves were doing that once Hitler took over in Germany.
After the Anschluss.
Yes. No, before the Anschluss. Hitler came.
Oh, after-in Germany.
Yeah.
Did you hear this also from teachers? The discussions.
Some. There were some uh, teachers who were quite anti-Semitic. The foremost among them was the priest. We had religious instruction, a rabbi and a priest. And that particular priest was quite a pro-Nazi. And he was always pushing the ideas. And we moved him after awhile. I-Austria had a Catholic government. Dollfuss was in charge and he made sure that everybody who taught was loyal, so this priest went and we got another one who was what they call a schwarzer. Black being the color of the party. The black party was the Catholic, the red party was the Communist and the browns were the Nazis.
Was this the Catholic Socialist, Socialist Party?
Yes, yes. So-called socialist. There was very little socialism in the Catholic socialists.
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