Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

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Abraham Mondry - June 15, 22, 29 & July 13, 1992

And how long were you in Italy?

Hm?

How long were you in Italy?

In Italy, four years.

Four years?

You see, I had to live in camp. I had to live in UNRRA camp, you know. I, I got rid of them. I used to know a guy up in the foreign police, you know. And I know him, you know. And he told us he didn't have nothing. He was a shmeer. He gave talks, you know. There was Polish soldiers in this southern part, Polish soldiers, you know. They used to go into Egypt, to the mail. They used to bring back golden Egyptian funds, you know, in the flou...flour.

They would smuggle in gold?

Yeah, for profit. We used to buy it from them.

And then who would you sell it to?

Whoever pay the price. Hey, I catch, I catch Italian right away. After six months, I was talking already Italian. They can understand me, you know. There was a little girl to teach me. She taught...

With a girl?

I used to go in the movies every night, just to watch the movies. See, you learn, you learn when you see the movies. Even if you don't understand the first line, you understand the other line, you know. You make up yourself. Like I read the paper, my brother read, but the first line, I understand three words and the other line I understand a couple words I made up myself what to say.