Esther Posner - March 11, 1986
Passing as a Gentile
Did you ever hear sirens in the streets? This is not Amsterdam, so...
No, it wasn't Amsterdam. It wasn't Amsterdam and as a matter of fact uh, I, I was outside a couple of--I was allowed to be out a few times. That was uh, Christmastime. I uh, and the neighbors were told that I was the relative. It's funny, it was the same kind of thing that Elie ??? told, "My name is such and such, my father is uh, uh, working in a labor camp in Germany and my mother's in a hospital," and I had the same story. And I had forgotten all about it until you mentioned it. Um, but um, I came down Christmastime and they were really nice. They had all kinds of toys for their children and they had toys for me too. And then...
Do you remember the name you took?
No, I had a very Dutch name. My name was Mariana. That was the name I went by until I came to the United States. Esther was just my Hebrew name. Um, as a matter of fact, that's what my parents still call me.
Esther.
Mariana.
Mariana, oh.
Yeah. That--I have two names. Mariana was my Dutch name and Esther is my uh, Hebrew name. And uh, that was the name I--my family calls me Mariana. So uh, I was also allowed to visit Dirk and Maria Mos several times. Always...
Policeman.
...during school vacation. That was the policeman and his wife. And uh, one time when I went--they really, were really great to me. Are you turning it off?
???
[interruption in interview]
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