Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

• Contents
• Map
• Pictures

Hanna Ramras - January 26, 2008

Um, you became acclimated to British life.

Oh, I loved British life and I loved England. And I remember Mrs. Styles--I always talk about it where--yesterday to, to my cousin from England who is staying with us. Uh, I--Mrs. Style wanted me to be the perfect little English lady and she once or twice said to me, "Look at Princess Margaret Rose," that's the queen's sister, "and emulate her." And uh, I also remember Mrs. Style at the beginning when I wa...was so curious and kept asking so many questions once I felt free to ask and had the language to do so and I often spoke and asked, "Why? Why? Why? Why?" I was very curious. And she said, "Oh, Hanna. Little girls should be seen and not heard." And uh, I thought for a minute and I said, "What about little boys?" And Mr. Style said, "That was the nicest thing I've heard for a long time." Yes, that was the upbringing they did--very, very polite. When you hold your teacup, hold your little finger up.

And when you were at boarding school did you have--you must have had non-Jewish friends?

Oh, I had, I had so many friends.

And they didn't know you were Jewish.

Nope.

How did that make you feel? Did it, did it bother you at all?

Nope. I wasn't bothered, I just didn't want ??? once you start studying and you start reading and then you put on plays because we have a drama circle and you discover Shakespeare and Shylock and Charles Dickens with his Fagen you get very upset about these things. If you're young and you love to read and you suddenly find a character like that and you're being molded into a certain strange mold and sometimes you remember and you think about the fact that your grandfather wrote to you, "Don't forget to say your prayers." And you have to kneel in church and you have to put a penny into the charity box and you feel you don't want to give charity to this, to this church or any church. And then people talk about how the Jews crucified Jesus. It, it leads a youngster in real turmoil and some of those youngsters became good Christians.

Were baptized.

Baptized.