Peppy Rosenthal - July 1, 2009
Introduction
The following is an interview with Mrs. Peppy Rosenthal on July 1st, 2009, at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. The interviewer is Sidney Bolkosky. Can you tell me your name please, and where you are from?
My name is Peppy. Naczycz is my maiden name. I was born in a small town...
And your last name?
Oh...
Rosen...?
That's my married name. My maiden name is Naczycz.
And your, your married name is?
My married name is Rosenthal.
Rosenthal, OK. And you come from?
Rozhishche. It's in the Ukraine.
Right.
And I was born in 1935. I was an only child. And, should I just...
Tell me a little bit about what you remember in Rozhishche before the war.
I remember that um, my mother used to take food to my father's family on Friday, and they lived in a house that had dirt floors. And I remember very white tablecloths for Shabbos, and I remember that every Friday, the chauffeur would pick us up in a car and take us there to deliver food.
A chauffeur?
My father owned a bus company, and we, he had his own car.
Uh-huh.
He had a Fiat.
So what was Friday night like at your house?
I don't remember what it was like in my house, but I really remember what it was like in my aunt's house. They had lots of children, and everybody was dressed for Shabbos, and I just loved it, I loved--I didn't want to go home.
So there would be a special meal, I would assume?
Yes. And my mother brought the meals...I don't know if she brought everything, but I know every Sha...every Friday night we would go there.
And did you go to school?
No, not, uh-uh. I didn't.
You were too young?
Yes, I was too young to go to school.
And what...was the family religious, your family?
I didn't...I don't think so. Um, my brother had a uh, my father had a brother, youngest brother, who um, used to have meetings of the Betar, you know what the...
So he was a Zionist?
Yeah. At his house. And I used to go with my parents. They, they always took me every place they went, and um, I remember sitting at those meetings, and they were talking. Don't re...don't remember.
So your parents were, were Zionists?
Well I don't know if my parents were, but certainly...
But your uncle was?
Mm-hm. And my mother's sister went to Israel before I was even born.
And she lived there? She made aliyah?
Mm-hm, yeah. And uh...
Um, what...tell me a little bit more. What, what kinds of things do you remember about your grandparents?
Well, my mother's parents lived in Kovel. Kovel, that's also in the Ukraine, and I really didn't know my mother's family that well. My father had four or five sisters and bro...several brothers.
And they all lived in Rozhishche?
Mm-hm. They lived in Rozhishche. Um, I have one picture of my...me walking with my dad on the main street of Rozhishche. And I remember I must have been about four...I don't even think...but I remember that picture being taken because the suit I had on was itchy, and I had a verklemt face, because it was really itching me, and uh, and our house was being remodeled, and I remember my dad taking me out for walks, all dressed up. I was an only child, and I was very protected and very [pause] special to my parents.
© Board of Regents University of Michigan-Dearborn