Sigmund Rubin - January 12, 1982
Family
And there was a state, a city synagogue also, beautiful. I believe they destroyed that because in 1939 when uh, I left Poland, I mean, Łódź... You see, I, I didn't wear the yellow star at all because we left; we fled before this ghetto was created. It was created in ???, in the area where that synagogue was. So after I left I, I didn't know too much about it.
Did you have any aunts and uncles, cousins?
I had aunts and uncles and cousins, I had one uncle in, in Łódź who was a brother of my mother. I had aunts and uncles and uh, cousins by the dozen in that city where I went to, Nowy Korczyn, because this is where my father was born. That was my father's hometown, you see. And the fact is, I'll get to that later, that I married one of my cousins. We were hiding together. See?
Mm--hm.
It's a little, it sounds, it sounds strange, but according to the Jewish law, it's, it's permissible, you know.
What were your family's religious affiliations?
Well, we were not religious. I would say we were more traditionals. Yes. We went to the synagogue, you know, high holidays. But, uh...
Did you belong to a specific synagogue?
No, as I said before we had a synag...it wasn't a synagogue, it was a, a small congregation.
Ok.
You see? And this uh, this congregation was uh, only for members.
Ok.
Yeah, and this is where my father belonged to.
Did your family have any political affiliations?
No, we mind our own business, we were not involved in any politics, you know. We were hardworking people.
Did you read the newspapers?
Oh, of course we did.
Did anyone ever talk about the Bund?
Uh, we talked about, and uh, but uh, we had no affiliation with it. No, none whatsoever. The fact is we didn't like it. Because uh, when, you know, they always displayed their, their might. At the time when you went to the synagogue they used to stay on the streets and sell papers and we didn't like those things.
How about the Zionists?
Well, I was not affiliated with any organization at all. My brother-in-law was in Israel as a kibbutzim, yes. He was in 1935 and came back in 1937. He came back to marry my sister.
Describe your education.
Well, I have high school. This is as far as it went to.
Are you bar mitzvahed?
Yes, of course. Not in that fashion we have bar mitzvahs here.
No, I know. Uh, just prior to the war, did you uh, did you encounter any anti-Semitism?
Yes, very much so.
Describe it.
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