Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

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Sam Seltzer - November 29, 1982

Did you have a large extended family, aunts and uncles, grandparents living in that same city?

Yes, yes.

About how many relatives, do you recall?

Well, I would say about 150. When it came Passover, there was no room. All the children and everything, we had a lot, a lo...I was a uncle at seven years old. So, we had a lot of children.

Did you have grandparents living in Modrzejów?

Yeah, my grandmother lived right across from our home.

Is that your mother's mother?

My father's mother.

Can you describe your community, the area you lived in?

Well, it was a, a, a small community. I would say about uh, eight thousand uh, Christian people and about two thousand Jews. And uh, everybody knew each other. And, and it was a mining town. Uh, and, we uh, uh, we also had markets every Thursday. We had markets and uh, around us, it was markets. Horse markets and other markets, all kind of markets. Clothing and food and all kind of stuff. And uh, I was running around as a wee child with like--free. I was a free. I was a best skater, best soccer player. And in fact I got a medal for soccer playing after the war.

Um, did the members of your family--the children, attend school?

Uh, no. I was the youngest. So everybody was out of school. My two brothers were in the army when the war broke out. And two brother-in-laws were in the Reserve. So uh, uh, everybody was busy and...

But prior to the war, before the war, did the members of your family attend schools?

Mm, regular schools, yeah, just regular schools.

Public schools?

Public schools, yeah.

There was no religious affiliation then, they were just public.

Public schools.

What type of education did you have in that town?

Uh, sixth grade. Up to sixth grade.