Zwi Steiger - March 27, 1982
Trying to Leave Slovakia
Was there a strong Zionist influence in your house?
In our house, yes. There was always...
But you were, you were religious, you wore a kippah and tallit katan everyday. Is that...
Oh yeah, I wore a--not a kippah, it was--you probably sneered it. It was a hat. We wore a hat.
You were a liberal?
Yeah, you wore a hat or a cap, a cap that covered your, your head. Uh...
So what did you do in 1941 after you...
After '41 I--you could feel it in '38 and '39 there was trying to get out from uh, that area and it was, it was practically impossible because uh, I was um, there was an obligation when you reached cer...a certain age to serve in the military. They didn't accept you, but they didn't...
Which military are we talking about? Hungarian?
Hungarian, yeah. Or before, in the Czech military--in '38 you were already--after the age of sixteen you were already uh, considered that you'll be eligible to serve in the armed forces. And they wouldn't give you any passport. It was extremely difficult, if I remember correctly. You had to bribe people to get a passport. But was, it was extremely difficult to get a passport, and the question is where to go. And places were closed. In '41, after I graduate, I remember going to, to Budapest for two weeks to see what I can do.
In terms of trying to get out?
To, trying to get out or to, not to stay home and not to be subjected to, to, not doing anything. I was trying to go to Switzerland, if I remember correctly. I, I remember it, to go to a university or to a technical school. And trying just to get an application for, for a, for a passport, it was impossible. For a visa it was impossible. And I was considered going uh, to study, to go to med school in Budapest. That uh, uh, request was uh, rejected immediately. I uh, tried to...
Because you were Jewish?
Because I was Jewish. I was considering going to, to study rabbinical studies. I would study philosophy and some--probably some literature and some theology. But then I, I gave that up. For some reason I felt I should go back home and be use--my parents and my younger brother. So I came back home and I um, I worked in a pharmacy as a, as a--in the laboratory and in the pharmacy.
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