Malka Sternberg - January 31, 2008
Zionism
And at what point did you begin or did you begin to socialize and affiliate with Zionist groups?
Well in Prague when I was a child I belonged to Bnei Akiva. They, they, they did a very, very good job--a very good job. I knew I wanted to go to Israel the end and uh, this Erika was very Zionistic.
And she was a German Jew.
Yes, very Zionistic and she, she brought us up into the love of Zionism. And I went--I belonged to Bachad and Bachad is like the Akiva of England--the older ones are called Bachad. I was active in there and we had farms, we had hachsharat, you know, hachsharah--preparation for Israel. We had several hachsharat there and I met the people and then I decided to-- for me to go another way. I wasn't going to Israel after the war. So when I mentioned it to my father, first there was no reply and then he said, "Well, you're better of in England, you stay there. Don't come here, here there are terrorists and the, the, the war. Don't come here." And I said, "I'm coming to Israel, I want to come to Israel."
So he was here already.
He was here already. He was here since '42 and I'm talking about the end of the war, '45, '46--'45 I'm talking about. He didn't take me. The cousin that was with us all the years her parents took her. Her parents took her over and he didn't want to take me so I said, "If you, you don't want to take me I'll join a hachsharah group and I'll go as a ha...as a kibbutz." And he didn't take it seriously, okay, so I sent--then after a few months I wrote to him another address that I'm on Thaxted Farm and the next letters you send to that address. So I got a telegram, "Don't go, you're coming to Israel. I'm sending you a certificate," so I came.
What year--was this 19... Forty-six...
...forty six. Yes.
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