Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

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Nathan Weiselman - January 1, 1985

So, after a year working at the Popular Dry Goods, which they treated me very good, I decided I would like to open my own business because the president from the El Paso community told me that he had a store in Las Cruces, Mr. Reisen, and he would like to give me all the work in that and there's another store from the Rosen, from the Rosens, which is named Popular but doesn't have to do anything with the other Popular. And another Jewish store, most of the stores were Jewish owners. He wants uh, again, to ???. And he said, " Would you come here, we'll give you all the work because we have a tailor and he's always drunk and we have very, very much trouble." So, so, I decided that I would open a tailor shop. So, I tell to my boss, Adolf Schwartz, and I told, I said, "Adolf, I would like to tell you that I decided I want to change my job. And I will have to do, I want to do something else. I want to open maybe my own business." And he asked me a question, he said that, he said, "You said you want to change your job. Why do you want to change your job? I think I treated you the best I, I could. If you want to know how much the foreman which is works for forty years in the tailor shop, how much you get paid?" I ask him how much he gets paid. I ask him, "How much?" He gets paid sixty-five dollars a week. "And you not working yet even a full year here. You don't even, you didn't know the language. You still got ??? And I pay you sixty. Five dollars only more, the foreman only works for forty years." So, I answered him and this is exactly the reason that I change job. If he works for forty years and has only five dollars more, I better change it.

Mm-hm.

So, he said he, he said, "Give him my hand, and I want to shake your hand." And grab me and shaking my shoulders. He said, "You are so right. I should ???."

Mm-hm.

And he said, "I'm going to help you. If you need help, you ask immediately."