Cyla Wiener - July 13, 1992
Recreation
What would you do for recreation? Did you go to Yiddish theater? Did you go to movies?
Oh...that was something else. Really, we did a lot of things. I, I had education in Jewish, though we could speak very well Jewish, and we lived not far from, maybe what, a couple streets, where we had the Jewish theater. Uh...Bochenska and we really enjoy. Every Sunday we used to go to the Jewish theater. And then even when Molly Picon...I used to know Molly Picon. You know, she used to come to Kraków when she was playing in, in, you know, partly away from us but we used to walk or take the trolley and went to see her. My mother and me. I always used to go with my mother to see Molly Picon or Leo Füchs, I saw. Or, or, Bernstein, Paul Bernstein. I don't know, you don't know, but he was a comedian, a very good one.
And Adler too, did you see Adler?
But see, and then we saw [???], no, Ha-Bimah. Ah, really, we saw a lot of good from Israel, was Ha-Bimah, all the time, you know. We were a lot of, we tried to go and to see, you know. Especially me, for me, this was something special when I could see a good play in Yiddish, you know.
So, you knew the songs too?
That's right. I did...I, I used to sing, but not a...I used to sing Yiddish, sure. My brothers, one was singing for, always the Holidays. The Cantor, you know, in the choir, you know. I had brother who was singing in the choir.
What were some of the songs?
The name of the songs? They named, oh...this was when they prayed for...
No, I mean from the theater.
From the theater? Uh..one song, The Fiddler? I saw The Fiddler. Then...
Sholom Aleichem story?
Shalom Aleichem, but no, the "Yiddle with a Fiddle", Yiddle with a Fiddle", you know.
Do you remember the song?
You know, I remember the song, but I don't sing anymore. I had a very good voice. I used to sing, but after the war, I stopped singing [crying]. I can't sing anymore.
I used to remember when I, my little son, I sung to my, my son. That's why I stopped singing, you know. Nope, I never sung, not after the war. I can't.
Did you go to the movies as well, picture shows?
Yeah, I go to the movies.
American movies?
Yeah, American movies. Where, over there? Yes, sure! We used to go to American movies, and we used to go to a lot of from Austria. Vienna, you know, very good uh...very good. I know Eddie Cantor and Al Jolson, all the movies, we used to go, you know, sure. Yeah, we used to go. And Kraków was a beautiful. It was the most beautiful city, I say. Beautiful City! All the city beautiful. I didn't feel really anti-Semitic...well, I was in the days where the Polacks at least schooled with the Jews, you know. We were working together. I didn't feel special at all, you know, to be isolated from the...
Anyone else in your family feel it? Did anyone ever talk about being bothered by the anti-Semitic remarks?
No. After the war, more like before the war. I am telling you, honey, really after the war.
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