Natalie Zamczyk - January 30, 1984
Pre-war anti-Semitism
Do you ever recall any uh, anti-Semitic agitation by like the ??? or the Endecja or any group like that?
Yes, before the war, of course. Before the war, before the war yes, yes. But we didn't appear in our store, nobody this. But we felt this, yeah. We felt this before the war. Also, one year before the war, two years before the war, even. Well, there was even a pogrom--not pogrom-- but on the university in Krakow, they kill one boy. Yeah, they were, you know, they were the Polish student in university, they were wearing special caps, you know, they were the elite, elite--how we call--the elite, yeah. And the Jews, when the Jews wanted... Uh, there was a quota for Jews to come to university, that's why lot of Jewish children, what they want to go to university they were going in different countries, you know, like Italy, someplace. But some were allowed, you know. But there a quota... you know what is quota.
Yeah, yeah.
So I remember that, was I don't remember exactly, about maybe three years before or something, I don't know, was a, there, there was fight. They didn't let--yeah, there was fight-- they didn't let the Jews boys came to the university something. I can't remember exactly, but there was a fight and then some was, a boy was killed, Jewish boy. This was a terrible thing. This was a terrible. We saw it that is something bad coming, you know. That's what happened. And always was some, you know.
Mm-hm.
I remember that my sister-in-law-she's not alive already--another Zamczyk, she has uh, my husband's brother, she was a lawyer, you know. And she, this was before the war. She was a very beautiful, elegant woman, and she was going with her husband uh, from Podgorze to some of uh, I don't know, downtown, you know. They were walking, they were not going. We walk a lot, and they were going through a, through a bridge, the bridge was connecting Podgorze with Krakow, and they were going through a bridge and at once somebody, they saw Jew...This was Friday evening, yeah, Friday evening on Saturday the Jews are coming to the synagogue, you know, they were walking. With a beard and all that special caftan dress, you know the very religious. And my sister-in-law was going with her husband and she saw from the place that young, those intelligents, those uh, university were hitting the Jews by there. So she run. But they wouldn't think that she's Jewish because she didn't look at all. She was doing the, also walk, you know. So she, she came to 'em, "what you doing to him, what you are?" He said, what are you doing. She wasn't doing and ??? you didn't have to be dressed like this. And she took him and say, you stop, you be ashamed by the. And she said in, in Polish--I can't say this, you know, who, this is a rhyme. When somebody doesn't uh, give uh, respect to a Jew, let him kiss his...
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