Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

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Natalie Zamczyk - January 30, 1984

Sure. When you went to public school uh, did you, did you speak Polish in public school?

Oh, only Polish, yeah, only Polish, yeah, only Polish, You see, I, I, I, only Polish was speaking, so only. Took other language was German, I think because my father loved German language because he was during the war, first war, in the Austrian army. And he cherished the--what was the kai..., prince? I forgot the name of the, the famous uh, the famous. He always... Doesn't matter, I forgot now. Maybe I remember.

Right.

Remind myself. So he said, you have to learn German. And that's what was that I learned that he hire a tutor for me, a old lady. And she was, she was uh, uh, from Vienna, and she was coming to our house every week, twice a week and she was teaching me German. Not only to speak, but all the literature, all the verses I had to learn, you know. And that's why I learned German, that sort of helped me later, okay.

Your father, you said, was in the Austrian Army...

Yes, yes.

...in World War I?

For three years, I remember, three or four years, yeah. This was Polish, but Austrian, yeah, yeah. During the ???. He was in 1914, I remember, he was taken to the army and he was 'til the end of the, the, yeah. And my mother was alone in the business, with a man helping her, of course. Yeah, yeah.