מאגר סיפורי מורשת

My maiden name is Kovac, which means Blacksmith. It’s not my real last name, though. My real last name was Weiss, which means white. My family is from Eastern Europe. My father Emery is from a part that was Hungary but is now Slovakia, and My mother Edith is from Slovakia.

My parents were both in the War. My mother lost her dad because the Nazis took him away. My mother, her brother, grandfather, and aunt hid in the mountains until the war was over.

My father’s family lived in Bratislava under false papers. They changed their last name so no one would know they were Jews. My father was injured when the British bombed Bratislava, and he was in the hospital for a long time. He still has the scars.

When I was growing up in Slovakia, the government was communist, and it was very hard to buy groceries and items. You would go to the store in the morning and stand in line, but many times you couldn't get what you wanted that day, and you would have to return the next day.

Because living there was a hard time, My parents decided to escape from Slovakia and go to Vienna. From there, they had the option to immigrate to Australia or the United States. They had more family in Australia, but they were worried if they went to Australia, they would be too far away to visit the family in Europe. They decided to immigrate to the USA and moved to Indianapolis, where they had one family member. I was seven years old when I ,left Slovakia. When I arrived in the US, I didn’t know any English

but as you can see, we did pretty well here and are so happy that you are attending a Jewish school here in town, so you can continue learning about Jewish rich history and traditions.

Interview:

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הזוית האישית

The story was written as part of Generation 2 Generation Project in collaboration with the Gvanim School in Israel.