Genrykh (Khayim-Isser) Kalmanovich Zinger

Zinger says he never smoked or drank. He answers Katz's questions about prewar antisemitism: Jews were blamed for things, but he says nothing very terrible happened. Kerler asks about blood libel and about Yiddish words for non-Jews (goyim, orelim). Zinger then speaks of Swiss visitors who bring food aid and help Jews emigrate to Israel, and mentions a visit to his son there.

Includes Kerler's questions on blood libel and Yiddish terms for non-Jews, and Zinger's remarks on losing his Yiddish.

Zinger talks about his trip to Israel with the Swiss group, flying from Budapest about six years earlier, and his two-month stay with his son near Tel Aviv. He describes his son's work at a bank, their contact and his grandchildren. He speaks of his late wife and his daughter, who cares for him in Uzhhorod. He recalls the Mukacheve rebbe's food assistance, funded by the Joint and since ended.

Includes the Mukacheve rebbe's food distribution funded by the Joint.

Zinger is asked what he remembers of prayer; he gives a few opening words of the Sabbath service and recites part of kaddish, which he said for a year for his wife. He then answers Kerler's questions about Purim, saying everyone including the rabbi is drunk nowadays. He recalls children going from house to house with a Purim play and gives a fragment of its rhyme. The passage ends with a short exchange on how "a bissl" was said and a question about Hasidim.

Adds kaddish recitation, a fragment of the Purim play and a short exchange on Yiddish word forms.

Zinger remembers a rebbe who visited the town, possibly from Mukacheve; he is not sure. He recalls Zionist organizing of children for aliyah, where they learned dance, song and Hebrew. He did two years of Hachshara in Czechoslovakia in a tailoring factory, learning Hebrew there and serving in the Czech army. He names songs such as hora and Hatikvah. Kerler then asks about cheder.

The year of the draft is not clearly stated in the transcript; adds songs learned and Zinger's recent help with Hebrew words for a teacher.

Zinger answers questions about cheder, recalling that the rebbe hit pupils with a small stick, and about the dozen-odd Jewish organizations. He mentions a payment from the rabbi for early prayer that he cannot take up because of illness. Kerler asks about the Bund and Jewish Communists; Zinger says many were communists and that a nephew went to Spain. He recalls Hashomer Hatzair and girls, cannot recall a song about the attic, and speaks briefly in Russian-flavoured chat. Katz asks about Sabbath songs and Zinger starts on a shoykhet.

Adds the Bund and communists, a nephew going to Spain, and the aid payment for attending prayer.

Zinger recalls the local shoykhet's prayer and recites the Shema and blessings. He tells how he was called to the haftarah and gives details of his bar mitzvah. He remembers a tailor and his parents, who perished. He speaks of Velykyi Bereznyi's trades and professions, naming a tailor, shoemaker, tinsmith and the Jewish doctor Munk. Kerler asks about a folk remedy, "quenching coals", and Zinger explains it. He mentions Hungarian interviewers and the cassettes he received from America. He tells of visiting his wife's grave and the Yiddish headstone designed by a rabbi.

Adds the bar-mitzvah details, folk remedy, trades of Velykyi Bereznyi, earlier Hungarian interviewers and his wife's gravestone.

Zinger describes his father's work as a stonecutter of simple tombstones at the cemetery of his hometown. He says some of the stones still stand, as he saw three years ago, and speaks of black marble stones made in Uzhhorod, including his wife's. Katz and Kerler close the interview with good wishes and thanks. Zinger says his daughter tells him not to tire himself and that the questions reminded him of Yiddishkayt and Yiddish words.

Adds the end-of-interview thanks, his wife's marble headstone and his reflection on Yiddish.