MDV 311 · Zoltan Galambos

Galambos sings the Yiddish song about the yeshiva student who does not want to go on suffering, repeating it slowly at Kerler's request.

Galambos says the Vaja synagogue was ruined, like the Temple. He recalls that after the war a sister and three brothers returned and began businesses. He describes poor Jewish peddlers from other towns selling religious items and books, and says he read Hebrew, Yiddish and a little German but not Hungarian literature. He remarks that the Holocaust cannot be portrayed in theater or books.

includes his remarks that the Holocaust cannot be portrayed in theater

Galambos shows a book in English about Vaja, given to him by the grandson of a Jew from Canada. Kerler says they will obtain a copy, and the book's publisher and Weinberger from Munkács are mentioned. A Russian term for a labor battalion comes up. Galambos then repeats the yeshiva-student song with Kerler, who asks about its grammar.

includes the book's possible purchase and the labor-battalion remark

Galambos is asked about Sabbath table songs and recalls little. Asked about Hanukkah food, he says they made fried dough cakes and fish on Sabbath, and mentions gefilte fish prepared with sugar once in Klausenburg(?). He says his cheder songs are forgotten and doubts that anyone is interested in such memories.

adds the Sabbath gefilte-fish talk and his doubt that his memories matter

Galambos argues angrily about the Americans' failure to bomb the camps and save Hungarian Jews. He claims that Americans took a train of Jewish gold, for which Hungary later received compensation, and speaks about restitution. He says he gets a lifelong pension from Germany. Kerler then asks about yeshivas in the area.

adds the claims about Americans and the gold train, and a pension from Germany

Asked about prewar yeshivas in the area, Galambos names places such as Nyírmada and Ópályi. He cannot say which had the best reputation. He then speaks of saying the Kaddish and prayers that bring back Auschwitz and the burning of children, and asks for a prayer book.

adds the turn to Kaddish and Auschwitz memories

Galambos reads from the prayer book and says the verses recall Auschwitz, where children were thrown into the fire. He contrasts prewar life, when Jews lived peacefully with their neighbors, went to synagogue and cheder and walked freely day and night, with today.

adds the prayer-book reading and Auschwitz recollection

Kerler asks about prewar newspapers. Galambos recalls a Jewish paper in Hungarian and no Yiddish one. He says cheder taught reading without translation and yeshiva taught Gemara. He lists towns he visited, including Debrecen and Munkács, and the group discusses travel to Košice. They also touch on the river and the word for ritual bath.

adds newspapers, languages, towns he visited and the river

Galambos speaks about Sabbath kiddush wine and bread, and the term for the braided loaf, and about burning the challah portion as a commandment. Kerler asks about theater, and about the terms dybbuk and golem. Galambos explains the golem as a figure from the Haggadah.

adds the dybbuk and golem terms and the theater question

Galambos recalls the camps after liberation, where Polish Jews spoke Polish, Russian and Yiddish while Hungarian Jews mostly did not speak Yiddish. He names places in the area where Yiddish was spoken, mentions that American soldiers came with a Torah, and describes devout Polish Jews. Kerler then asks about the happiest time in his life.

adds Hungarian versus Polish Jews' Yiddish and the American soldiers' Torah

Asked for the happiest time, Galambos says his life was hard. He had some good life before the troubles came, and he names relatives who survived, his parents and sisters. Asked how Vaja's life should be remembered, he says he cannot say much. Kerler thanks him and the formal interview ends.

adds the surviving relatives and how to remember Vaja

Outside, Galambos talks with the team and says he has found it hard to recall old things. He recalls that his family came to Vaja when he was three. He mentions cheder and games with other children, and the group discusses the number of streets in Vaja. Hungarian chat with others and a gift of apples follow, then a song and warm farewells.

adds the farewell chat and gifts outside

Footage of Košice streets while Kerler and another man talk; the speech is largely unclear, with remarks about Slovak and a pleasant street.

Footage in and around the Košice synagogue with several voices, including some Polish, Russian and English. Speech is mostly garbled; people discuss documentation, a found historical document and books, and something used in a camp.