Dorothy Kraus Memoir - We Relocate Again

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Dorothy Kraus Memoir

We Relocate Again
The economic situation was getting worse for both families.

Mother had to sell her few possessions, her father's watch and chain, her brooch and finally her wedding ring! We were not receiving any money from father. Credit was much harder to obtain. Relations between the two families became strained and Elke decided to move to another city. This created a serious dilemma for us since we had to locate another place to live in. Mother pestered everyone, private landlords, the city fathers. They were sorry, but nothing was available. Finally part of an empty house was located and given to us. This was on the outskirts of the village, at the entrance to a cemetery.

What greater horror was there than living in a house with the dead as your neighbors! In the winter the roads were knee-high with snow. The winds howled and shrieked, stirring up chilling nightmares. But no other place was available, so we took it.

I remember an incident which took place as we were moving our stuff into our new place near the cemetery. Mother obtained a cart, put our belongings on it and pulled it along. She kept looking around, hoping that she wouldn't meet anyone she knew. She felt ashamed and didn't want to show our poverty. As luck would have it, someone she knew did pass by and said: “Interesting to know which is the horse and which is the wagon?” But mother gave him a look of contempt, followed by words which were not very nice. The man vanished quickly!

Editor's Notes: at the entrance to a cemetery: This description eliminates only the primary Jewish cemetery, located very close to the center of the Jewish portion of Wysokie. It could refer to another Jewish and two Christian cemeteries known to have existed. See also the Notes here.

This material is from Original Page 29 and Original Page 30.

Page Last Updated: 29-Aug-2012