What was the transition into the kibbutz like for you? "My transition from Poland to the kibbutz was a nightmare. I grew up in a very warm, well to do family. Kibbutz Eilon in 1950 was beyond rustic. I was given a room that was smaller than the kitchen in your house. There was no shower, no toilet, no running water, no windows, and no lights, only candles. On top of all that, I arrived in the kibbutz in the winter and eight month pregnant with Ilana (my aunt). In the middle of the night I had to walk about a quarter of a mile to the toilet. It was dark, cold and there were no roads. Then Ilana was born and was taken from me within a week. She was given to the children house and I could only see her four hours a day. I had to breastfeed her in one room with twenty other women. I wasn't allowed to put her to bed. I wasn't allowed to bath her. I wasn't allowed to dress her in the morning or changed her diaper. I have been heart broken over this for my entire life. I never forgave myself or Saba (my grandfather) for staying on the kibbutz. In addition to this, life was hard. We had little food and work lasted 18 hours a day. It was hard to get used to. "
Did she know anyone else that was already there? "When I agreed to go to the kibbutz, I had a best friend, a woman who survived the war, who game with me to the kibbutz. She came to Eilon, Israel about three years earlier. But by the time I arrived in Eilon, my friend realized how bad it was and left. She lost a child to Typhus and was simply told to get over it. I arrived in Eilon with Saba. We had met five years earlier, in 1945, in Krakow, Poland. Saba and I got married in a church although it was a non religious marriage. There were only 3 people at the ceremony. Saba, the priest, and I."
How did living on a kibbutz (very community oriented) affect how hard she worked? "I worked around the clock. I was the only nurse caring for nearly 5,000 people in and around the kibbutz. I was awoken several times each night to go help sick people. I ended up not sleeping a normal night for nearly 20 years." In general, I don't think that I would work as hard if I lived on a kibbutz. However, being a nurse is different. It was my grandmother’s job to save lives. Something she did not take lightly.
How did you feel about your kids leaving the kibbutz? "It broke our hearts when your dad left Israel. We were OK with it in the beginning as we thought it was good for him to study and invest in his future. We were devastated when my father decided to stay at Harvard rather than go back to Eilon. We were so upset that for a while we were too upset to talk to him. Over time, we recovered. We were OK with Ilana leaving the kibbutz because Israel is small and we knew we would see her every week."
The fact that my grandparents were upset with my dad for leaving the kibbutz is surprising to me. I understand that they want him close but it was at a time where technology was good enough that they were able to communicate regularly. It is different for me because my parents really pushed me to leave Boston for college. They knew that I want to live in boston for the rest of my life so they wanted to push me to see and explore other cultures while I have the chance. Maybe they pushed this so much because they know I will eventually return home.