[PEN-L:7751] History of the World, Part III

[sawicky@xxxxxxxxxx (Max Sawicky)]

Witness to the American Holocaust:
A Levittowner's Story


Rabbi Devine:  How old were you when you began to
understand your fate?

Seymour:  I remember when I was six, I was in
the basement near the laundry room.  My mother
was washing clothes and didn't know I could
hear.  She was working hard and said, 'Oy,
this is hell.'  I never forgot that.

Rabbi Devine:  And later, how did your understanding
grow?

Seymour:  Well first there was this school thing.
Every day, except Saturday and Sunday.  And
holidays.  At first all we did was play.  But
this was a ruse.  Little by little, the play
turned to work.  Sometimes we had to do work
at home too.  And on weekends!  It was horrible.

Rabbi Devine:  Did you find comfort in the bosom
of your family?

Seymour:  Not really.  My father had a so-called
"job."  He was gone every day.  More work than
school even.  And work at home too.  Cutting the
grass, so our home would conform to the rest of the
neighborhood.

Rabbi Devine:  And your sustenance?

Seymour:  Awful.  Things called TV dinners.
They came in a little tin thing, and you had
to sit and watch these two crazy people Lucy
and Ricky fool around.  It was a device for
mind control.

Rabbi Devine:  Did you consider escape?

Seymour:  To where?  Everywhere else was the same.

Rabbi Devine:  Can you talk about the camps?

Seymour:  I'd rather not.  They were even worse.
The main instrument of torture was a procedure
called the "pink belly."

Rabbi Devine:  I'm beginning to understand your predicament
and feel your pain.  What about when you got older?

Seymour:  I became a professor at the University
of the City of Los Angeles.

Rabbi Devine:  What subject?

Seymour:  Animal husbandry.  By the way,
how do you come by the Irish name?

Rabbi Devine:  I married into the faith.

Seymour:  I really appreciate your talking to me.
Why do you do it?

Rabbi Devine:  It's better than grading papers.


Next week:  forced transport of children to
a massive edifice known simply as "the Mall."


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