Do you know how I had this privilege? For a girl my age to read?
The upper class - they could borrow from the libraries. The cities had big libraries but in the villages, the only books were the ones the boys had. The government gave them out to the eighth grade boys and it was a requirement for them to read them, part of their education. So they gave them out for free.
Anyways, the class people had books. But not in our village. But do you know what a binding is for a book? There was a man, who would go around with his rucksack, you know what a rucksack is? And collect books and bind them. He was a yid, and he used to stay with us in our house.
My parents had an extra bedroom in the house, and he used to stay there. Lots of people would stay there. Not for money, not an inn. Just for the mitzvah.
So when I saw him come by, I saw all the books in his bag. He let me read one and, uh-ooh…
I was addicted.
I said to him, why not lie? Instead of telling the people that it will take you one week to bind it, why not tell them it will take two weeks? Then you can bind it first and then I can read it. What’s that? Yes, he did it. He got free lodging form my parents so he was grateful for that, I think. And that’s how I got my hands on all kinds of books. Books from America, Sweden, France, all translated into Slovak. This went on from when I was 12 or 13 all the way until I was 16 17. I read Hemingway. I don’t remember what else it was so long ago. It opened up my world, so far beyond my village. My parents wouldn’t want me to keep reading but I would, with the kerosene lamp on the table, or a candelabra by my bed. None of the other girls in the village got to read like me. And I so loved the books.