Lili Pohlmann has fond memories of Passover in Lviv:

My mother and us two children went every Passover to Lviv to my grandparents, her parents, which was lovely. She was the apple of their eye. We lived in Krakow. So for Passover we used to go to Lviv on the train. It was an adventure for children. There was a large extended family, cousins & so on, & they all had children. So that was quite something.

My grandparents were called Hinda & Aba Brück. I was actually born in Lviv, in my grandmother's bed. My mother wanted her mother to hold her hand. It wasn’t in those days that husbands were present at birth, you know. So she went back to Lviv to give birth & stayed for two weeks, then brought me back to Krakow.

I remember everything about Passover. Everything! You don’t want to go into all the details; it will take you forever! The journey one looked forward to: Oh, my God, going by train! It was always a fast train. It took four to five hours & always stopped in Przemysl.

My mother & father had family there. So they all came out, waited for the train. Not like here today, you know. Waited… with food—with food! This one brought broth, that one brought eggs, this one brought sandwiches 'so that the children shouldn’t starve, heaven help us!' You know. It was great fun! We looked forward to it. We saw these people for the half hour or so the train stopped. They brought all the food & we…[laughing] were stuck with it. It was very lovely. And the same on the way back. Everybody came. Perhaps 10 people. I don’t know—practically the whole family came up [laughing] to see you.

My grandparents were very religious, orthodox. My grandfather spent his days praying in the synagogue. On Friday he came home & there was a queue of people waiting to be offered this & that & food. Tzedakah [charity]. My father was really non-believer, an agnostic. My mother had candles every Friday for her parents, you know. My grandmother sent every week a challah which she made & some bits & pieces, some cakes & this & that. She baked, & that came by post every week to have it on Friday.

My mother did some praying, my father was the opposite. But they were the most loving of couples you ever saw. He was a wonderful father, marvellous. We were a very, very happy family. Until the outbreak of war."

Lili Pohlmann MBE

Memories

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