| "This a very important card to me from Dad on
a business trip to Berlin, dated February 1933. For one, it
may be the only time in my life that Dad ever wrote to me. I
was going to be six years old that September. After that, he
probably didn't feel I needed any coddling.
In his postcard
he wrote "Lieber Tibi: Dein Papi ist in einigen tagen
bei Dir und wird ser schone Spielzeuge mit bringen, womit du
sich freuen wirt." He wrote that he will be back in a few
days and will bring me toys that I'll enjoy.
After the elections of March 5, 1933, the Nazis began a
systematic takeover of the state governments throughout
Germany. I don't know what it was that Dad saw that most of
the world ignored, but he came back saying that Europe is
doomed, that there will be another war and that we
should emigrate. He obtained an immigration visa from
Australia, but all our friends kept telling him that he should
stay, and we let the visa expire. Fortunately, he met a fellow
who was half-Hungarian and half-Scottish who worked for the
Canadian Pacific Railways colonization service, and he
persuaded Dad to come to Canada. We landed in Montreal on May
4, 1930. It was a close call." |
