Micha Dor

* 1948

  • "And in Israel, in parallel with my work in Israel, too ... that is, mainly because of the variety. Financial reflection, as it should not, so not at first, I began to deal with tourism. So that at first I accompanied Israeli groups abroad, so-called outgoing, to the whole world, and it also worked out for me when the situation calmed down a bit, but it was clear in the time of totalitarianism. I was with Israeli groups in Czechoslovakia at the time of my arrest warrant, when I was being tried. The first time I arrived, I admit that I looked back, but on the other hand, I was sure that I had an Israeli passport, but it went well. Then I came back here a few more times with the groups. Of course, at first it was very, in quotes I would say, in the manner of shu-shu-shu. For example, a visa. No one even had a comma and proof that he was ever in Czechoslovakia. It was a so-called group visa, which I had in my passport, which I had ... which I proved, as soon as we entered Czechoslovakia, it was taken away from me when I left. And neither I nor anyone else had ... just the photos we took here and there, of course. Bratislava Castle and Hradčany in Prague, and as far as I know, a few more places, it was still a united Czechoslovakia. Officially, we had nothing to prove that we were officially in Czechoslovakia. What we saw here, and what my eyes saw and my soul mainly ... it confirmed to me more and more that I had nothing to look for here, how well that I left. To see the barbed wire at the crossing to Vienna, the watchtowers where they were targeted by the billiards, and when I left, a border guard and such a huge mirror came ... People, I had to explain to the people, they were all scared. "

  • “After the liberation, did they return to Bratislava? No, they went to Topoľčany. And there they met the famous post-war pogrom, the post-war. My parents, my brothers, my father. Do you know anything more about it or did you learn something about it? I know. When it started, my father still managed to shout to his mother to hide under the bed with the children and he ran out into the street. There they caught up with him, smashing his head with an iron rod. With the brain in his hands ... he ran away. For the rest of my life, almost every night. It can be said that every night, he screamed from sleep. This was ... this was part of my childhood. It wasn't a human roar, it was like a wounded animal. Every night, probably as a result of this incident. They left Topoľčany and moved to Bratislava. And there we lived, there I was born. In Bratislava or in terms of property, or we know that during the war there was an Aryanization. You even got to your original possessions, didn't you? I don't know, I don't know anything about that. I do not think."

  • "The only one, the only thing I heard from any of my parents who commented on this topic at all. There was no more talk about it at home. And can you talk about what you learned indirectly? They were deported to Sereď, from Sereď to Terezín. In Sereď ... the father, as an accountant, had the status of what was called, an economic Jew, and quasi-protected his family. That is, the parents of his wife, my mother, and their parents, by not including them in the transport. When the camp commander came with him and said, "Jew you protect too many Jews, you have to give up like someone." So my father had a terrible dilemma, in fact it depended on whom he would send to the transport. And unfortunately, as they say, the shirt is closer than a coat, so he gave up my mother's parents, not his own parents. Of course, they never forgave him, but there was no other option. So grandparents on your mother's side were deported to where? To Terezín. Also to Terezín. And later the whole family. Once again, when were they transported to Terezín? When ... my grandparents from my mother side, I don't know exactly. The rest of the family, my parents and my brothers, forty-four. So the last wave of deportation, after the suppression of the SNP. More or less, yes. Again, as far as I know, because I do not know this from home, it was not talked about at home, these data are quite such… Do you know or have you learned indirectly about what their life in Terezín looked like? In Terezín ... and I know what their life looked like in Sereď. Can you talk about it? I can. Father ... father cost his life almost twice. Once, a boy was rude to a warden, who beat him to death. It was necessary to bury him outside the camp. As it is known, to bury a man-Jew, it took ten men to pray the so-called min jan and the father was with the ten and of course guaranteed to the camp commander that everyone would return, although inside he knew it probably would not. And really two or three boys ran away, they used it as an escape. His father was beaten to death as punishment for failing to keep his word, and three escaped from the top ten. That was once. For the second time, he and probably some other board members were getting lists. So the night before the transport he was supposed to go to people, so those people were supposed to come to the train the next day. And my father, instead of going home and taking care of my mother, my mother, and my two young siblings, my brothers ... the day before, the night before, he went to those parents, to warn them, you have to go to the transport tomorrow. Do something. They figured out ... that the camp management was supposed to get here just the ones missing. They didn't know exactly who and how. I read that, again someone wrote to the camp in Sereď that ten men who were jewish leaders, naked for three days, stood in the snow to reveal someone who is the one who warns the Jews of the danger of being sent to transport. Nobody confessed and somehow it just passed. ”

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    Bratislava

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„For the rest of his life, almost every night, you could say that every night, he screamed from sleep ... it was part of my childhood ... it wasn‘t a human roar, it was like a wounded animal ... every night.“

Contemporary photograph of Michal Dor, from filming in Bratislava.
Contemporary photograph of Michal Dor, from filming in Bratislava.
zdroj: Sandra Polovková

Michal Dor (originally Schnauzer) was born as the third child on July 8, 1948, in a hospital on Šulekova street in Bratislava. He inherited jewish origin from his parents, Blanka and Andrej. The third child, because he was preceded by twins, brothers, who were born during the war, in 1940. Mother Blanka, as single Krajner, came from Topoľčany, from a teaching and even an orthodox jewish family. Father Andrej Schnauzer was of jewish descent, but they did not rank among the orthodox families. Both, together with their families and first-born sons, survived the end of World War II in concentration camps, in Sereď and Terezín. The father‘s family survived all, and on the mother‘s side, one brother, Laci, died of typhus in Mauthausen. However, World War II was not the only tragedy they survived. They did not avoid the post-war pogrom in Topoľčany, during which father Andrej was attacked by a metal rod and almost did not survive. Subsequently, the whole family moved to Bratislava, where they lived on Klarinská for the first two years and then on Mickiewiczova street for the rest of their lives. They still tried to lead a pious life, according to jewish traditions. As for education, Michal attended primary school on the then Školská Street, which no longer exists. Later, Michal‘s parents decided to change and continued at the primary school in Vazovova. In its immediate vicinity there was also a secondary vocational school, which the witness of history chose in 1963, and which it also successfully completed in 1966. The witness of history first visited Israel in 1965 with his mother, and in 1966 he decided to emigrate. He was convicted of treason in his absence and was also labeled a deserter. Life in Israel began by working in a kibbutz, where he learned excellent hebrew. After a year, he was called up for military service, where he took part in several military conflicts. He was even injured. After the war, he completed his technical studies and worked on television. He also devoted himself to the work of a guide, and over time he decided only for this work at a high level. He married for the second time a woman of czech nationality, whom he met during her visit to Israel. They have a fifteen-year-old daughter together. At present, Michal and his family live in the israeli town Givatayim and everyone is happy together.