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About Erica Riwka Zudkowitz
Erica was sent to the "Scuola Evangelista" elementary school, because the teaching language was German, the language they spoke at home (Her father Filippo was Viennese and spoke excellent Italian, but her mother Margit's Italian was not very good).
She later attended the "Istituto Tecnico Leonardo Da Vinci" (highschool), but right after she passed the exams from "Inferiori" to "Superiori" in 1938, was expelled (Anti-Jewish Laws). She was only 15 years old.
That year, 1938, she took Hebrew classes 2-3 a week at the Jewish Agency building (Office of Palestine Affairs) on Via del Monte 5. Previously, both Erica and her sister Noemi received a few Hebrew lessons at home. Their teacher was a young man from Palestine, a kibbutznik, who had had TB and was sent to Trieste to convalesce. Erica also took private English lessons for 3 months, which, she remembers, helped her a lot when she arrived in Palestine. She had no English lessons at school (Noemi did).
Following her sister Noemi, Erica left for Palestine with a capitalists certificate issued by the British Mandate, which ensured her entry to Palestine. She boarded the "Galilea" (Adriatica Line) in Trieste on December 27th, 1939 and arrived in Haifa in the beginning of January 1940. The ship also carried a cargo of live fish from Yugoslavia in huge canvas containers (in 1943, the "Galilea" was torpedoed and sunk, off Tripoli!). She joined "Noar Gimel" (she belonged to the Italian group) in kibbutz Givat Brenner, where she stayed for two years. During this time she persuaded Noemi to join her, which she did for a while, because she had not been happy with her job in Tel Aviv as "metapelet"..
After two years, Erica's group decided to go on Hachshara (training) in Kibbutz Ashdot Yaakov in the Jordan Valley. She was also sent to Haifa to be trained as a cook - the training lasted four months. She did not like this kibbutz. She was in charge of cooking diets, for the many kibbutz members who suffered from ulcers etc. Another responsibility was preparing food for the groups that left early in the morning to various field works. This she liked, because she could work at night when it was less hot, and was working alone.
In Ashdot Yaakov she met Haim again (the first time was in Givat Brenner). He lived in the nearby Kibbutz Gesher. They got married (April 16, 1943) in Kvutzat Kinneret, and a year later moved to Haifa. They were penniless. During the first month Erica looked after the baby son of Yekutiel and Bella Federmann, sleeping in their living room. Haim was a "Noter" and spent the nights at the Notrim base in the Haifa Bay.
A month later she started to work at another family's home (Levinstein, a car importer), taking care of their three children. Hard work, she remembers.
She finally rented a tiny room ("a small room above the Szagis' kitchen) at Captain Szagi's, on 2 Shoshanat HaCarmel. Haim visited whenever he could, and sometimes stayed the night.
In 1945 she started to work at the "Molada" Maternity Hospital, preparing diets for the patients. This was her work until 1947, when I was born.
She and Haim moved to a small rented flat on 35 Hayarkon street, which they shared with the Bibro family. who owned the entire flat. (they all shared one bathroom). Then moved to 31 Hayarkon Street.
They bought their first flat in 1968 (continued in Haim Zudkowitz's profile).
Givat Brenner website:
https://gbstories.org/gbs__www/static/aurelia/index.html#/member-de...
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Erica Riwka Zudkowitz's Timeline
| 1923 |
December 22, 1923
|
Trieste, Italy
|
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| 1930 |
1930
- 1937
Age 6
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Scuola Evangelista, Trieste, Italy
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| 1937 |
1937
- 1939
Age 13
|
Istituto Tecnico Leonardo Da Vinci, Trieste, Italy
|