This photo pictures my parents, Iosif and Minta Tucarman, and their four children: Fanny called Nutzy (on my father’s left), Betty (first from right), me, Iancu Tucarman (behind my father) and Sofia (behind Fanny). This photo was taken in Iasi in 1932 at a studio called Foto Select on Cuza Voda Street. The photographer was deaf and dumb. He spoke very slowly, barely understanding the words. He could not pronounce the word ‘smile,’ he could only say ‘smi.’ He was a great man and most demanding. One can see how skilled he was in taking photos.
When my youngest sister was born, the birth was very difficult. They did not use the forceps to help her, and as a result she had heart problems ever since, for 15 years. She had an embolism and that was the cause of her death. She used to say: ‘Iosif, dear, my children, don’t leave me!’ I can still hear the words she said when she was aware that she had to leave us. She died in 1939.
I had three sisters: Sofia Segal (nee Tucarman), Betty Laim (nee Tucarman), and Fany Klinger (nee Tucarman). Since my mother was ill, the girls would always help her around. The youngest, even when she was only eight or nine years old, did all the chores that she could do at her age. There were women who came by every week to help my mom with the work she could not do by herself. Sofia could play the violin, unlike the others. Fany studied the piano for about one or two years, but my father could no longer pay for her lessons.
I remember just one time when I was a child and I went with my folks on a holiday to Targu Ocna for a fortnight. I think I was not older than five or six. But it was our only time, the rest we couldn’t afford it. My father worked very hard and he could barely manage to keep us afloat.
