Margo Breuer's graduation post card

This postcard was made for the graduation farewell at the Jewish Girl's Orphanage in Budapest. Margo Breuer, my future wife was ten to twelve and Evi, her sister, was five to six years old when they were put by their mother into the orphanage which was actually more like a boarding school . Wealthy Jewish women ran the Jewish boarding school for girls and they gave everything to the girls. The girls all had to dress up nicely and had high heels. It was like a Swiss boarding school except that the girls received vocational education. That's where Margo learned to sew. On the photo you can see the synagogue which was near the boarding school. Probably all the girls who were leaving bought such cards and the remaining ones wrote farewell notes on them. 'God be with you fellows' - this is written across the card. It is signed 14th June 1939. Margit Breuer's signature is on the left side in the middle. I called her Margo later. The signatures of Aunty Olga, Aunty Marica and Aunty Sari could be by some of the teachers or the employees of the boarding school. In the boarding school there was a room with a stage and a piano and they also learned to sing. They had a choir that performed, they even had a little synagogue and performed there. Margo was a soloist in the choir. There was also a gym. In the boarding school they observed the Jewish holidays but they were, after all, a progressive institution. They didn't work on Saturdays. The girls must have also walked around because there was a beautiful garden and there was even a gardener. They could also take books out of the library. The institution had a bank account and girls received tram and opera passes. I believe that they got allowances until they left the boarding school. Margo had five years of high school. They studied Hebrew at the boarding school because they had to be able to read the prayers. She also spoke English. She completed the apprentice school [she learned to become a seamstress] and became an apprentice at an elite men's underwear store in Budapest. If they had their own income the girls could still stay in the boarding school if they were only apprentices. After the age of 14 there were only two girls to a room. Margo lived there spending her apprentice years there until she was 16.

Photos from this interviewee