LEVINE:

Today is February 13, 2004 And this is Janet Levine for the National Park Service and I'm here in Boca Raton Florida. I'm here with Thelma Geller, who came through Ellis Island with her four sisters and your mother, your mother and four sisters?

GELLER:

Yeah because poppa was here already.

LEVINE:

Right. And that was in 1927 or 1928, and they traveled on the Belgenland, which was a Cunard-White Star Line ship. [Belgenland was a Red Star Line ship.]

GELLER:

Oh really?

LEVINE:

They settled in Brooklyn, in Brownsville. the,that's what you wrote, yeah. So they were coming from Warsaw, Poland. Okay, again for the tape, please, would you give your birth date?

GELLER:

June 18.

LEVINE:

You picked the year, right?

GELLER:

(laughs) Yeah, I picked 1920.

LEVINE:

Okay. And why was it that you didn't know?

GELLER:

Because momma never wrote it down.

LEVINE:

Oh, okay. GELLER We were five daughters, and none of us... the only ones that have their birthday was the twins.

LEVINE:

And they were the youngest? GELLER They were the babies.

LEVINE:

So you were there for roughly ten years before you came to this country. You were in Warsaw?

GELLER:

About ten, yeah.

LEVINE:

Now, when you think of Warsaw, what are the things you remember about it, about living there, about your first ten years? What are the things that most often come to mind about that period of time?

GELLER:

Well, we were poor. And I went to school. My sisters worked. Sometimes we didn't have supper at night, there was no food. Poppa was here, and I think he was hurt, so he was incapacitated for a while.

LEVINE:

So that meant he couldn't send any money home?

GELLER:

He didn't send any money home. We lived in a big apartment house, and there was a school on the top floor, and grandma and my aunt lived below us; the second floor. So in order for us to eat, they opened the restaurant in their house, and the teachers came to eat. My aunt and my mother cooked for them, and they came, and they had a lunch.

LEVINE:

So it was only the teachers who ate in this...?

GELLER:

The teachers, yeah. And some of the people, we had to deliver food lunch for them.

LEVINE:

So would you say your name, the name that would have been on the ship's manifest when you came over; your name?

GELLER:

Tobcia. T-O-B-C-I-A.

LEVINE:

And your last name?

GELLER:

Iwrajkes. I-W-R-A-J-K-E-S.

LEVINE:

Now does that mean that your father was Polish, rather than Jewish, or no?

GELLER:

No, he was Jewish. But it was a Polish name.

LEVINE:

Oh, okay. Now those first ten years... did you... you say... well I guess your father must have left when you were about two years old, would that be right if he was here eight years?

GELLER:

Could be like that. He was here eight years without us.

LEVINE:

Yea so you really didn't...

GELLER:

No, I was older than that because the twins are younger than I am.

LEVINE:

Oh, oh... okay, so are they much younger?

GELLER:

By two years.

LEVINE:

Okay, so he could have... you could have actually... did you remember your father when you came to this country, did you know him?

GELLER:

Well I didn't know him, but momma used to describe him to us, that he was gray so when... (Laughs)

LEVINE:

What else did your momma tell you about him, before you actually got back with him? It seems like it was sad to be separated, huh?

GELLER:

(crying) No, it's just that we weren't rich, we were poor.

LEVINE:

Uh huh, yeah. Did your mother do something to make money, or it was really your grandmother and your aunt?

GELLER:

Well we lived on the second floor, and grim and its fourth floor was a public school. So grandma and my aunt and my mother opened the restaurant and they had lunch, teachers used to come down there and ate lunch, and sometimes we had to deliver lunch to others in factories, so I had to do deliveries.

LEVINE:

Oh, uh huh.

GELLER:

Yeah, I was about ten.

LEVINE:

But with that restaurant, you managed to get along?

GELLER:

Oh yeah.

LEVINE:

And also you had food, right? GELLER: Yeah. Because poppa was... I think he was run over by a truck or a car, because my oldest sister died, and momma wrote to him, and while he was reading the letter, he was hit by a car. And he ran away, he could have collected a lot of money, but he ran away. He got hurt really... he got scared.

LEVINE:

Do you remember your sister's death; were you old enough to remember that?

GELLER:

No.

LEVINE:

No, uh huh.

GELLER:

But momma always talks about her.

LEVINE:

And what was your mother's name?

GELLER:

Gussie.

LEVINE:

And her maiden name?

GELLER:

Silverman.

LEVINE:

And your father's name?

GELLER:

Abram.

LEVINE:

And did you have like... besides your grandmother and your aunt, did you have other relatives around where you were?

GELLER:

Well my grandmother lived with one of her daughters, and they opened the restaurant for lunch. And momma used to cook too, and I used to deliver. You know.

LEVINE:

So the oldest sister died, and then there was another one older than you, or you were the next?

GELLER:

There were two older than me. And then the twins.

LEVINE:

Uh huh, I see. So do you remember any pleasant times in Warsaw?

GELLER:

Pleasant?

LEVINE:

Anything that you remember with a good memory of your childhood there?

GELLER:

Well momma was always around.

LEVINE:

What was your mother like?

GELLER:

She was a beautiful woman; so stylish you have no idea.

LEVINE:

Oh, that's nice. And can you remember things she told you or attitudes she had about things?

GELLER:

No, she was always busy.

LEVINE:

And how about you, did you get a chance to play with other children?

GELLER:

Well I went to school.

LEVINE:

And did you like school?

GELLER:

Not really. I didn't even like it here, because I was ten years old and they put me in kindergarten and the kids made fun of me. I didn't know how to speak English.

LEVINE:

Yeah, well that must have been tough.

GELLER:

Yeah, because they used to make fun of me.

LEVINE:

And how about in Warsaw, did you have like a best friend or maybe just your sisters?

GELLER:

No I was... just the sisters.

LEVINE:

Do you remember the house you lived in, what it was like there?

GELLER:

Oh yeah. A nice apartment house, it was three two courtyards and the top floor was the public school.

LEVINE:

And how many teachers would be teaching in that school, just about how many?

GELLER:

No there was school; I went to school there.

LEVINE:

No but I mean how many teachers, were there a lot of teachers, was it a big school?

GELLER:

Yeah... was two courtyards

LEVINE:

Uh huh. But you said the teachers would come to lunch at the restaurant.

GELLER:

Oh, my aunt... my aunt and my grandma lived in this building and she is... you know because we had no food, so she cooked food... lunch for the ladies, the teachers used to come down for lunch.

LEVINE:

But how many teachers would come down for lunch, about?

GELLER:

Quite a few. And then... as a matter of fact some people who had factories, I had to deliver lunch to them.

LEVINE:

And can you remember anything about the food that you ate as a little girl growing up in Warsaw?

GELLER:

Just like here.

LEVINE:

Oh, okay. How about... was this a Jewish area that you were in?

GELLER:

Well there were quite a few Jews; there was a temple there.

LEVINE:

And did... did you go to school with Jewish and Gentile children, or mostly Jewish children?

GELLER:

That I don't know, but we lived on the second floor, on the fourth floor was the school. So when the bell rang, we ran up to class.

LEVINE:

Oh great, well that was convenient.

GELLER:

Yeah.

LEVINE:

And how about religion, were you a religious family?

GELLER:

That I...

LEVINE:

Did you go to temple, did you go to synagogue?

GELLER:

No.

LEVINE:

When your father... before your father left, do you know what he did for work in Poland?

GELLER:

I think he was a dressmaker.

LEVINE:

And when he came here...

GELLER:

He was still a dressmaker.

LEVINE:

And so your father had that accident, and then he got better...

GELLER:

Oh yeah.

LEVINE:

And then he was able to work?

GELLER:

He worked. The only thing is he couldn't open his hands like that, it was like that. But he worked, yeah.

LEVINE:

But it must have been hard to be a dressmaker, when you can't... you don't have full

GELLER:

Oh yeah, he made my wedding gown, my sister's wedding gown...

LEVINE:

What kind of a man, what was his temperament your father?

GELLER:

He was a softie.

LEVINE:

Uh huh.

GELLER:

He was a softie. He used to read... you know the Jewish... Forwards... Dear Abby; we used to tease him, and read it to us and cry. (She laughs.)

LEVINE:

(Laughs) He would cry or you would cry?

GELLER:

He would cry, we'd laugh at him. He was very... I remember I was... I had an appendix, and every time I ate and... you know, my stomach bothered me. And the family was teasing me that I don't want to do the dishes. So one day, I really got sick and they had to rush me to the hospital, and the next day, the girls... all five girls they all came to apologize, because I was really sick. So poppa... when they took me into the room, I said "Good bye Momma, Goodbye Momma." He went "What do you mean goodbye?!?" He used to read the Dear Abby in Jewish and cry about it, and tell us about it. We used to tease him, he was a good man. Momma was stern, but somebody had to be stern.

LEVINE:

Now did you have chores around the house?

GELLER:

Any what?

LEVINE:

Did you have chores that you were supposed to do around the house?

GELLER:

Oh yeah.

LEVINE:

Like what?

GELLER:

Dust, do the dishes, my sister Sunny always made sure (phone rings) that she has an argument with somebody so she locks herself in her room, (phone rings) and I was always stuck with everything because I didn't want momma to do the work.

LEVINE:

Uh huh. Now did your mother, did she ever work besides in the restaurant in Warsaw?

GELLLER:

I think she used to sew for somebody.

LEVINE:

And did she do that at home, or did she go someplace?

GELLER:

She went someplace.

LEVINE:

In this country?

GELLER:

No, in this country she didn't work.

LEVINE:

She didn't work. Well can you remember when you found out that you were going to be leaving for America?

GELLER:

Yeah, I don't remember the year.

LEVINE:

Yeah, but what happened, do you remember what you took with you? Do you remember leaving, saying goodbye? Do you remember any of that?

GELLER:

Yeah well my grandma, they all lived above us, and I had a little cousin who was a hunchback, she was born, and I still remember her sitting with her head down because we said goodbye to he.

LEVINE:

Was she about your age or was she younger?

GELLER:

No, she was younger.

LEVINE:

Uh huh.

GELLER:

And now they were all killed.

LEVINE:

So were you close to your grandma.

GELLER:

Yeah.

LEVINE:

What was she like?

GELLER:

Well she wasn't demonstrative like other grandmas, but she was alright.

LEVINE:

And was your mother's and father's family from around the Warsaw area going back... like in other words, their mother and father and...DO you know if the family...

GELLER:

I don't remember them well.

LEVINE:

Okay. So do you remember leaving Warsaw and going to the port?

GELLER:

Oh sure.

LEVINE:

Anything that you remember along the way that happened?

GELLER:

No, I know we were all excited. I was all ten, the twins were younger, and then Helen and Sunny.

LEVINE:

So when you got to the port, did you stay there for any period of time, or did you get right on the ship?

GELLER:

I think we got on the ship.

LEVINE:

Okay, and what about the voyage, what do you remember about that?

GELLER:

The voyage? Well, I know my mother was always sick... you know, sea sick. And she used to cry... walk through the ship and cry "Umara," [ph] something like that, "I'm dying, I'm dying." And the twins ran to eat, and they threw up. It was a very bad ship, not the ship.

LEVINE:

Were you in steerage, do you know if you were in the... were you in like a big dormitory kind of place?

GELLER:

No, we had our own room.

LEVINE:

Oh, you had a cabin.

GELLER:

Yeah.

LEVINE:

And do you remember the eating arrangements?

GELLER:

We had... we went in to the dining room.

LEVINE:

Was it very crowded?

GELLER:

Beg your pardon?

LEVINE:

Was it crowded on the ship?

GELLER:

Yeah.

LEVINE:

And did you have any examinations before you left?

GELLER:

Oh yea, they gave us really (phone rings) they really examined us. We were all fine, we were afraid of my mother, she had heart trouble. But they were all okay.

LEVINE:

And do you remember when the ship came into the New York harbor?

GELLER:

Oh yeah.

LEVINE:

And what was that like?

GELLER:

The names... it was exciting. It was very exciting.

LEVINE:

Did you see the Statue of Liberty that time?

GELLER:

Sure.

LEVINE:

And what was that like? Did you know what it was?

GELLER:

Yeah.

LEVINE:

And then you came to Ellis Island. And what do you remember about that?

GELLER:

Well the only one... I think my mother had trouble, because she had a heart condition. But us they just let through.

LEVINE:

And did they take her aside?

GELLER:

For a while they examined her, and she was...

LEVINE:

Was she frightened, your mother?

GELLER:

Sure, we were scared.

LEVINE:

And what was the reunion with your father like; where did it take place and what was it like?

GELLER:

Well, we knew about him; of his gray hair. So we recognized him.

LEVINE:

Was he older, or he just was gray at a younger age?

GELLER:

He was... no, at a younger age.

LEVINE:

So when you saw the man with gray hair, you knew that was him, huh?

GELLER:

Yeah.

LEVINE:

And how did he receive you?

GELLER:

Well my mother was... I still think about her. She didn't let us be close to him. I don't know why. I always think maybe she was raped by somebody, or something. You know, I always think about her, why she's like that. I remember I... I think Murray was wounded...

LEVINE:

That's your husband?

GELLER:

My husband. And I begged her... I begged her to put her arm around me. She couldn't do it. She couldn't do it. I was begging her. We were home, my sisters were married, and she... she called one of my sisters to come and she says "I don't know what happened to Toby she's hysterical." I was just begging her.

LEVINE:

She couldn't do it... so she never was demonstrative to her children.

GELLER:

It didn't seem that way.

LEVINE:

To any of the children? Was she demonstrative to any of the children?

GELLER:

No, I don't think so.

LEVINE:

How about to your father?

GELLER:

Well, he was alright. They had five children

LEVINE:

Yeah. With your father, now was he affectionate?

GELLER:

He couldn't do it, because she didn't let him.

LEVINE:

Oh, I see.

GELLER:

We wanted to sit on his lap, there's that. Sometimes I think about it; I said "Maybe she was raped by somebody or something that she didn't want to be touched. But she had five daughters..."

LEVINE:

Yeah.

GELLER:

I just couldn't-can't make her out.

LEVINE:

Uh huh. So really when you grew up in your family there wasn't any outward display of affection.

GELLER:

No; because of her.

LEVINE:

How about your grandma, did you... was she...

GELLER:

Well she lived above us.

LEVINE:

Did she... was she affectionate to you?

GELLER:

Sometimes, you know. She was busy, they all... because of momma they opened the restaurant. I told you.

LEVINE:

Yeah. Uh huh.

GELLER:

So they were all busy.

LEVINE:

Yeah. I see so let's see, so you got to, did your father come to Ellis Island to get you, and your sisters and your mother?

GELLER:

No, we came to the America.

LEVINE:

Yeah, but when you got to Ellis Island, did your father come and pick you up?

GELLER:

Yeah, I'm sure he did. Where is Ellis Island? In the United States or...

LEVINE:

Yeah, it's in the New York Harbor. It's where the ships come in.

GELLER:

I don't remember if he came or if we got there. That I don't remember.

LEVINE:

But you got to Brownsville, Brooklyn?

GELLER:

Yeah.

LEVINE:

And what awaited you there? Do you remember when you first got there?

GELLER:

Yeah, she had a... nothing really, just poppa was there at the ship.

LEVINE:

Oh, at the ship, okay.

GELLER:

Yeah. I don't know if we got into the apartment, or if we lived with the family, I don't... that part I don't remember.

LEVINE:

Okay, and then your father was working...

GELLER:

Yeah.

LEVINE:

And then you went right into school?

GELLER:

I went to school, yeah. They put me in the first grade, I was ten years old, and the kids made fun of me. You know, because they used to walk with the children then.

LEVINE:

And do you remember what they called you?

GELLER:

"Left back" – something like that.

LEVINE:

Left back? Oh, uh huh. Were you ever called a greenhorn, do you remember that?

GELLER:

That I don't remember.

LEVINE:

So when you were in first grade, did you stay there, or did you then get...

GELLER:

I get promoted.

LEVINE:

So at first were you sorry that you came?

GELLER:

I beg your pardon?

LEVINE:

When you first got here, those first few months, were you sorry that you were here?

GELLER:

Yeah. Um-hmm.

LEVINE:

Would you have rather been in Poland?

GELLER:

No, we never mentioned it.

LEVINE:

Oh, you never mentioned it.

GELLER:

Yeah.

LEVINE:

And was it your mother and father's idea to become American? In other words, did they want the family to...

GELLER:

Oh yeah. My mother was extremely patriotic. She used to go to the groceries, and the people say "How much is it? And I don't care how much it is, I want to pay-buy it for my children." and my mother would fight, argue with them, and the grocer used to not throw her out, but wait on her right away, and get rid of her. She was such a patriot, you have no idea.

LEVINE:

And your father, did he like it here?

GELLER:

Yeah, it seems that way.

LEVINE:

Uh huh, yeah. So...

GELLER:

But the only thing is he couldn't be demonstrative because she didn't allow it, we wanted to sit on his lap, this, that... I don't know why, what got into her. Maybe she was jealous. I don't know.

LEVINE:

So you went through grade school, and then did you go to high school? GELLER I went to high school.

LEVINE:

Did you go all the way through?

GELLER:

No.

LEVINE:

Uh huh. So when you quit school, why did you quit

GELLER:

Momma needed money.

LEVINE:

And what did you do?

GELLER:

So I worked in a factory.

LEVINE:

What kind of factory?

GELLER:

Dress factory.

LEVINE:

And did you stay there long?

GELLER:

No.

LEVINE:

And what did you do after that?

GELLER:

I got other jobs.

LEVINE:

So were you mostly doing... in factories, different jobs?

GELLER:

Yeah.

LEVINE:

And how did you meet your husband?

GELLER:

Well, we worked in the same shop.

LEVINE:

Oh.

GELLER:

So we used to have lunch together...

LEVINE:

Now was this in Manhattan?

GELLER:

We lived in the...

LEVINE:

You lived in Brooklyn, in Brownsville.

GELLER:

We lived in Brooklyn, yea.

LEVINE:

But did you travel to Manhattan for your jobs?

GELLER:

I don't remember. That I don't remember.

LEVINE:

Well, just thinking about you and your sisters. Can you just say anything about the different experiences they had when they got here? Probably some of them took to it, some and maybe didn't and...

GELLER:

No, we all took to it.

LEVINE:

Yea. And did they do the same thing you did, they stopped school before they finished high school and they went to work? GELLER No, Sunny... well the twins, went to college.

LEVINE:

Oh.

GELLER:

And Sunny... Sunny went to... Sunny graduated high school.

LEVINE:

So it was you, and who else, who stopped and went to work in a factory?

GELLER:

Helen.

LEVINE:

Helen, okay. And so did you marry your husband soon after you started seeing each other?

GELLER:

Well we worked together. So he asked me out, I went out with him, that's how the romance started

LEVINE:

And what was your husband's name?

GELLER:

Murray.

LEVINE:

Uh huh. Murray... Geller, right?

GELLER:

Yeah.

LEVINE:

Then did you work after you were married?

GELLER:

Oh yeah.

LEVINE:

And did you have children?

GELLER:

Yea, I have two sons. And I adopted a daughter. The doctor said I shouldn't have any more children. I wanted a little girl, so I adopted one. I wanted a baby, but they called me, and they said they have a teenager, who's in badly in need of a home, so I took her. She was a holocaust survivor.

LEVINE:

I see.

GELLER:

I still see her.

LEVINE:

So what are your son's names?

GELLER:

Michael and Jeff. And this is Marva.(Both laugh)

LEVINE:

And your daughter's name?

GELLER:

I don't have a daughter, but I have an adopted daughter. Felice.

LEVINE:

Felice?

GELLER:

Yeah.

LEVINE:

Let's see... what do you feel most proud of that you have done in your life?

GELLER:

I don't know. I never thought of anything like that.

LEVINE:

Well just think about it for a minute. [To Marva]: I'll just take milk, if you've got some.

GELLER:

What's the matter, you can't talk Marva? ...

LEVINE:

We'll, the tape recorder's on So when you think-just stop to think about it, you've had a long life, and an interesting life. What are the things that you feel satisfaction about?

GELLER:

I don't know, I never gave it some thought. (phone rings)

GELLER:

(to person picking up the phone) I'm not home, it's probably for you anyway.

LEVINE:

Let's see. Did you stay in Brownsville, after you married?

GELLER:

No, we lived in Flatbush, Bensonhurst...

LEVINE:

And was your husband American, or was he...

GELLER:

No, he was Canadian

LEVINE:

He came here as a boy, or as a young man...

GELLER:

Young man. We worked together.

LEVINE:

And then did he continue to work after you had the children?

GELLER:

Oh sure. Me? No.

LEVINE:

No, he.

GELLER:

Oh sure.

LEVINE:

In the garment industry?

GELLER:

Yeah.

LEVINE:

I see. (End of side one)

LEVINE:

Is there anything else you can think of, about life before you came here; coming here?

GELLER:

Well, it wasn't a good life, because we were very poor in Europe.

LEVINE:

How did it compare when you came here, compared with the life you left?

GELLER:

Well, first of all, I was with my parents, and I never gave it another thought.

LEVINE:

Well at some point, I guess the kids stopped teasing you, right?

GELLER:

Yeah, but they were horrible children, I never realized how rotten kids are.

LEVINE:

Were there a lot of immigrant children in your class... classes, in your school?

GELLER:

No, I think I was the only one.

LEVINE:

Oh really, well that was hard, yea. And how about, do you remember when the World Trade Towers were hit...

GELLER:

When the what? LEVINE When the World Trade Towers were hit in September 11 th ? Do you? Oh... Okay. Is there anything you can think of that happened, like... you were here... you came here right before the great depression in the 1930's. Do you remember anything about the Great Depression?

GELLER:

Well, sometimes we went to bed to sleep without supper.

LEVINE:

Your father lost his job then?

GELLER:

Yeah.

LEVINE:

So in other words, you were poor in Poland, and for a while, you were poor here during the depression, when a lot of people were poor.

GELLER:

Well in Poland, Grandma had a restaurant, I told you. Just wasn't so bad.

LEVINE:

And how about the build-up to the Second World War, and the war itself, how did that affect you?

GELLER:

Nothing really, because I had nobody... well Murray went into service.

LEVINE:

What did he go, in the army?

GELLER:

He went into the army.

LEVINE:

And was he sent over-seas?

GELLER:

Yeah.

LEVINE:

And was that difficult for you?

GELLER:

Well, it was lonely.

LEVINE:

Did you have children then?

GELLER:

No.

LEVINE:

So that's the point where you went to your mother, because your husband was wounded?

GELLER:

Yeah, he was wounded, he came back to us. As a matter of fact all the boys came back to momma, because they were all... all the boys... you know, my sisters' husbands and all them.

LEVINE:

They were all in the war?

GELLER:

In the war.

LEVINE:

Do you remember when the war was going on, and your husband was overseas, were you or your family in any way involved with the war effort? With anything about working for...

GELLER:

Oh yeah, I had helped out a lot.

LEVINE:

So your husband came back, he was wounded?

GELLER:

Yeah.

LEVINE:

And was it something that was dehabilitating[ph] for him, for the rest of his life?

GELLER:

No, no.

LEVINE:

So you have grandchildren?

GELLER:

Yeah, I have grandchildren.

LEVINE:

Anything else you can think of, that has to do with this, about coming here, starting life again, as a ten year old?

GELLER:

I'm very happy.

LEVINE:

Oh, good.

GELLER:

Lonely, but happy.

LEVINE:

How long have you been a widow?

GELLER:

Over two... two or three years. Something like that.

LEVINE:

And have you been in Florida a long time?

GELLER:

Yeah.

LEVINE:

And your... and you like it here?

GELLER:

Oh yeah.

LEVINE:

Good, good.

GELLER:

My mother always used to, you know, she'd go to the grocery store, and the grocery man waited on her immediately to get rid of her. Because the women would come in, "I don't care how much the meat is!" you know "I want it for my children!" and momma was arguing with them. Why did they... you know... so greedy, she was such a patriot, you have no idea.

LEVINE:

Uh huh. Did she have a flag, and all that?

GELLER:

Oh yeah. She spoke English, but she couldn't pronounce "so" S-O, otherwise, she was alright. Beautiful woman.

LEVINE:

I think you mentioned that she went to night school.

GELLER:

Yeah, she went to night school.

LEVINE:

Did she and/or your father ever become citizens?

GELLER:

Oh, I was a citizen, she became a citizen, too.

LEVINE:

Uh huh. Would you remember it, was that a proud day for her?

GELLER:

Yeah, very proud. You couldn't say anything about America. She... she used to go to the grocery store, and the grocery man waited on her right away to get rid of her. She used to argue with all the customers, she used to say "I don't care how much the meat is, I want it!" You know.

LEVINE:

And of course, she was watching her money, right? So she could...

GELLER:

Not only that because the people who didn't care how much the money is, they have money, and they want to spend it, and she thought that they should save it. Not save it, but not be so greedy.

LEVINE:

So it sounds like she was an outspoken woman.

GELLER:

Huh?

LEVINE:

She sounds as though she was an outspoken woman. Whereas your father was more of a gentle man.

GELLER:

He was quiet, yeah. He used to read the Jewish... you know the... Dear Abby, and cry. He was very softy.

LEVINE:

Okay, and then, did you take care of your mother, did she live to a ripe old age, or...

GELLER:

No, she was fine. Poppa died before her.

LEVINE:

I see. Okay well is there anything you'd like to say before we close?

GELLER:

Well the only thing I want to say is thank you for talking to me. This is very interesting.

LEVINE:

Yeah, well you're most welcome, thank you. Okay, I've been speaking with Thelma Geller, who came here as... she was around ten years old, and it was either 1927 or 1928 with her four sisters and her mother, and they met her father who was already here, and this is Janet Levine for the National Park Service and I'm closing.