Erich Meissner Part IV: Israel

 


Erich and his family moved from a kibbutz to their new home in Tivon (about 30-45 minutes from Haifa). Erich found a job in nearby Afula where he still works today. His three children spent the majority of their childhood in Israel and the family quickly adapted to their new lives. Below you will see an excerpt from his oral history recently taken in Israel. All questions in parentheses (...) are mine.

(Your children were raised in Israel. They feel Israeli.)

Sure, of course, a hundred percent.

(But you still have your Salvadoran citizenship?)

Yes.

(That was important for you to keep?)

Yes. It’s important.

(Why is that important?)

Listen. First of all, I owe Salvador something. Salvador made us again—how I would say?

(People, happy people?)

Let’s say that. And besides that, it’s always good to have a certain citizenship. Ruth never wanted Salvadoran citizenship. She remained Israeli.

(What about your children?)

They are born Salvadorans. But they are Israeli citizens, of course.

(Your children grew up here, they went to the army.)

A hundred percent Israelis.

(Everything continues.)

Rafi never went to Salvador. Tami was once with me in Salvador .

(Beni never went?)

Beni never went.

(Life continues as normal until the first ——intifada.)

Yes, life continues normal. Well, the first intifada was a tragedy in which Beni got killed. It’s still—

(Did that make you angry at Israel? Did you want to leave at any time? No.)

No.

(How did you feel? This is such a painful thing and you accepted it?)

What can you do? When I heard—do you know how he perished?

(No.)

In Nablus, they went on a patrol. They went to the Old City. They have thrown a block of cement. He went down. He went under it, on the walkway. They have thrown this block and it hit him in the head, breaking his neck.

(He was twenty-five?)

He was twenty-five.

(Was he the only one in his company that was hit?)

He was the only one at the time that was hit. He was the first soldier who was killed during the intifada, the first intifada. It was in all the newspapers in the whole world. We have some clips from the newspapers. He was the first soldier in the first intifada.

(So at no time you felt anger at Israel, regret or anger? No.)

He was a soldier. Although he was in the reserves.

(He was in the rotation. He was not in the army at that point. He was doing—)

He was not in the army any more. He was doing his reserve duties.

(Did they ever find out who dropped—?)

Sure. They got them.

(Was it a kid? Who was it?)

Two kids. There were, I think, three. They were jailed. I don’t know if they are still incarcerated.

(Were they very young?)

Yes.

I have the names of them.

(After that, the first intifada was very difficult for everyone. It ended. How did you feel living in Israel? Life continued the same?)

The pain is there. But life is continuing.

(There’s a beautiful ritual or custom that your family does every year to honor Beni.)

We have two things. First of all, at his birthday, we are doing always a—how do you call it?

(A hike or a walk.)

A hike, yes. That is one thing. He was working in a lab, a field school. He was an instructor. And they decided in his memory to make every year archeological excavations in Eilat in memory of Beni.

(So you do that, too. People say there are two hundred people on the hike.)

They are coming. It’s an event for the youth, especially. And excavating things, you know in Israel, wherever you are starting to scratch a little bit in the earth you are finding—old things.

(Artifacts.)

It’s an old country. (chuckles)

(I’m sure Beni would love that. Did you go back to Salvador after that?)

Sure. Last time we were two years ago. I went to Salvador several times.

(And how did it feel to return?)

It’s a wonderful place. There’s no better place to spend your vacation.

(Do you have a favorite memory from Salvador, a favorite story?)

I was living the daily life in Salvador, what gave me a lot was the local volunteer choir. That gave me a lot. I was singing.

(Did you practice every week?)

Yes. Twice or three times a week.

(And where did you sing?)

In Salvador. We gave sometimes—once we gave a concert in Guatemala. But normally in Salvador.

(What kind of music?)

Choral music, Haydn, Mozart, Mozart’s Requiem, Verdi’s Requiem, Haydn’s The Creation, The Four Seasons, Carmina Burana.

(Big productions.)

It was a big choir.

(What did you sing, what voice?)

I was bass-baritone.

(Do you still sing?)

Just in the bathroom. (laughs)

(Good, as long as you sing somewhere. So that was two years ago.)

Two years ago we were the last time in Salvador. The first time when we came to Israel, I think I was in Salvador in 1972 or something like this, the first time. And then two or three years later, I took Tami with me. I went to Salvador several times.

(Do Tami or Rafi have a desire to visit Salvador?)

I don’t think so. They were kids. OK, Tami went already to the American school. But Rafi was still in kindergarten. He went to the German kindergarten in Salvador.

(Things in Israel are OK. How do you think things are going now in Israel? Do you feel positive about the status of—)

Well, Israel is now my home, will remain my home till my last day.

(Do you feel positive, though, about what’s going on?)

Definitely. I do not agree always with what is happening, but I feel a hundred percent Israeli, with all my feelings....

Transcription by Sandy Adler, Adler Enterprises LLC
Photo: From Meissner Family Collection, Beni Meissner in Lebanon.