Roberto Freund: The Early Family History

Speaking of Freunds (see last Friday's entry), Roberto's transcript tells the reader quite a bit about the family's early years in Salvador. This answers one of my big questions: why, of all places, did they choose El Salvador to settle?

All questions in parentheses are mine.
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My parents were Max Freund, who was born in the town of Großstelitz in Upper Silesia, which at the time was Prussia. He was born in 1890. By the time he was twenty-three—a cousin of his had come to El Salvador to find a better place to make a living than was possible in Europe, particularly in Germany, I guess, during that time—my father moved to El Salvador to start a productive life. He went to Salvador in 1913, which was only one year before World War I started. He worked very hard and saved every penny possible so that one of those days he would be able to return to Germany, look for a wife, and hopefully find one. It took him ten years before he could go to Germany to see the family and to look for a wife. Which he did. He met Herta Cohn, who was born in Großstein. Großstein sounds like a bigger place than Großstelitz.

(Was it “Cohen” with a K or a C?)

No. C. C-o-h-n. Großstein was a very small town where my grandfather and his family were the only Jewish people in town. It was not too far away from Großstelitz, where my father had been born. So that was the nearest relatively larger town. For religious things, they went to Großstelitz. So my mother, who was eighteen when my father met her, I suppose his family had a list of possible candidates for a wife. (chuckles) And among those people was my mother, who was eighteen years at the time.

(And he was thirty-three?)

He was thirty-three, thirty-—Let’s see, 1819—yes. He was thirty-three. They liked each other, and they were married.

(In Germany?)

In Germany, yes. And then he took her back to El Salvador to start a new life quite different from what people had been used to in Germany in those days. That was 1923, when they were married. In spite of the war and everything, Europe was a—Europe was Europe.

(And how did she take her transition? Did she often speak about it?)

Very— (chuckles) um, how did she take the transition? Not easy, I am sure. I am sure. They started out in a rented house close to downtown San Salvador. As a matter of fact, it was across the street from the penitentiary. There was a park. It was a nice, nice part of town, except for the fact that a penitentiary was there, but that was inside. (laughs) Outside there was a very nice park and relatively better houses.

In 1925, two years after they were married, my brother was born in El Salvador, my brother Ernesto. And two years later I was born. After my brother’s birth, my parents started to plan to build their own home, because they wanted to live better than was available in San Salvador in those days. So they chose a strange location, now a strange location, way out of town in those days, and they bought a small farm, let’s say. I don’t know how many acres, maybe twenty acres or something like that around them, and they built a house which was designed by an Italian architect who lived in El Salvador by the name of Umberto Goria. It was designed after what they wanted, I guess. The house is no longer standing, but it wasn’t very long ago when they had to tear it down after a very, very strong earthquake in the past five years or something like that.

(I don't know if I am remembering correctly, but it was the first house with a flushing toilet?)

I don’t know exactly if it was the first one, (laughs) but it had a flushing toilet, yeah.

(That was quite a luxury then.)

Transcription by Sandy Adler, Adler Enterprises LLC

Photograph of Family Freund courtesy of Werner Meissner. (From Left to Right: Max Freund, Herta de Freund, Ernesto Freund, Roberto Freund, Margarita Freund de Biller