Jorge Weill V: The War Years Continue

In this next excerpt, Jorge remembers the most frightening event of the war involving his entire family.
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I was still in Miami when my second child was born, in 1984. Alexis was born in January ’84, and we came back to Salvador end of ’84, approx. But I was traveling every other week to Salvador, and Anny had already come a couple of times to Salvador.

(And she was willing to come back?)

She was willing to come back. She wanted to have a family life where we would be together and I wouldn’t be traveling back and forth. My kids started going to the American school. We made an effort for them to be bilingual and bicultural. At the time we didn’t know what was going to happen in Salvador, and we wanted them to feel at ease as much in the States as in Salvador.

(“Bicultural.” What was the other culture?)

The other culture was American, because they were born in the States, they were American citizens. We revolved around American culture and felt much closer to it. And very often we would send them to summer camp in the States. They speak English fluently, they are very familiar with American customs.

(Did Anny want them to become familiar with France?)

She wanted them to become familiar with France, but she didn’t expect them to be culturally attached or incorporated in France. It was more a matter of them knowing their family, which is terribly important.

(When did your mother come back to Salvador?)

My mother came back about two years afterward, around 1986. She was in the States and she felt a bit lonely. She was in Miami, and my sister was in Bethesda, and she had many friends in Salvador. She came back in ’86. My mother’s a very feisty lady, and she definitely was not daunted by the war.

(Is there one instance or one memory of the war that you have that was particularly frightening?)

Yes. In 1989 we had a very strong offensive where San Salvador was almost taken by the guerilla. We had a lot of fighting around the house, about a block and a half away in the Espino. I remember one night there was a lot of shooting and I remember all of us getting on the floor in our room because we didn’t know where the fighting was, to where the bullets were directed, and we decided not to take a risk, especially because we have so many windows in the house. The next day we started seeing armored cars going up the street and we had a helicopter flying over our house. It was firing a machine gun against the guerrilla about a block and a half away. It was just overhead from us. So I said, “Anny, you know, you’ve got to go.” And she said, “No, I’m not fleeing.” And I said, “You have to go with the kids.” So she went to the States in 1989. They had closed the American school. As a matter of fact, we didn’t know what was going to happen, whether they were going to be able to come back or not. We were able to place them in schools in Miami. Fortunately, in January-February 1990 they were able to come back.

(How did the kids react when they had to leave?)

They didn’t say very much. I think especially Sandra was very impacted because the offensive started on a Saturday, and the whole Noar Shelanu [Jewish youth group] was at Clemente Stanley’s house in Los Planes de Renderos. And all of a sudden the offensive started, and from Clemente’s house they could see the jets and the helicopters firing and dropping bombs. We were very concerned because we didn’t know how to pick them up. At the time, Saul Suster was in the government, and he got some bulletproof cars and went that Sunday to pick up all the kids. As a matter of fact they brought them all over to our house, and they were all excited, saying, “We saw the planes and the helicopters!” It made a big impression on them.

(Sara’s Suster said they were all very strong and brave, and some of them, as soon as they saw their parents, they started crying.)

Sandra didn’t cry but all of a sudden she started blurting it out. As a matter of fact, the time that we threw ourselves on the floor was a couple days later, and I could see that she was very nervous and all of a sudden she started talking very quickly, so I had to calm her down. It was the only time I’ve ever seen Sandra nervous.

(So they came back in 1990. Life marched on?)

Life marched on. They went back to school. Sandra remained active in the Noar Shelanu, what there was of the Noar Shelanu. Not as organized as now, but she enjoyed it enormously. And she made good friends with her companions in the Noar Shelanu. Later Alexis who was younger joined a much more organized Noar. We had a new rabbi, Gustavo Kraselnik, and his wife who started organizing more professionally the Noar Shelanu. Unfortunately Sandra at that time went to college in the States, so she really missed out on that.

(Tell me, how is your life today? Both of your kids are now graduated from college?)

Both of our kids have graduated. Sandra’s working in Washington. She’s a good friend of yours. Alexis is going to start working in New York. So we really feel like empty nesters, so any excuse we have, we either go to Washington or New York so we can see them.

(Do you have any desire to move to the States?)

I feel very comfortable in Salvador. I like my life in Salvador, I like my work in Salvador, and I like the idea that they’ll have to make a decision whether they want to come back to Salvador or not. I think they’re eventually going to come back to Salvador. For some odd reason, Salvador’s like a magnet. Everybody wants to come back. Even the daughters of Salvadorans who were born in the States like to come back to Salvador. [laughs]

(Guilty).

Transcript by Sandy Adler, Adler Enterprises LLC.