Autobiographical interviews of Jews born in German speaking countries ("Yekkes") - 50/60 years after their immigration to Israel

Paul Rudolph Beer was born on 04/07/1915 in Vienna. Attended a technical state-school. Emigrated to Tel Aviv in 1935. He started to work as a truck driver and founded a bridge club in 1945. After his military service, he first worked as a tiler, then as manager of a food company, finally as a driver for the Jewish Agency. He has lived in Canada for four years. He worked in a travel agency at the time of the interview. ; Paul Beer's life in Austria: His family was assimilated, they had a Catholic maid, celebrated Easter and Christmas. Beer had his first experiences with antisemitism in his sports club. He was denied membership after a year because of his Jewish origin. His father and grandfather were loyal members of the Imperial Army, they served in World War I. - Paul Beer's parents were probably killed in Auschwitz. He emigrated in 1935. - In Austria, he was a member of the “Verein Sozialistischer Mittelschüler” [Association of Socialist grammar school pupils]. About his families dislike of Jews from Eastern Europe. He was persuaded to emigrate by a Zionist friend, but he emigrated more for the love of adventure than for Zionist convictions. His sister was sent to England, she became a Quaker. ; Paul Beer's relationship to the German language and to Austria in the past and in the present: In Vienna, Yiddish was forbidden at home; dialect was used among his Viennese friends, but at home they only spoke standard German. The family lived in Siebensterngasse, district VII (Neubau). Beer considers himself as an “absolute product of Austria”, feels formed by the country. He states that the relation of an individual to the place of his birth is a mystic matter. In 1952 first return to Austria with his wife Shoshana Beer. The apartment of Beer's parents was taken by the neighbor. The wife allowed them to visit the apartment without resistance; Paul Beer fainted in the apartment and thinks that it helped him to overcome “the worst”. The Beers returned repeatedly to Austria as tourists and still has Austrian friends. He fears that the German language in Israel will become a mixture because of the influences from Hebrew and English. He considers English as his second language, learned English and Hebrew by just picking it up. Paul Beer's life in Palestine/Israel: His wife Shoshana is thirteen years younger than he. She knows Hebrew perfectly because she attended school in Israel. Paul Beer got to know Shoshana during the Israeli War of Independence. He considers the difficult situation as a useful test for a good marriage. His children grew up in better social conditions, which he considers not only as an advantage. ; Their daughter and son in law work as police officers in Amsterdam. Their son was educated in German and is still able to communicate in German. Paul Beer speaks German with his wife, but English with his children. He also uses English in the travel agency, where he works now. When he was young, he wanted to become an engineer. He attended the technical state-school in Schellinggasse.(Insert about his professor Suckanek). Paul Beer feels grateful about the good things in life. Owing to life's cirucumstances he was unable to accomplish his dreams. He founded a bridge club after the beginning of the War, then he joined the British Army. He considered his service as a war against the Nazis. After his return, his partner had run down the bridge club and Beer started to work as a tiler. By his colleagues, he was disapproved for his intellectual personality. Later he met an Englishman and joined his food company eventually becoming the manager. About the difficulties of selling the products in Arab quarters. Beer had to shut down the company as a result of the Israeli-Arab conflict. He comments that the Israeli War of Independence is a catastrophe to the Arabs. He compares the two people to cousins who do not understand each other. - Later Beer found a job as a driver for a movie project. The director found him a job as driver for the Jewish Agency. - Discussion about the Right of Return Law for Jews in Israel.