Second generation of immigrants from German speaking countries ("Yekkes")

Eviatar Michaelis grew up in kibbutz Daliya. He could not serve in the army because of a heart disease, instead of that he worked for three years at the Youth Movement in Tel Aviv. Afterwards he studied Psychology. He works as child psychologist partly in kibbutz Daliya, where he lives with his family, partly in Haifa. ; The first interview (2001): In EM's childhood half of the children in the kibbutz were Yekkish, the other half Romanian; their relationship was not very good. Later a third big group of holocaust survivors from Bulgaria joined the kibbutz, but their children were younger. Roots were not important in day-to-day life, but as a child, EM felt happy being a Yekke. His parents usually did not speak German at home, but when family visited they spoke German. EM's cousins also spoke German and EM could not understand them, therefore EM did not like German. Until now he does not like the language, but he does like listening to German music. As a child EM was proud that his parents knew Hebrew as well as German. ; Because of EM's heart disease EM often stayed home and his mother stayed with him. For this reason EM had a closer relationship to his mother, but she was a complicated, very closed and depressive person, which influenced him. His father was closer to his sister, EM envied her and would have liked to spend more time with his father too. As he grew older EM's relationship with his father became better and closer, but the relationship with his mother became more and more problematic. In 1957 EM's father was sent to Germany by the kibbutz because of restitution affairs; he did not like it but felt obliged to go. His father was depressed in Germany, therefore the kibbutz sent his mother to Germany to give him psychological support. EM's mother was already an author in Germany and she tried to write in Hebrew as well. EM did not like her books, he did not appreciate her writing about him and his disease repeatedly. He considered her Hebrew as rather bad and is convinced his mother lost a part of her personality with the change of the language (he even speaks of a split in her personality). ; The second interview (2005): Both of EM's parents died in 2004, for EM his father's death was more difficult to cope with. EM tells more details about his heart disease, he had a very rare heart operation in 1957. He couldn't do what the other children did. In the kibbutz the children lived in the children's house, whenever he was ill EM stayed at his parents' home instead. He felt ashamed to be always protected by his parents and it was difficult for him to find friends. Only during high school, outside the kibbutz, he started to feel some independence. ; EM does not know a lot about his mother's family, because he did not ask. He knows much more about his father's family. His mother's brother lived in Israel as well; he was a philosopher and a complicated person and he criticized everything in Israel. He later returned to Germany with his wife, but he did not feel happy there either. EM's associations with the Yekkes are their culture, music, philosophy and academic education, he thinks they live by strict rules, e.g. their sense of order. He analyzes the differences between Romanians and Yekkes in the kibbutz, for instance they celebrated holidays very differently. EM preferred the Romanian way because of the better sweets. Yekkes used to plan their days. EM had a good relationship with a Yekkish friend of his parents, this friend introduced EM to music at the age of 7 or 8. EM saw his parents every day as a child, but their relationship was superficial and reserved. EM's children did not have a close relationship to their grandparents either. EM couldn't join the military when he was 18, but he did join later. He wanted to do something for the country and went to work with the Youth Movement in Tel Aviv for three years. Afterwards he studied Psychology, at first his parents did not appreciate this choice. His got much closer to his father when his mother became sick and EM started to take care of him. Their relationship already changed during a trip to Berlin in 1994, during which EM learned a lot about his father's past. EM thinks his mother was never able to speak openly to anybody. After her death he read his mother's poems, which she wrote in Hebrew and he likes them better than as a child. He kept many of his mother's writings and correspondences but he is not able to read her German texts. ; EM analyzes the difference between Yekkes in the kibbutz and Yekkes in the cities. Yekkes who went to the kibbutz in the 1930s, like his parents, did so for ideological reasons, most of them were already left wing and/or in the Youth Movement in Germany. People recognize that EM might have Yekkish parents: he takes life more seriously than other Israelis. He explains that there are studies, that prove the third generation of survivors of the Shoa is more interested to work with children and help other people than other parts of the population. EM has difficulties showing his feelings. He tries to treat his children differently from how his parents treated him and tries to be more open to them. His wife comes from a very warm family; EM's relationship to his in-laws was easier than the relationship with his own parents. His wife's family came to Daliya when he was 18 years old and EM had a better connection to her mother than to his own mom. ; EM only went to Berlin once, together with his father who has some friends there. However he was in Germany many times to see his relatives in Bad Reichenhall. During his youth, EM was involved in politics, but he has never become a member of a party. He now tries to mediate between Arabs and Israelis.