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

Alit Yanishevsky grew up in kibbutz Daliya, she worked in the kibbutz during high school. After her military service she studied public finance. At the age of 24 she moved to kibbutz Idmit, married and adopted a son. Two years before her husband's early death, she returned to Daliya. She worked as secretary at the university of Haifa, and later worked in the administration. After a management studies she became the manager of the new built guest houses in kibbutz Daliya. At present she studies tourism, arranges exhibitions of her photographs and writes a novel. ; AY grew up without grandparents. Her parents never spoke about their families, but AY's mother wrote a book about her past in Germany. Her maternal grandfather died early, her maternal grandmother was killed in the Holocaust like many relatives on her father's side. AY has visited their graves in Berlin. AY's mother never had a close relationship to her brother, a philosopher, who also came to Israel, but later remigrated to Germany. Her mother grew up in a 'cool' home. Her paternal grandparents were warmer, her father told her, but they died before the war. ; AY grew up in the children's house of kibbutz Daliya, she only saw her parents two or three hours a day. Her brother had a heart disease and was often at home with their mother. AY did not like to be with them because she did not understand what happened with her brother. At the kibbutz she worked with animals. By that time there were mainly Yekkes and Romanians in Daliya, AY describes their cultural differences. When she was 7 years old, she became interested in music and took piano lessons. She also attended a conservatory. Music is still very important to her. AY's parents bought a lot of classic German literature in Israel, however they never spoke German in the kibbutz or with their children. AY and her brother knew better Hebrew than their parents. AY tells about the famous dance festivals in kibbutz Daliya. There were many Arab settlements near Daliya, AY had friends in one village. ; AY was in a youth association. During her military service, she sued a general for sexual harassment. Apart from that she enjoyed her military service very much. Because she wanted to study but kibbutz Daliya wouldn't allow her, she left her kibbutz and joined the new founded kibbutz Idmit. She met her husband there, who had a Polish family background. After 4 years they left Idmit and lived for some years in a moshav. After that AY returned with her husband and their adopted son to Daliya. Her husband died from cancer, they were married for 12 years. AY's father now decided to pay for her studies (from the reparation money he got from Germany), later he did the same for her son. She went to Haifa university in 1979, worked there as a secretary and studied administration. Later she did several other studies, for example management. She met interesting people at the university, for example the author Nathan Zach, who at present encourages her to publish her first novel. ; AY's mother, whose German name was Lotte Adam, already had a lyric poetry prize in Berlin and a doctorate in journalism when she came to kibbutz Daliya. As a convinced Zionist she since then mainly worked in the factory of the kibbutz. But she also worked hard to improve her Hebrew and to write in Hebrew. She might have been the only author who was a member of the Hebrew Writers' Association as well as of the German Writers' Association in Israel. AY did not like the fact she wrote about her and her brother. After her mother's death AY misses the philosophical conversations with her mother. AY had a rather distant relationship to her mother, who did not speak a lot. AY was afraid she could never show feelings in her marriage. She did not know how to behave, she does not remember when she was ever hugged or kissed by her mother. Her father could show more warmth. Both parents behaved like typical Yekkes, her mother always wanted her to be perfect. When AY began to write books she did not get positive reactions from her mother. AY describes her son's relationship with her parents, it was warmer. She compares her parents to those of her husband. Her relationship with her brother was very distant as well, she thinks this was also her mother's “fault”. ; Her mother's brother, a philosopher, who lived in kibbutz Givat Brenner, returned to Germany after 1967. He did not feel comfortable in the kibbutz and in Israel. For a long time AY was very angry about that. A cousin of her mother returned to Germany too. AY later often stayed with her uncle and his wife in Bad Reichenhall, where they lived. At first she did not want to go there, but she soon felt comfortable. AY has friends among a group of students who visited Daliya. She went to Berlin again in 1996. She has never been to Germany with her parents, but she saw where they lived.