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rampaging mobs armed with clubs and knives breaking down our doors and physically attacking us haunted my dreams.
    Father reinforced all our doors with heavy metal bars, but we knew this wouldn’t be enough to save us in the event of a full-fledged pogrom. Sam, who at that time had already graduated from law school, went with Father to the police and the mayor’s office to ask them for protection during the fair, but all they got was a shrug and the excuse that what few policemen there were would be unable to cope with a large mob.
    The day of the fair came at last, and although there were a number of broken windows and some minor attacks on Jews, there was nothing like a pogrom or even the serious threat of one. We all sighed with relief, and life returned to normal—for the time being.
    Since starting school, I was spending more time with a few of my friends. Among them were Józiek Peretz, my second cousin on Mother’s side of the family, and Chaim Ajzen. Józiek had a beautiful voice, and as we strolled the quiet streets of Hrubieszów after supper he would lead us in the latest hits, like “Bolero” and “Caravan.”
    There were other pleasant memories as well from that apprehensive time. Our tenant on the third floor was a Mr. Zelpowicz, who used four or five of his small rooms as a hotel. Every few months touring performers stopped off in Hrubieszów for a one-night stand and would stay overnight at his place. Our apartment had an elegantly furnished salon, with a large chandelier and a grand piano, and Mother often invited the performers to come there after the show for drinks and a buffet supper. There wasn’t much to do in Hrubieszów, and most of them were happy to accept Mother’s invitation, so we got to meet some of the best-known dancers, actors, singers, and comedians of the day. I remember in particular Dzigan and Shumacher, the most famous Jewish comedy team in Poland. I laughed so hard I needed a handkerchief to wipe away the tears.
    When Josephine Baker, the American entertainer, came to town she almost caused a riot. She was the first black person ever to visit Hrubieszów, and crowds of children, including a number of adults, followed her through the streets, many trying to touch her to see for themselves that the black of her skin wouldn’t rub off. She spent an hour or so in our salon, but unfortunately none of us spoke English. When she switched to French, I managed to exchange a few pleasantries with her.
    Another sensation was the first automobile in town, bought by our mayor. At first kids would run after it, but eventually the novelty wore off. And after that, the streets never seemed safe again.
    Naturally we went to see every movie that came to Hrubieszów. Westerns were my favorites, but I was also secretly in love with Deanna Durbin. I saw
A Hundred Men and a Girl
, starring Deanna, the conductor Leopold Stokowski, and Adolph Menjou, three times, and that must have been the Hrubieszów record. I had erotic dreams about Deanna, and whenever I heard her beautiful voice my heart would melt. Shirley Temple was adorable too, and everyone was crazy about her. Movies were a great pleasure, except that whenever the newsreels preceding the feature film included items about Jews, they were inevitably accompanied by derisive catcalls and laughter. Our lives were not immediately affected by such things—we had grown used to them by then—but deep down there was an inescapable awareness that our situation was getting worse. It was with great foreboding that we looked toward the future.
    Only the better-educated or well-to-do Jews, however, were preoccupied with these matters; poor Jews were so caught up in the daily struggle for survival that the dangers of anti-Semitism and the deteriorating situation for Polish Jewry generally were to them of only remote interest. But young Jews were becoming more politically active and were more acutely