29 Mar Vera Kadar’s story of Margaret
My mother, Margaret Jager, was born on October 10, 1914 in the small town of Matyovce, Czechoslovakia, a mainly Hungarian speaking community close the Russian border. Her mother, Johanna Weitzen, had just returned from America shortly before her marriage to Jehuda Jager, a well to-do local businessman. By the time she found herself pregnant with their first child, the cloud of war had flown over Europe and her young husband had to join the Austro-Hungarian army. When my Mother was born my grandfather was fighting on the front and had to wait 4 years to meet little Margaret. At first she was scared of this man who one day just walked into their house and called himself her father. Every two years after that they had another girl: Bella, Edith and Hanna. The family had a comfortable life together until one day, at age 42, their mother died of pneumonia and Margaret, barely a teenager, had to step into the role of the mother - cooking, washing and cleaning for the family. They all rode the train daily to a nearby town called Ushgorod to attend school.