A social service agency took care of Paul. He was taken to various
shops and outfitted with new garments and shoes. He was overwhelmed
with the size and sights of the great city. He saw his first American
movie in many years in Radio City. It was "The Yearling,"
supplemented by a live show of dancing and singing. This was life as
life should be!
The agency taking caring him suggested that he move to a different
part of the country. Paul accepted their suggestion of Philadelphia.
He was to be supported until he became self-sufficient. A local
family took him in as a paid boarder. Paul gratefully accepted the
new routine of normal, middle class life in America. He watched the
new entertainment medium -- television. He attended a class for
newcomers to learn English. Miss Connors, the teacher, transmitted
many of the values of his new environment through apt quotations from
literature. Paul was especially inspired by:
After one semester Paul's English became good enough for his
entrance to high school. In spite of the interruptions in his
education Paul was able to enter as a senior.
He was a year older than his contemporaries, and had a hard time
adjusting socially. Academically he did well. He received good grades
in his subjects. He even got transferred in his second semester to
the advanced English class. To continue his printing experience Paul
took up typing. In those days typing was considered a girl's
occupation. He and another boy were in a class with about two dozen
girls. This was one of the benefits of being raised by a single
mother. He lacked the male chauvinistic attitudes. He did poorly in
the physical education classes, and did not participate in the sports
at all. However, he was a member of the chess team that won the state
high school championship. While many of his class mates received
letters for playing football, baseball and other sports, Paul had to
be content with one for the game of chess.
Wherever Paul went he received a friendly reception. He noted the
lack of religious prejudice, so different from the state-sponsored
anti-Semitism of Hungary. But Paul realized the tremendous void of
his understanding the American society. He immersed himself in the
local public library to supplement his education.
Upon graduation from high school Paul refused a college scholarship,
for he was still crippled emotionally by his experiences. He started
to work as a printer's helper, to take advantage of the skills
learned as an apprentice. Intellectually he was restless. He tried to
escape the past by reading science fiction -- the possible new worlds
of the future. He also became obsessed by the mystery of the
Holocaust. How and why could such horrors occur? Paul began a study
of history, hoping to find the key to this great and incomprehensible
tragedy.
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