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

Dina Karmon, née Steinbach, grew up in the kibbutz, first in Givat Brenner. When she was seven years old the family moved to Netzer Sereni because the kibbutz split. From 1963 DK served in the military two years. In 1973 she worked as au pair for an Israeli family in New York and decided to stay for another ten years during which she worked in the textile sector. She returned to Israel in 1982, after the death of her mother. She lived in Tel Aviv and married in 1984. After the birth of her first daughter they moved to kibbutz Ramat Yohanan where their son was born. DK attended classes on child psychology. At the time of the interview she worked as a storekeeper for her kibbutz. ; DK describes the children's houses in the kibbutzim. In Netzer Sereni, the children could live with their parents, which was one of the reasons why DK's parents left Givat Brenner. Her elder sister lives in Seattle today. DK thinks that a kibbutz is a good place for raising children. She compares her life in the kibbutz to her life in America. She describes her actual involvement in the establishment of the kibbutz and her work with children. ; DK has a very light skin and blonde hair like her father, her mother and her sisters have rather dark hair and skin. She describes her life in Givat Brenner. Her grandparents and her mother's sister also lived there and DK grew up among many Yekkes. She enjoyed this atmosphere very much. There are hardly any Yekkes in Ramat Yohanan. DK likes the German language, lifestyle and culture (music, opera) and went to the opera and to concerts very often while she lived in Tel Aviv. She likes to watch cultural events on German TV and sometimes she watches German cooking shows to improve her German language. ; DK understands German, but she has hardly ever spoken it: the children in the kibbutz spoke Hebrew. DK's parents often spoke German with each other and she considered it as normal. In Netzer Sereni, some parents spoke German with their children, but the children answered in Hebrew. DK's mother preferred German, she had difficulties with Hebrew, and her father spoke German very often too, though his Hebrew was very good. Her parents' Hebrew did not sound natural to DK. Her sisters both knew German well. Her younger sister Rachel lived for several years in Bad Godesberg (Germany) because she was an employee at the Israeli Embassy, her elder sister Esther attended German classes for her training as air stewardess. DK likes to hear German and she sometimes uses German words or short phrases, mainly when speaking with her elder sister. ; In 1964 she and her elder sister went to see their father's cousins in Dortmund, her sister, who was an air-stewardess, got the tickets for free. They went to Duesseldorf and Dortmund. In 1970 she visited her younger sister in Bad Godesberg. DK felt fine in Germany. ; DK's daughter did a project about “roots” at school: she interviewed her grandfather who told her his whole life story. DK had already heard some of her father's stories when she was a child, e.g. about her grandmother's cooking, his sister, nicknames in the family etc. ; DK did not have enough time to get to know her mother very well. She only lived together with her parents from the age of 6 till 14 and afterwards soon she went to America. Her mother died at the age of 68. DK has a closer relationship with her own children. She is working on a project: she wants to compare childhoods in the children's houses to childhoods with parents. DK found out that parental education has more advantages. She could never imagine to give her own children to a children's house and does not understand how her parents did so. DK analyzes the problems of children in the children's houses. ; DK's father did not like the characteristics of typical Yekkes, e.g. the importance of punctuality. DK's parents did not have so many Yekkish traits, but discipline was very important for them and they celebrated all their holidays and birthdays, which was more important than in other families. DK did not know her grandmother, only the grandfather. She kept some of her father's things after his death, her elder sister has many keepsake items of their father. ; DK's father recognized from a person's dialect, from which region he/she came but DK is not able to do so. She has never been to her parents' home towns, her parents did not want to return, because there were too many bad memories.