tomi
(The assignment: describe the people in the photo and tell about them)
It’s a smallish picture, smaller than a post card. It shows a smiling teenage boy balancing a curly haired little boy on his shoulders. The little boy is hanging on to the teenager’s hand with his right, and to his own ear with his left. He looks comfortable and content. The scene is in an open air restaurant or café. Another guest is watching the picture taking process with smiling interest. The little boy is myself at about age three. And the teenager is Tomi, my only cousin. The year must be 1939, when I was three and Tomi was 19. I have no recollection of this photo shoot, but have many fond memories of Tomi from a time when I was two-three years older. He was very fond of me and used to come over in afternoons to play with me. I used to look forward to his coming. He always had something interesting to entertain me with. I particularly remember a trick we played together at Christmas time. In Hungary Christmas trees are decorated with a special candy, called “szalon cukor” – best translated as ‘parlour candy’ perhaps. It is a bite sized piece of sugar or chocolate candy, rolled in foil and crepe paper and twisted at each end, so the wrapping has two flaring tails. Different color foil is used, and hanging a lot of pieces on a Christmas tree results in a pretty, colorful, and glittering tree. Over the Christmas holidays the tree serves as a reliable source of nibbles for visitors and friends. When I was about five or six, Tomi came over just before Christmas, when our tree was decorated in full glory. My parents were busy and I was left with Tomi in the living room. Tomi casually took a candy off the tree. I was scandalized – I was under strict orders not to touch the tree! I told him in no uncertain terms that he could not have any candy. Tomi |
When I was about five or six, Tomi came over just before Christmas, when our tree was decorated in full glory. My parents were busy and I was left with Tomi in the living room. Tomi casually took a candy off the tree. I was scandalized – I was under strict orders not to touch the tree! I told him in no uncertain terms that he could not have any candy. Tomi laughed and told me to watch. He gently pulled on the two tails of the candy which resulted in untwisting the wrapping, then he carefully unrolled the foil. Then he took the delicious little chocolate oval and popped it into my mouth. The foil was still retaining a bulge where the candy had been. He then slowly, carefully rolled up the wrapping again, twisted the two ends, and hung it back on the tree. It looked perfect. I was overawed. It was pure magic.
He then took a second one, then a third one. He invited me to try also. I could unwrap a candy, but redoing it was harder. So we set up shop based on the division of labor. I opened the wrappings, he redid them, and we alternated eating the loot. In relatively short order there was no candy left. We sometimes tried unwrapping ones that were already just empty shells. Tomi came again the next day, this time with his father. I was both scared and excited at the same time, worrying about what would happen when our prank is exposed. Tomi’s father took a candy off the tree, and it collapsed in his hand as he picked it off. He laughed, saying it was a defective product, and took another one. It collapsed as well. At this point he slowly turned and looked at his son, saying nothing. Tomi burst out laughing. His father said “Tell me you didn’t…” Tomi answered, still laughing, “I only showed a magic trick to Peti here. He needs to learn the ways of the world, doesn’t he?” And everybody laughed. Tomi was a good looking, charming, athletic young man. At the time of his high school graduation he was national junior saber fencing champion in Hungary. He was applying to enter university for an engineering degree, but the Numerus Clausus rules blocked him – no Jews were admitted. In 1943 (I think) he was drafted and taken to the Russian front. He never returned. We were never able to get positive confirmation of what happened to him, he was never accounted for. |