Ali: I was a kind of construction site manager at the Electric Plant. I was fair to everyone. An initiative was launched to electrify all the villages in the county, and I was in charge of installing electricity in all the villages of Banat. They also decorated me for it. My colleagues' attitude towards me was very correct. We collaborated very well. There was only one incident of anti-Semitism. A working group leader from Oraviţa wrote a letter to the Securitate, against me. He claimed I had withdrawn his bonus for I don't know what problem in his work department. Not only did he file a complaint, but he also wrote: “What are the Yids doing in Romania? Why do they hold leading positions?” There was a law against anti-Semitism, but you were and were not punished, like now in Romania and especially in Hungary.
My colleagues threw a farewell party the day before I left Romania, and at that celebration, they gave me two poems written for me. Very beautiful poems, really touching. (He is moved to tears.) Here, read them. I can’t!
