大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 war site by Toni Ferner, a volunteer from the 大象传媒 Essex Action Desk on behalf of Pearl Greenblatt and has been added to the site with her permission. Mrs Greenblatt fully understands the site鈥檚 terms and conditions.

Story Title: Reading could have damaged our health !

Personal Story of: Pearl Greenblatt nee Strisky

I got married when I was 21 on Christmas Eve 1939. I wore my sister鈥檚 wedding dress because we couldn鈥檛 afford a new one. My husband, Hymie, was called up just after I found out that I was pregnant. He did his training and then when my baby, Barbara was 12 months old, he was sent abroad. When he came home again, she was 5 years old. He was a complete stranger to her, even though I used to show her photos of him while he was away. Barbara and I were evacuated to Rushden in Northampton, when she was 3 to give us a break from the bombs, but after about 9 months we missed my mum who we lived with in Sandringham Road, Hackney, so we came home. Because Hymie was in the forces I used to get 28 shillings and 6d a week to live on and we managed on that. We also got extra coupons to buy wool to knit things for our husbands.

I liked reading books and used to take Barbara to the library about 3 times a week. One day we set out to do some shopping and then go to the library and on the way there, the air raid warning siren sounded, so we went into a nearby church with lots of other people till the all clear sounded. When it did, we came out and just went a short way when the warning sounded again. This happened about 3 times and in the end I was so fed up running backwards and forwards to take shelter; that I told Barbara we were going back home. That day the library had a direct hit. I鈥檓 so glad I changed my mind that day.

Everything during the war was in short supply, but my mother found out that by sending me to the butchers instead of her, we used to get a bit extra. When there was a break from the bombing, I would take Barbara to the West End to Trafalgar Square or Hyde Park. There were always lots of American servicemen walking about and they loved to talk to children. I suppose they missed their own.

Dolls were difficult to get hold of, and we heard that Hamleys had got some in. I quickly took Barbara there and we queued up for hours and eventually we got one. It had a soft body and a china head. As we got onto the bus, the head of the doll came off and rolled off onto the road just as the bus started moving, so after waiting all that time, Barbara finished up clutching a headless doll. Just one of life鈥檚 disappointments in those war years.

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