The Last Laugh Page #9

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And she said, It

was no vacation.

You know, that was

how my mother spoke.

Well, when I was about

18 years old my father came

home from a business trip,

and we run to him, Daddy

what did you bring?

Thats all we were interested,

that he came home,

that wasnt important,

but what did he bring?

So that happened

in Hungary too?

Yes, of course. So

he opens this box

and out of this box comes this

most beautiful bathing suit.

It had a satin, shiny finish,

most beautiful floral print.

And I remember parading

around in this bathing suit,

around the swimming pool.

And the boys whistled at me,

and my girlfriends are

making, you know,

nasty remarks, they

were very jealous.

And when they came and

escorted out of the home,

I put this bathing

suit under my dress,

I put it on. I thought

nobody will know.

And thats how I left,

and thats how I

arrived to Auschwitz.

I just couldnt take this

bathing suit off my body.

We were supposed to get

undressed, to take a shower.

Then all of a sudden

I felt heat on my face.

One of the Nazi

soldiers slapped me.

I started to cry.

And I peeled this bathing

suit off my body,

I folded it very neatly,

and I left it on the

pile of my clothing.

And with that

bathing suit,

I didnt only leave

those memories,

I also left my family,

my friends,

my neighbors,

and six million Jews

behind.

So this bathing suit

is always on my mind.

TRUMPET PLAYING:

MELANCHOLIC MELODY

I was going to eat that

whole cheese Danish.

Here, you eat it now.

Here, here, you deserve it.

Oh my God.

This is Fresh Air,

Im Terry Gross.

My guest is Israeli

writer Etgar Keret

Hes written a new collection

of personal essays

about the seven years

between his sons birth

and his fathers death.

His father survived the

Holocaust by

living in a hole

with his parents

for nearly two years.

I asked my father, How

come youre such a happy,

and optimistic, and

believing man?

And my father thought for a

second and he said, You know,

I have a theory

that every person

in this world is

the world champion

in something.

But the tragedy is that

most of us never discover what

were really good at, you know?

You could be an amazing tennis

player but

play the piano, you know?

And with me, he said, it

was only during the war

that I discovered

my true talent.

And he said Im extremely

good at sleeping.

And what happened was

when we were in that

hole in the ground, I slept.

And every once in a

while I would wake up

and I would say to my father,

Father, is the war over?

and he said No, and I would

go and sleep some more.

My parents told the

stories of the Holocaust

in a very matter-of-fact way.

And I think there was a

comfort level for them

because they had lived through

the Holocaust, they had survived

they had lost

not just lost loved ones, but in

many cases literally were forced

to watch loved

ones being killed.

They went to the

Sophies choices,

they went through all

of that and yet came

out at the other end

and came to America.

I think for the

children, however,

that for many of us,

the experience of hearing

those stories

and not having lived

through them meant that

we did not vanquish the demons.

The demons just got larger in

our collective imaginations,

in our individual

imaginations,

and there was a real

fear around it.

I found a way to tell my

family story in a joyful way,

in an optimistic way. But

my family was a disaster.

A broken family.

My father, when he talked about

they years of the Holocaust,

he said,

These were the worst

years of my life,

but they were years of my life.

The first girl I ever kissed,

the

first cigarette I ever smoked.

There was very much the

notion that we made it,

everyone who made it was part

of the survivor community,

and the obligation

was to live well, love,

eat well, have fun, get loaded

at bar mitzvahs and weddings,

and enjoy life, because the

true sin was if you didnt

after that experience

then it was a waste,

and then Hitler would

have had the last laugh.

CHEERING MASS:

SPEECH IN MOCK GERMAN

Comics are the conscience

of the people, and they

are allowed a wide

berth of activity in

every direction.

Comics have to tell us who

we are, where we are,

even if its in bad taste.

COUGHS RIDICULOUSLY

Isnt laughter the greatest

gift that weve been

given as human beings?

Isnt that what separates

us as human beings?

And were the only species

that laughs, I think...

I dont think many animals have

very good jokes

You dont see, you know,

elephants laughing

too much.

I mean, they might

have a few jokes

Maybe chimps laugh. I

think chimps might laug

Ahh, theyre probably

slapstick jokes

Is the Holocaust funny?

No. Theres nothing

about the Holocaust

that is funny.

But is there ever anything

that we cant laugh about?

like dirty comedy,

and I like filthy comedy,

and I like uum

bad comedy, and I like

I do like a fat lady

slipping on a banana peel

and falling on her

ass, I do like that,

it is funny, its good.

But I wont go

you cant get me

on the Holocaust.

Next question!

And Ill make believe that

it occurred to me myself.

MUSIC:

Look at that!

Oh, how beautiful, when the

water hits those rocks.

But nature, nature is beautiful.

Makes you forget things.

It does,

a little bit.

See the problem is, when we are

relaxing and having a nice time,

thats when it comes back

to us.

Thats true.

If you work, and

youre under tension

- When we enjoy something...

- If you enjoy something

- Yeah, thats when I

remember it.

But certain things I would

love to remember and I dont.

I dont remember, for example,

when I was

separated

from Klara.

- Your sister.

- My sister.

I dont remember that moment,

how I felt,

you know?

Was I afraid,

was I angry,

was I sad?

Why dont I remember

feeling anything?

People who felt too

much didnt make it.

You may be right.

I remember there was a girl

in our camp

who was a mime,

and she used to

perform for us.

And I am almost sure

that

when I saw her doing that,

I smiled.

Im sure I did.

I cant imagine not to.

Che bella cosa na

jurnata 'e sole,

Ma n'atu sole

Chi bello, oje ne'

O sole mio

This is such a beautiful song.

Sta 'nfronte a te!

You see, this song reminds

me of a lot of things.

Sta 'nfronte a te!

Sta 'nfronte a te!

That song. Before, just

before we were

we were deported,

we still were at

the swimming pool

and never thinking of whats

going to happen to us,

this song was played

constantly, all day long.

And I remember

English, English words

to it, like Its now or never.

And every time I hear that song

I remember that

that

it was now or never,

and we didnt know.

Im sorry.

Its now or never,

come hold me tight

And it says, Tomorrow

will be too late.

It was over.

Kiss me my darling,

be mine tonight

ELVIS PRESLEY SINGING

It's now or never

Come hold me tight

Kiss me my darling

Be mine tonight

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