Love Survives 3 Continents

By Jacques Foti

I was borne in Europe, Budapest, Hungary in June 23,1924. I had
two older sisters. My Father died when I was 6 years old. When I
was 10, I started to learn classical piano, unti l I heard on radio from
America the Brigands.
Without my Mother knowing I started to learn jazz piano. My oldest
sister paid for my weekly lessons. At 16 in High school I formed a
small orchestra. When I was 18, on Lake Balaton in Hungary I met
a lively girl named Erika, building castles in the sand. We both fell
in love. Aft er three years or dati ng and telephoning when Hungary was overtaken by
the Germans and being a Jewish, I was taken to a forced labor camp. Aft er six months, I
found a way to escape from the 300 Jews being taken to German concentrati on camps.
When I tore off the yellow arm band identi fying I am a Jew, and got home to our
apartment, I was told that our whole family with me included was allowed to move into
a building protected by the Swedish fl ag. Raul Wallenberg from the Swedish Consulate
arranged all this for a few hundred people.
When the war was over, I promised Erika aft er I found her hiding on the hills of Buda, in
a non Jewish building I told her that I will try to escape from the now occupied Russian
Hungary, and go to America and will send for her. Aft er fi nding a clever way to cross the
border to Germany, the American Consulate sent me to Munich and fortunately found
a piano-bar at the American Red Cross where they hired me to play Piano. An American
offi cer decided to help me and arranged I will not have to wait 3 years for my quota to
emigrate to USA.
When arrived by ship to New York City in Jan. 1946, I was only given a studio apartment
on Broadway but I needed to fi nd a job fast so I could earn money to eat. Got a job at
Bickfords Restaurant near 42 second street washing dishes from midnight to eight am
but I was in seventh heaven cause I could go to the movies on Broadway, and see all
the Big bands playing before the movies were shown. I usually stayed 2 or 3 ti mes and
learned English that way. Later I got a job as a fur salesman, and aft er 3 years in New York
when I was 30 years old got a job in Milwaukee, Wisconsin as a piano vocalist and from
then on I entertained all over the US major citi es piano-bars. Had my own 1V show in
KGUL Houston, Texas, later 3 years in Las Vegas at the Dunes hotel.
In 1971, I married a lady who died with a heart att ack in 1975.
When I was 52 years old I wanted to write to my litt le Erika and when I found out, I
wrote her a lett er to Melbourne Australia, gave her my phone number and address in
Hollywood, she did call me a week later. The rest of my happy life really started from
then on.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jan 31, 2013
• ISBN: 9781479784547

Jacques Foti

I was borne in Europe, Budapest, Hungary in June 23.1924. I had two older sisters. My Father died when I was 6 years old. When I was 10, started to learn classical piano, until I heard on radio from America the Brigands. Without my Mother knowing I started to learn jazz piano. My oldest sister paid for my weekly lessons. At 16 in High school I formed a small orchestra. When I was 18, on Lake Balaton in Hungary I met a lively girl Erika building castles in the sand. We both fell in love. After three years or dating and telephoning when Hungary was overtaken by the Germans arid being Jewish I was taken to a forced labor camp. After six months later I found a way to escape from the 300Jews being taken to German concentration camps. When I tore off the yellow arm band identifying I am a Jew, and got home to our apartment I was tole that or whole family with me included was allowed to to move into a building protected by the Swedish flag. Raul Wallenberg from the Swedish Consulate arranged all this for a few hundred people. When the war was over, I promised Erika after I found her hiding on the hills of Buda, in a non Jewish building I told her that I will try to escape from the now occupied Russian Hungary, and go to America and will send for her. After finding a clever way to to cross the border to Germany, the American Consulate sent me to Munich and fortunately found a piano-bar at the American Red Cross where they hired me to play Piano. An American officer decided to help me and arranged I will not have to wait 3 years for my quote to emigrate to USA. When arrived by ship to New York City in Jan.1946 I was outly given a studio apartment on Broadway but I needed to find a job fast so I could earn money to eat. Got a job at Bickfords Restaurant near 42 second street washing dishes from midnight to eight am but I was in seventh heaven cause I could go to the movies on Broadway, and see all the Big bands playing before the movies were shown. I usually stayed 2 or 3 times and learned English that way. Later I got a job as a fur salesman, and after 3 years in New York when I was 30 years old got a job in Milwaukee, Wisconsin as a piano vocalist and from than on I entertained all over the US major cities piano-bars. Had my own 1V show in KGUL Houston, Texas, later 3 years in Las Vegas at the Dunes hotel. In 1971 married a lady who died with a heart attack in 1975. When I was 52 years old I wanted to write to my little Erika and when I found out, I wrote her a letter to Melbourne Australia, gave her my phone number and address in Hollywood, she did call me a week later. The rest of my happy life really started from then on.

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Copyright © 2013 by Jacques Foti.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Rev. date: 03/20/2013

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Contents

When You’re Sixteen Years Old

War Clouds Gather

Labor Camp Memories

A Nazi Officer Finds Us

Escape

My Escape from the Iron Curtain

Leaving Europe for the Land of Opportunities

Go West, Young Man

Hollywood, Here I Come

The Eyes of Texas Were Upon Me

My First Contact with the Mafia

Gigi

Becoming a Tycoon

Do Childhood Dreams Ever Come True?

Recuperating in Australia

Marriage Under the Trees

To those not in Hungary from 1940 on, perhaps this description of events in history will be interesting. Childhood, World War II, and all that is followed after.

In November 1977, this work was started as the story of Erika and me, a love story, for that is what began when she was sixteen and I was eighteen, in 1942. Through all of the terrible years in between, the lost wanderings in strange places with strange people, war, the running as a refugee, and divisions within my family and among my friends, a love story it remains.

Success means different things to different people. The striving toward whatever goals we set for ourselves may be a hard thing. The joys of achievement and the awareness of having arrived at where we want to be may be very much removed from what we thought we wanted as children.

As you read this, I can only hope that some of the thoughts expressed have some value for you. I wish for all of you to arrive at the plateau of peace on which I find myself. May the price you pay not be as great.

It was at Lake Balaton in Hungary, 1942, when I met Erika in a small village called Zamardi, where my mother used to take me and my two sisters in the summer after school was let out in June. From 1930 on, when I was six, we always prepared feverishly for the trip, 150 kilometers from Budapest. Mother would prepare fried chicken and sandwiches, fruit, and coffee with lots of milk and sugar. It was an old Nash automobile that our chauffeur drove us in.

After I did my manly duties, I would be allowed time off for myself. I would pump air into my bicycle tires, hop on my bicycle, and do my inspection tour of the resort.

The sailboat concession was owned by a rugged looking man about forty. He taught me many rope tricks and talked with wisdom about the power of the wind and the angry sea. I would help him rig the boats and prepare them for customers. He would always know in advance what the weather would be on that day.

Once I learned to read the mood of the lake by observing its changing colors or the direction of the wind and the formations of the clouds, I too became an expert weather forecaster.

Oh, those summers were beautiful! I was so alive with no worries about school for a few months, and the only concern was, if the wind would be strong enough to be worthwhile to rent a sailboat.

The day I met Erika, there was no wind, so I had plenty of time to waste.

Standing over her while she was playing in the sand, I felt high and mighty until she looked up at me. Her big brown eyes were intelligent yet innocent.

I don’t remember what I said, or how we conducted our conversation. The only thing I remember was her beautiful innocence and her body of a young goddess. She was gorgeous with her full bosom and wide hips and beautiful legs.

Meeting Erika, in a way, would fill my need if I could develop a friendship with her. Our friendship did develop and we went everywhere together for the remaining weeks that summer, during her vacation stay at the lake.

I would take her sailing, swimming, on long walks in the woods. We would smooch a lot and touch a lot. She was so cute! The first time I kissed her and lingered on her lips, she pulled away frantically and said, Never do that again! I can’t breathe! We learned to laugh about it. She would sigh, but by the third night, after a long walk when I kissed her good night, she allowed me to put my arms around her and hold her close to me. Her firm and shapely body, pressed close to mine, naturally gave me an erection, and I pressed it toward her. At that moment, she pulled away crying and started to run away from me. I caught up with her, asking, What’s the matter?

With tears in her eyes, she said, I enjoy kissing with you, but now you’ve got me pregnant! I couldn’t calm her down. She ran into her home and would only talk to me two days later. The other girls in the pension where she was staying explained to her that one cannot get pregnant by two bodies being close together fully clothed.

Once she learned of this great revelation, she allowed me to teach her bicycle riding, and she didn’t mind me holding on to the seat of the bicycle to assure her balance. My hand would touch her fanny once in a while, or while running with the bike with her on it, my shoulder would lean toward her shoulder when I felt she might fall. I personally enjoyed touching her beautiful and firm suntanned body, but I was not reprimanded, because she knew by now, she could not get pregnant from just touching.

Whenever we went to the open-house movie theater, we always took a few pillows and blankets. The long line of the wooden benches was hard to sit on for one and a half hours. Since at Lake Balaton the evenings were warm but by midnight it cooled down, we covered our bare legs with the blanket, and I enjoyed touching and squeezing Erika’s firm thigh.

After our summer vacation was over, school was about to start and we all went back to Budapest. School started but Erika and I continued to see each other.

During the winter, I taught her to ski. Though she was cautious at first, she became brave and daring later, trying to keep up with me.

Her father, having had two daughters before and wanting the third to be a boy, trained Erika as a tomboy. She learned to accept a challenge and become a good skier.

Our major interests were American movies, mostly the musicals. She was learning tap dancing, I was studying piano, and we both liked jazz. Many times during the week, I called her by phone and played jazz records from my collections for hours. Many of the MGM movie musicals we would see three or four times. We saw Sun Valley Serenade with Glenn Miller and Sonja Henie ten times. That’s how I learned to play boogie-woogie, In the Mood, Chattanooga Choo-Choo, and songs like that.

Our romance deepened and though she never let me have sex in the true sense, we did some heavy petting and kissing. It was not before the next summer that she would allow me to make real love to her. When I knew that she was very much in love with me and that we might break up because I told her a healthy young man needs sex and I didn’t want to have to start dating other girls that put out, she promised that she’d give herself when we were down at the lake again during our summer vacation.

We always entertained a lot of people during the summer months at our villa, so privacy was not easy to find. Erika and I would bicycle up to the nearby hills, and on a gentle slope in the grass, with nature around us and the birds supplying the symphony, under an apple tree, Erika gave herself to me completely. Oh, that summer was fun! We would take the sailboat into the middle of the lake and make love and cool off swimming in the nude.

After the summer was over, our friendship and romantic activities would be somewhat stifled with all the studies in school, and when we did have time, we didn’t have a place to make love. Once in a while, if no one was home at Erika’s apartment, we could make love in a hurry, but always fearing her mother or father would come home.

Other times, we just tasted the desserts she learned to make in cooking school.

Her parents were very respectable people. Her father was a very successful businessman, neat looking, and very proud and possessive about his three attractive daughters. I was not even allowed to hold hands with Erika when he was around. Her mother was an opera singer, intelligent, cultured, and wise in many ways, but still, her understanding wouldn’t go as far as to allow us to smooch in their home. My family was equally square, so we didn’t really have a place to enjoy intimacy with each other. Erika was able to confide in one of her older sisters, Vera, who allowed us to use her apartment once in a while.

She inspired me to write music and a poem for her sixteenth birthday (approximate translation from Hungarian):

When You’re Sixteen Years Old

Only once is a person sixteen years old,

daring and innocent and playful,

only when you’re