THE ADDRESS
-MARGA MINCO
Marga Minco (pseudonym of Sara Menco, born 31 March 1920) is a Dutch
journalist and writer. Her real surname was Menco, but an official accidentally
switched the first vowel.
Her novels deal with the consequences of the Holocaust, and all have been best
sellers. The war, the persecution of Jews, and the loneliness as a consequence of
this, are themes that can be found in her books.
WAR OF HOLLAND
In the early part of World War II Minco lived in Breda, Amersfoort, and
Amsterdam. She contracted a mild form of tuberculosis and ended up being treated
in hospitals in Utrecht and Amersfoort. In the autumn of 1942, she returned to
Amsterdam and her parents, who were forced by the German occupiers to move
into the city’s Jewish Quarter.
Later in the war, Minco’s parents, her brother, and her sister were all deported, but
having escaped arrest herself she spent the rest of the war in hiding and was the
family’s only survivor. Minco married the poet and translator Bert Voeten (who
died in 1992) whom she had met in 1938 and with whom she hid during the war.
After the war, they worked on a number of newspapers and magazines. They have
two daughters, one of whom is the writer Jessica Voeten.
Her youth and her experiences during the war inspired her to start writing novels
and short stories. In 1957, a year after the birth of her second daughter, Jessica,
Minco made her literary debut with the short novel Het bittere kruid, translated
into English as Bitter Herbs. Minco’s books are distinguished by her sober,
reserved way of using words and emotions.
Marga Minco is the only member of her immediate family to have survived the
Second World War. Her father, mother, brother Dave and his fiancée, her sister
Bettie and husband – all were deported to concentration camps. None returned.
She dies, nevertheless, just before her 85th birthday, by falling accidentally into an
unprotected well.
POINTS TO REMEMBER
‘The Address’ is a story which underlines the human dilemma that follows war and
the death of a loved one. This is brought out through an emotional encounter of a
daughter who goes in search of her mother’s belongings after the war, in Holland
to Mrs Dorling’s house.
Mrs. Dorling – A very wicked, shrewd woman. She visited the narrator’s mother
saying that she was her classmate years ago. We do not know if it was so or not.
She offered to help the narrator’s family by carrying their house hold utensils,
furniture and all the other valuables. In fact she had no intention to help the
narrator’s family.
The war was over and everyone (except the narrator) in the narrator’s family was
either deported (sent out of one’s own country) or killed in the gas chambers.
When the war was over and the Jews were feeling safe in these countries, Marga
(the narrator) returned to her house (which was no more!) and lived in a small hut.
One day, Marga thought of the woman (Mrs. Dorling) who had taken all her
possessions. She remembered her address – 46, Marconi Street. Marga went to
Marconi Street by train.
First Visit
The narrator traces Mrs. Dorling’s – No. 46 – address to claim her family’s
property.
Mrs. Dorling says she doesn’t recognise the narrator but the narrator recognises
her.
It was now evident that Mrs. Dorling had betrayed the narrator’s mother.
Marga was terribly pinched, hurt, disappointed and betrayed.
She was turning away to go when someone appeared at the window. Probably it
was Mrs. Dorling’s daughter. She was asking, “Mom, who’s there?” and Mrs.
Dorling gives a discouraging reply.
That was how the first visit ended.
Second Visit
The narrator grew impatient after a while so she decided to visit Mrs. Dorling
once again.
When she rang the bell at house number 46, Mrs. Dorling was away. Mrs.
Dorling’s daughter welcomed the narrator.
The daughter had no idea how her mother had looted the utensils and furniture
from the narrator’s house. All that she knew was that her mother had bought these
precious antiques on an auction.
The daughter was proud of the expensive utensils and furniture.
The narrator decided not to wait for Mrs. Dorling. She left the house and
decided to forget the address and move on in life.
Objects linked in memory lose their importance, when cut off from them; they
are seen in strange surroundings.
The narrator felt that she had no place for them either in her house or in her
heart.
ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS
a. How did Mrs Dorling react when the narrator went to her house for the first
time? What does it tell you about Mrs Dorling?
b. The narrator was initially doubtful if she had come to the right house. Why?
c. What assured the narrator that she had come to the right house?
d. What had the mother told the narrator about Mrs Dorling?
e. What reason had Mrs. Dorling given to convince the narrator’s mother to part
with her things?
f. Why did the narrator feel that the “things” had endured better?
g. “I was in a room I knew and did not know”. Explain.
h. The narrator said that she never realized that the cutlery they used was silver. In
what context does she say that?
i. What kind of person is Mrs. Dorling presented as in the story?
j. “The wars caused a lot of trauma”. How is this statement true with respect to the
story?
Answer in 120-150 words
a. ‘The Address’ is a touching story of a person who wants to revive her mother’s
memory through her belongings but decides to forget about the address where they
were kept. Why?
b. Justify the title “The Address”.
c. In what respect was the second visit of the narrator to 46, Marconi Street
different from the first one? Did she really succeed in her mission? Give reasons
gfor your answer.
d. Give a brief character sketch of Mrs. S’s daughter.
