Wasn't he always Jewish?
I didn't know it was.
And when did you know?
At 14 years old, next to his father's deathbed, in 1954.
What did his father tell him?
That he and his mother were German Jews: he immigrated to Barcelona in 1933: 31 years old.
And at sea?
Two years later. They knew each other since childhood. And they got married. I was born in Barcelona in 1939, after the Civil War.
Why did they emigrate from Germany?
for a book
which book
Mein Kampf, by Adolf Hitler. Published in 1923, the father read it... and believed it.
What did he believe?
That Hitler would attack the Jews, as he said.
I wish millions of German Jews had left.
It is incomprehensible to me that they stayed, and then did not rebel against their captors and murderers.
Paralyzing fear...
This is how many relatives disappeared in Auschwitz, my father explained to me. Two of his brothers did emigrate to Palestine.
Why did his father wait so long to tell him that he was Jewish?
I was protecting myself from a national-Catholic clerical Spain. Here the parents had converted to Catholicism: they displeased the Israeli uncles... who forgave them.
Do you convert by faith or by pragmatism?
To not have problems. But I also say that Franco's ambassadors saved many Jews in Europe.
Bring back some childhood memory.
I remember a toast in 1945, around my sixth birthday: World War II was over and Hitler was dead!
What did he do when his father died?
He had a hardware store in Sants but it didn't go well: in the post-war period we suffered penalties. And after he died, I decided to emigrate.
On?
In Germany All by myself. I was 16 years old, it was 1956. I had to freak out.
It was practically a return trip.
I arrived in Berlin and worked at the KaDeWe (“West”) department store and studied languages. I worked in the travel agency, and I had a stroke of luck.
Who?
An official came to get some tickets, he noticed a strange accent, I told him "I'm from Barcelona"... and he signed me up as a Spanish interpreter... for Willy Brandt!
The chancellor of Germany?
I was his interpreter. I admired Brandt, a giant politician. And I met many others.
For example?
Admiral Carrero Blanco. I had a bad time: in their half hour together... they didn't say anything. What a great tension!
Because?
They were two opposing worlds. When Carrero arrived, he said to me: "José, I either listen to mass every day or I leave." It was hard for me, but I found a Catholic priest.
Who else did he meet?
I shook the hand of J. F. Kennedy, who was rehearsing his speech: "Two thousand years ago it was an honor to be a citizen of Rome, as it is today of Berlin: I am a Berliner!".
Did he sympathize with communism?
The Eastern Bloc were left-wing dictatorships, it was not communism.
What is communism, in your opinion?
The kibbutzim of Israel have been the closest to communism that has ever existed: everything belonged to everyone. I lived in some kibbutzim.
How does the current war affect him?
At the age of 27 I volunteered in the Six Day War, to die for Israel. As soon as I got there... and the war was over.
Would I go there today, if I were 27?
Without hesitation. I am Spanish, German, Catalan, an agnostic Jew... but I get emotional in front of the Wailing Wall.
Was he a performer for many years?
After ten years, I started as a sales agent for the pharmaceutical company Schering (later Bayer): from 1968 I traveled the world promoting their contraceptive pill.
Well, he helped change the world.
The pill protected the woman from an unwanted pregnancy: she was sexually liberated. Women's liberation changed the world.
Is it responsible for the low birth rate?
No: it responds to socio-economic factors.
There is no such thing as a male pill…
If I were a woman, I would not trust the man and would protect myself. And put on a condom.
What do you teach your grandchildren?
Let them talk to everyone and be grateful. I thank the garbage collectors how they sweep the street.
What has been the best in your life?
My wife Karin: she always supported me. I'm missing 16 years... I'll explain everything: today I'll talk to you about this interview.
