Life in America

St. Augustine, Florida

The new family moved to St. Augustine Florida at the start of 1953. In Florida, Oskar ran a small general store and one of the proudest moments of his life came in December 1956 when he became a Naturalized Citizen of the United States of America. While working at the general store Oskar talks about a time when he was confronted by the locals for hiring an African-American as his butcher. The locals stated that they would no longer shop at his store unless he got rid of the man. Oskar, knowing what discrimination felt like, told the locals he would not fire the man, and they could shop somewhere else if it was a problem.

Oskar and his family moved to New York for awhile before making the decision to move to Phoenix, Arizona. His daughter had been accepted to Arizona State University, and Oskar and Lila wanted to remain in close proximity.

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