Interviewing, even if you are experienced and have well-prepared plans can result in unexpected difficulties. Here you can read the story behind our interviews with Henryk Halkowski and Alberto Mizrahi written by the two summer school participants who interviewed them: Edyta Bracik (E. B.) and Małgorzata Wojcieszuk (M. W.). Their two ‘angles’ on the story complement one another and so have been amalgamated. It is a very good example of the initiative you need to show, ‘thinking on your feet’ to rescue a situation and still end up with successful interviews.

This story complements the guidelines How to … conduct a successful ‘in-depth’ interview where you can find ideas on what should be done ideally.

M. W. I was very lucky in Kraków to meet Edyta, equally interested in the topic of kosher food. We formed a ‘team’, got our item tutor’s ‘blessing’ for the subject and started exploring the local Jewish district, Kazimierz, for information ‘straight from the horse’s mouth’. We were hoping to find kosher-keeping people in Kraków and interview them. We wanted to know if the kosher lifestyle was alive anywhere in Kraków and how the people managed to get food with the needed certificates.

E. B. When we (Malgosia and I) finally knew the topic of our project, the next question we asked was ‘what next?’ The answer was not very difficult as almost at the same time we both came up with an idea of conducting interviews with people who either keep kosher in Poland or at least know a lot about it. It sounds perfect, doesn’t it? Our second thought was ‘who should we talk to and how to find them?’ While wandering around Kazimierz, the Jewish district in Kraków and exploring its restaurants and pubs we were provided with some addresses and names of people who could tell us about kosher food by the waiters and a shop assistant in the Jewish bookshop. One can hardly imagine how excited we were - one step forward. Without hesitation we phoned the two potential interviewees: the Rabbi of the Jewish community in Kraków and a well-known historian.

Kazimierz at night

M. W. Two obvious places to look in were the Jewish Culture Centre (an official inquiry site) and the Klezmer House - a cafe where, less officially, ‘everybody knew about everybody else Jewish in Kraków’. Needless to say the second place turned out much more effective than the first one ... In the centre we got the address and phone number of the Kraków Rabbi, but although he sounded nice and willing to co-operate when we first called him, we did not manage to arrange an actual meeting and interview. Looking back with hindsight I think it was our own fault. We were already quite immersed in our task, very enthusiastic about it, and we forgot that our aim was not necessarily obvious for everybody around. Imagine that you are a solemn Jewish Rabbi and suddenly get a phone call from a strange woman: ‘Hello - we are English teachers - we badly need your opinion about kosher-keeping Jews in Kraków - it will appear on the Internet - so where and when do we meet?’ That was much too rash and abrupt. We should have started from a different angle: first convince him about the role of the British Council in the project, build up his trust that it is Jewish culture-friendly and present him with a written set of questions ...  We realised too late and lost the contact. After some time we understood he was avoiding us and in such a situation it was not a good idea to insist.

M. W. So we tried Klezmer House next. We talked to the waiters, to the shopkeeper from the nearby Jewish Bookshop, to some ‘Jewish-looking’ guests in the cafe. Everybody suggested Henryk Halkowski an expert on Jewish culture in the area. Phoning him we tried to sound much more professional, reliable and reassuring than we had done with the Rabbi. And it worked! We arranged for a meeting, though it was quite difficult to fix the time as he was extremely active in the ongoing Jewish Culture Festival. But our patience (six phone calls with the reply: ‘I really want to talk to you, catch me next time when I’m free’) was rewarded. We finally ‘caught’ our interviewee in the evening, in a traditional Jewish-style cafe with equally traditional Jewish background music. Carried away ‘on the wings of success’ we courageously demanded some help from the staff (switching on more light for a photo and turning down the music to eliminate background noises). They reacted very nicely (we still do not know if that was due to our ‘personal charms’ or to Henryk Halkowski’s presence as he seemed to be a celebrity in the area). The rest was as easy as ‘nicely buttered bread’ ... He turned out to be a very eager, eloquent and well informed interviewee. There was only one thing ... we had assumed ‘a priori’ that we would present this interview on our page in a written form. So we immediately started talking to him in Polish ... Only on reflection after some time did we realise that he had come with another person - an English speaking man ... We said ‘hello’ to him and paid no other attention so he just left. It was quite obvious that our interviewee had been willing to provide a full audio-interview and brought his own interpreter! But we lost that opportunity, too. Well, experience comes with practice ... I’m sure we will do better next time we try an interview!

E. B. The rabbi accepted the invitation but not very willingly because the Jewish Festival he was busy with was due to start and he asked for further explanation of our project and the summer school. Skipping a session we sat at the computer and wrote a letter to the Rabbi but never received a reply. The other man though was rather hesitant on the phone suggesting that we phoned him again and met him somewhere on the way. Many people would probably have given up at this stage but not us. Having phoned him a few more times we finally managed to make an appointment after the performance in the Jewish Centre during the Festival. One could hardly imagine how privileged we felt seeing Mr Halkowski appear in the Jewish Centre Restaurant. But that’s not the end of our story or even our luck. Still doubtful and uncertain about our intentions the man first took us on a long walk around Kazimierz telling us stories about its historical buildings and giving more information about the Festival. Finally he took us to a nearby restaurant and gave us a short interview which went well, and we found out what we really wanted. See the result in the interview with Henryk Halkowski

Henryk Halkowski being interviewed by E.B.

 

M. W. After the talk with Henryk Halkowski, Edyta and I ended up late evening in front of the Temple Synagogue in Miodowa Street in Kazimierz, happy that we had answers to our questions but a bit unhappy that opportunities for meeting a kosher-keeping person in Krakow were so slim. Practically the only kosher-keeping Jews in this city were some Jewish visitors from abroad. We looked around...and we saw a definitely non-Polish and very Jewish-looking man coming out of the Synagogue. Everybody was taking pictures of him, so we did too and we realised he was the famous Chicago Cantor Alberto Mizrahi! Definitely kosher-keeping and not a chance to miss. So, desperately, just when he had finished giving autographs and smiles and was about to leave, we came up to him and asked for a street interview. We caught some strange looks from the men that accompanied him, but ... surprise, surprise very nicely he agreed, stepped back to the side of the street, helped us to switch on the dictaphone and provided very interesting, true to life and insightful answers to our questions about the kosher lifestyle. His outlook was different from Henryk Halkowski’s, but that did not seem strange as they lived in completely different cultures ... We were very glad to get information from such different angles. I was sure everything was well-recorded as he had so expertly set the equipment himself but, in a lucky flash of premonition (after all, good things never are as good as they seem at the first sight as my great aunt used to say), I asked Mizrahi to give us his e-mail address so that we could send the interview for authorisation.

 

E. B. Relieved we left that unforgettable place and found a crowd of people in front of the synagogue discussing the concert they had just seen. They were still waiting for somebody but we didn’t know who and curiosity didn’t let us leave the place. Observing the crowd and having taken some pictures we suddenly saw a big man coming out of the synagogue. It was the person the crowd were waiting for, the Jewish Cantor Alberto Mizrahi. We couldn’t miss the opportunity and asked the man to have an interview with us and we couldn’t believe it when he agreed and said of course. There was such excitement that we didn’t even realize that our tape ended just after the beginning of the interview. A very good warning for everybody: always check all the equipment before you start your interview. We were very disappointed when we found our misfortune. However as you might imagine we didn’t give up: having rested a bit we took a deep breath and wrote down Mizrahi’s thoughts, at least as much as we remembered.

Alberto Mizrahi in the crowd outside the synagogue

 

M. W. By then it was almost midnight and we were coming back from Miodowa Street to our hostel by taxi, proud of our ‘brilliant interviewing feats’ the ‘journalist stars of the BC Webpages’. Unfortunately, our elation did not last long ... As soon as we switched on the dictaphone to listen to the interviews we realised that the interview with Mizrahi stopped after the first question because we had forgotten to turn the cassette over and the first had almost all been used up for the previous interview ... We sat in stunned silence and neither of us said a word but we both thought the same thing: ‘we are not stars, we are technical idiots ...’

 

M. W. It was almost 1 a.m. but it was clear that if we went to sleep then, we would not remember much from the interview the next day. So, believe it or not, we went to the hostel internet room and started writing down Mizrahi’s answers from our memories. When we finished it was about 3 a.m. and day was already dawning ...  But this effort and sacrifice of sleep paid well because when we sent the text for authorisation, he made almost no corrections. And the next day was a ‘rest’ day in the summer school schedule so we could make up for lost sleep. See the result in the interview with Alberto Mizrahi

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