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Jew cannot go to a brothel, but he has no problem seducing a housemaid. Emilia
denies this, but Ján knew better.
The duck is huge, fattened and free-range. There were certainly leftovers after
the party ended. And Ján gave those leftovers to his younger son, his namesake.
Whether he knew what he was doing or not, is hard
to judge. Either way, the duck triggered an avalanche
of conflict. Till the end of his life, Branislav would be-
lieve that his father left him out deliberately. And that
he should have shared the leftovers equally. Branislav
feels he has been treated like a bastard his whole life
and that maybe his father thinks that Branislav was
the son of the Jew whom Emilia served. He disagreed
with his father, who supported the communists. And
his father helped Branislav get into the military ser-
vice at the Hungarian-Czechoslovakian border, even
though he did not want that. Not just anyone is al-
lowed to serve at the border. Only the best ones are chosen, or those with connec-
tions. For Branislav, the duck was the last straw. He vowed never to set foot in the
house in Tomášová again.The dacha“They argued but no one knew why. Then they would mend fences for a while.
And then argue again,” says Michal. “Grandma used to say that a Jew sat deeply
inside Branislav. Communism – sure they had different opinions. But it was not
always about that. It could easily have been about whether the wind was blowing
or not. Or that someone hadn’t closed the door, or closed it too soon. There would
be arguments that the soup was too salty or that the laundry was hung improperly.
That the sun was shining; or it was raining, what have you...”
The grandma is Ilona – Branislav’s wife. She wanted to be an actress. She was
even part of an amateur theatre, but life took such a direction that she became a
nurse in a hospital in Rimavská. This is how she met her husband. He was dream-
ing about being a pilot, but ended up mending machines on a Slovakian state-run
farm. Before Ilona, Branislav had another wife and son. The son is a bit like a ghost,
or a bad omen. No one from the Ľupták family has ever seen him, but it is certain
he exists. When Branislav died they sent him a letter. A short note that his father
passed away and there would be a funeral. It reached the addressee, the postman
confirmed.Whether Ján
knew what he
was doing or not
is hard to judge.
Either way, the
duck triggered
an avalanche of
family conflict.Reports The curse of Ján Ľupták’s duck, Dariusz Kałan